The listing for the much-talked-about Brooke Astor apartment has hit the market. Mrs. Astor, who died at the age of 105 last year was one of the grand dames of New York society. Her home at 778 Park Avenue is considered to be an exceedingly prime New York co-op. The five-bedroom apartment has high ceilings, six terraces and five wood-burning fireplaces. A reception gallery with a wet bar, leads to a living room with a wood-burning fireplace and views up and down Park Avenue. The famed corner library has gleaming red laquer walls (the Real Estalker Mama chillingly described them as looking as if they are "dripping the blood of the under-privileged"), a wood-burning fireplace and French doors opening onto two terraces. The formal dining room also has a wood-burning fireplace and French doors leading out to a terrace. The kitchen includes a pantry, service hall, and three maid's rooms, a set-up which worked well in Mrs. Astor's days but might now be reconfigured into a large eat-in kitchen and family room for today's owner. There is an additional bedroom that can be used as a maid's room or reconfigured to be a second bedroom with ensuite bath. The private quarters include a sitting room with terrace, a separate powder room, and guest bedroom. At the end of the hall is in a corner room with a lovely wood-burning fireplace, terrace, and views toward Central Park. There are 20 closets. This co-op is listed at $46 million.

Only the very, very wealthy can apply to get into the Rosario-Candela-designed 778 Park Avenue co-op. As Max Abelson of the NY Observer pointed out, any potential owner will have to put 100% down and show more than enough cash to pay the steep monthly maintenance of $17,251.

Madonna recently bought some more space in her New York City co-op building and now it looks like she's set to divest herself of some real estate. The Sun reports that Madonna is looking to sell Ashcombe, her English country house in Wiltshire. She and Guy Ritchie bought the home in 2001 for £9 million and are now hoping to put it on the market for £12 million. The eight-bedroom home is listed as a Grade II structure by English Heritage. It was originally part of a larger building and was restored in the 1930s and 1940s by the photographer Cecil Beaton. Madonna and Guy are reportedly selling because they do not spend enough time at the estate especially since Madonna has been recording and touring again. We wish them luck, this is certainly not the best time to be selling England's housing slump is starting to rival the problem we have had in the States.

[Thanks, Lana]

A classic piece of Virginia acreage has just hit the market. Green Plains is a 642-acre estate in Virginia's Matthews County located 30 miles from Williamsburg. The property has a long history. It is believed Green Plains was established in the 18th century with a Colonial King's Deed (the original documents were burned in Richmond during the Civil War). The property has been owned by just four families including the Cabots, one of Boston's first families, and former Texaco CEO and Chairman Augustus C. Long. The property is now held in The Augustus C. Long Trust, his daughter Dorothy Long is sole trustee and beneficiary of the property.

The property includes three miles along the North River in Mobjack Bay and it has deep water access via a 360-foot-long private pier. The main house is a red brick Georgian mansion with seven bedrooms. No interior pictures of the home unfortunately so we can't speculate on how the shape it is in. The property includes a four-foot wall which surrounds an acre of gardens and orchards. There are five Cape-Cod style cottages and three equestrian barns with 20 stalls and fenced paddocks. The property also includes property for hunting and fishing. Green Plains estate is listed at $22 million.

Free-spending Russian billion Roman Abramovich is at it again. Just a week after we learned that he is working on a home that will be the most expensive private residence in Britain, we learn he's also picked up an Aspen home. This isn't just any Aspen home, this is Wildcat Ridge, the modern home of Leon Hirsch. We've been following Hirsch's struggle to sell this home since February of 2005. Back then Hirsch listed his home for $35 million. Since then he's switched real estate brokers a couple of times and has even put it up for actuion a couple of times with no luck. Another man might have dropped his price looking for a sale but Hirsch's stubbornness seems to have paid off, he sold to Abramovich for $36.375 million.

Abramovich is getting quite a home. Wildcat Ridge has 11 bedrooms is perched at an elevation of 9,200 feet on Wildcat Ridge offering views for miles. The home, designed by Voorsanger Architects, has a dramatic folded plate roof and a large moss rock wall dividing the east and west wings of the building. The home gets its energy from 60 geothermal wells so that it is virtually self sufficient. The wells heat the home, driveway and pool during the winter months and provide cooling in the summer. It also comes with 32 pieces of furniture custom designed for the home.

[via Wealth Bulletin]
[Thanks, Ben]

I wish I had more than six pictures to show you of this one. This Newport Beach beauty is on a double lot on the sand at Peninsula Point. It was deigned by Michael Collins to showcase an impressive modern art collection. The home is actually two homes, a five-bedroom house and a two-bedroom guest house. The grounds include a pool, spa, koi ponds, oceanfront terraces, a beachfront lawn, cabana, pool bar and many additional amenities. The homes have an open floor plan with large "disappearing" wood and glass doors. The guest house has a subterranean level designed for entertainment and lounging, with media capabilities, bar and a saltwater aquarium window affording dramatic underwater pool views. This home is listed at $29.5 million.

Hotels are fine as far as they go. For a really luxurious vacation however, renting a private house or villa is much the better choice. Of course the prices at the top-end can be astronomical. If money is no object, however, a new book called Luxury Houses: Holiday Escapes is a perfect guide to the best high-end hideaways around the globe. One of the standouts is Chanel designer Karl Lagerfeld's former villa in Monaco (pictured here), which can be yours for a mere €30,000 per week. For that you get six bedrooms, panoramic views of the ocean and the mountains from an enormous terrace, a pool, Jacuzzi, game room and a tent on a private beach. The interior is described unironically as "quasi royal."

Also on display is the Birkenhead House in Hermanus, South Africa (about $7,000 per night) with eleven bedrooms and three pools, dominating a steep cliff above Walker Bay where whales frolic; and Villa Indigo in the Caribbean Sea within a protective reef in Anguilla with two pools and a private beach and sandbar, for $16,000 - $38,000 a week depending on the season; as well as dozens more ritzy rentals from ski chalets in Switzerland to modern palaces in China.

Think the McMansion is just an American idea? We've definitely exported the concept. Check out today's home in the luxury Emirates Hills section of Dubai. This villa has seven bedrooms and 24,500 square feet of space. Some only in Dubai detailer include an underground garage and a room just for your driver, a professional service kitchen with Tandoori oven and a formal dining room with silk wallpaper and an ornate inlaid table. The home also has home theater, a gym and a a massage area with a Jacuzzi, a gym, cinema, sauna and steam room. This home is listed at $21 million.

[Thanks, Ben!]

Last week our Sunday estate was the home of a former "ER" actress, this week we've got another TV actress, Mel Harris, most famous for her role as the winsome and whiny Hope on the show "thirtysomething." The LA Times Hot Property column reports that Harris has listed her Pacific Palisades property, a charming four-bedroom Country English-style home. She has owned the home for five years and it has been remodeled with a new marble-countered kitchen and bathrooms. There are older details to love such as the Batchelder tile fireplace in the living room and the beautiful beams and archways. The new master bathroom is a bit too over the top for a house of this scale and graciousness and the travertine tile in the kitchen seems like it would be a better fit for a Florida flip than for this older Californian. The home was originally listed at $4.347 million but is already down to $4.197 million which still seems like a lot of cash for 4,5000 square feet even in the pricey Palisades.

We've seen some expensive homes in the Hamptons but if there's anything I've learned in years of covering the high-end real estate market, it's that there is always another even bigger place around the corner. This home in Southampton Village has nine bedrooms, four floors and +13,500 sqft of living space. The home was the last project of renowned builder Kurt Andresson and famed New York Architects DAquino Monaco. It sits on approximately 11 acres of which six are Peconic Land Trust natural preserve lands with 1,000' oceanfront and 1000' pond front. On particularly winning detail is a two story enclosed gazebo with beautiful ocean views. The property also includes a sunken tennis court, gunite pool and Jacuzzi, pool house, two-car garage with h garden/potting area and second floor storage, private walkway to beach and pond with wooden dock. This home is listed at $80 million which puts it at the top tier of Hamptons real estate.

Add another sports figure to the ranks of the celebrity foreclosed. Baseball player and controversial author Jose Canseco has walked away from his $2.5 million home in Encino, an area of Los Angeles. Canseco has said in an interview that it didn't make financial sense to keep paying the mortgage on a home that was "basically owned by someone else." Canseco cited his multiple divorces as another factor in his financial woes. It sounds like Canseco isn't facing the dire financial situation that some other people (Latrell Sprewell for example) have faced but merely opted out. His nonchalance seems a bit cavalier at a time when people are really agonizing over their homes but it seems in the interview that he is keenly aware that his situation is different from others who are struggling.

What else would you find on castle ridge road but a castle? This castle is located in Tuckasgee, North Carolina is a four-bedroom palace tucked in to the Smoky Mountains. The home has a great hall, chef's kitchen with butler's pantry, wine cellar, art studio, pub/movie room, office and a hidden, secret room. The four bedrooms are each suites with fireplaces, separate sitting areas, large bathrooms. and balconies. The home is on eight acres which includes English-style gardens and multiple outbuildings. Vintage style details include the turret tower, spiral staircase, handpainted murals, stained glass, vintage pine floors and a 400-year-old Normandy mantel. There is also an additional 43 acres with a horse barn and tack room available. One man's castle might be another man's white elephant but it's right for a knight. This home is listed at $4 million.

Rentals in the Hamptons are already getting scarce but those with the money can buy this historic waterfront estate on Quantuck Bay and offer the perfect summer vacation for family and friends.

Henry Bacon, once with McKim, Mead & White, and best known for his design of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.,was commissioned to design this historic shingle-style manor. In an extensive three-year renovation in the mid 1990s, the architectural details, floors and fixtures were carefully restored and all the luxuries of modern-day living were added.

The 10.37 acre estate is completely private, bordered on the front by 64 century-old European pruned Catalpa trees. The back border stretches across more than 1,000 feet of waterfront, complete with deep-water dock.

The main residence is around 16,000 square feet on three floors with nine bedrooms, nine full and two half baths, six original fireplaces and 5,000 square feet of hand-pegged mahogany decks and brick & bluestone terraces. There are water views from 22 of the 24 rooms.

The grand entry foyer has a three-story hand carved staircase that leads through the reception gallery to a formal living room with a fireplace as well as a banquet-sized dining room with a fireplace and murals recreated from the works of William Merritt Chase and Childe Hassam, who painted in the area more than a hundred years ago.

Other living areas include a billiards room, a sunroom and a chef's kitchen with a large dining area surrounded on three sides by water views. The ground floor also has a pantry with espresso bar, an office, two powder rooms and a large laundry room. The downstairs cantina has a temperature & humidity controlled wine cellar.

In addition to the sprawling 1,000 square foot master suite, which has two large mahogany decks plus his & her baths and dressing rooms; the second floor has a center hall with adjacent office with covered mahogany deck, a living room and three bedrooms with baths.

The third floor has an oversized living room with a mahogany deck and vaulted ceiling, five bedrooms and four baths, an exercise room, a walk-in cedar closet and a laundry room.

There is also an original 2,000 square foot poolside carriage house covered in century-old grape vines that has been updated to include his & her baths and dressing rooms and a full service kitchen. Other buildings include an oak paneled guest cottage, oversized four car garage and a two-story three-bedroom and bath gardener's house with a separate driveway. The grounds include recreation and meditation areas, a Lord & Burnham greenhouse, a Har-Tru tennis court and a heated gunite pool with waterfall spa all set amidst acres of expansive lawns and gardens . It is listed with Mark Roter (631 288 5233) and Marcia Altman (631 288 5004) Co-Exclusive Brokers Brown Harris Stevens, Westhampton Beach for $39 million.

NeighborhoodScout.com has used their matching function to find neighborhoods that are "discount equivalents" of some of the hot and pricey communities we recently covered in our Most Expensive Zip Codes estates.

The Neighborhood Scout sees the Wesley Heights area of Washington D.C. as an equivalent to the Lakeshore Drive area of Chicago. In that area of Chicago, the median house value is $1.955 million. Wesley Heights has a median of just $1.63 million. Both areas offer easy access to the heart of a city and are full of lovely traditional homes. Today's home has five bedrooms and a classic style that reminds me a little of the Chicago home we found for the most expensive zip code's feature. It has a graceful staircase, formal dining room, large shuttered windows and a big kitchen with adjoining eating area. The property includes gardens, outdoor entertaining area and a putting green. This home is listed at $2.395 million.

NeighborhoodScout.com has used their matching function to find neighborhoods that are "discount equivalents" of some of the hot and pricey communities we recently covered in our Most Expensive Zip Codes estates.

The Neighborhood Scout chooses Breckridge, Colorado as a cheaper way to live the skiing life than Aspen, Colorado. In Apsen, the median house price is $1.6 million but in Breckenridge the median is just $618,892. Breckenridge is a ski resort that is rapidly growing in popularity and amenities. We recently covered One Ski Place, the large condo complex planned for the area.

In Aspen we looked at a huge property that is listed at $58 million. Today's home is far more modest but has a lot to offer for the snow aficionado. This home is located in the Timber Trail ski in, ski out community. From this house you can ski straight to the Colorado or Rocky Mountain quad chairs. The home has seven bedrooms including three master suites and seperate kid's quarters with boys and girls bunk rooms, bathrooms and their own den. There is also an in-home cinema and the great room has massive full round log beams. Apres ski relaxing includes a spa room and a hot tub by the outside fireplace. This is the most expensive home currently on the market in Breckenridge and it is listed at $5.895 million.

NeighborhoodScout.com has used their matching function to find neighborhoods that are "discount equivalents" of some of the hot and pricey communities we recently covered in our Most Expensive Zip Codes estates.

The Neighborhood Scout chooses Southwest Harbor, Maine as a seaside equivalent to the pricier island of Nantucket. On Nantucket the median house value is $1.56 million but Southwest Harbor has a median house value of just $266,936. The two locations have much in common including a quaint New England charm and island beauty, you just trade in Nantucket for Mt. Desert Island. It's a little colder and doesn't have as much of a reputation as a summer getaway but it has some beautiful properties.

Today's home is actually on Greening's Island and has views of Mt. Desert Island. This shingle-style cottage was constructed in 1932 and sits on 9.75 acres of meadows and woods reaching all the way to the granite ledges. The property has western views of Southwest Harbor and Manset villages, and North to the views of Somes Sound and there is 1,544+/- feet of shore frontage. The property includes a shared dock and the "Captain's Cabin" a special retreat near the dock. It is listed at $2.65 million. A bargain compared to the shingled home we recently featured on Nantucket which is listed at $11.75 million.