SmartMoney - The Wall Street Journal

Lehman Sets Pact to Buy All of Archstone for $1.58 Billion

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. has struck a deal to buy the 26.5% stake that it doesn't already own in apartment giant Archstone for $1.58 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

South Asians Make Hicksville a Destination

Along South Broadway in Hicksville, It is nearly impossible to miss the South Asian influence—with Indian grocery stores, music outlets, restaurants, sari shops and beauty salons dotting a stretch running for several blocks.

A New Zealand Vineyard

Open House 57 Fareham Lane Marlborough, New Zealand STATS: A 6,458-square-foot home with four bedrooms and 2½ bathrooms on 99 acres, asking $6.5 million, or $65,656.56 an acre.

Easy Chairs That Are Easy on the Eyes

I HAD TO LAUGH when at a recent dinner party in New Orleans our host dropped into his Archie Bunker-esque easy chair for a quick mid-meal-prep massage. The sensual back rub was administered by his XXL man-sized recliner. The cushy leather ...

A Miami Beach Estate Goes on the Market for $45 Million

Leroy Schecter, chairman of steel manufacturing company Marino/Ware Industries, has put his Miami Beach, Fla., home on the market for $45 million.

Reviving a Hollywood Icon; A couple undertake an arduous renovation to update an architecturally significant home

Los Angeles In the 1989 action movie "Lethal Weapon 2," Mel Gibson's character hitches a striking Hollywood Hills home to his pickup truck with cables and accelerates, dragging the home down the hill. It's a fantasy occasionally shared by ...

A Bay Villa in Hong Kong; This four-bedroom home is located in the quiet neighborhood of Shouson Hill and boasts a large terrace and roof deck overlooking the bay. —Vanessa Ko

A New Zealand Vineyard; A 99-acre property in New Zealand with a vineyard and olive oil operation is selling for $6.5 million.

Open House: A New Zealand Vineyard A 6,458-square-foot home in New Zealand with four bedrooms and 2½ bathrooms on 99 acres is asking $6.5 million.

High-Tech House; This six-bedroom traditional Georgian style house, located close to London, was completed at the end of 2005 with a host of high-tech features. —Nick Clayton

Philadelphia Manor Seeking Restoration; This 40-acre property dating back to the 1920s includes four houses, a two-story barn and charms for a home restoration buff. -- Stefanos Chen

The owners, Fred C. Tecce, 76, and his sister Maryanne Frampton, inherited the 40-acre property after their father's passing in 1999, Mr. Tecce said. Their father, Fred Tecce, Sr., purchased the property in 1954, according to public ...

Pool Plan Tries to Stay Afloat

Queens leaders are diving in trying to save a historic aquatic landmark, but not everyone in the community is in agreement on how to do that.

Virginia Castle Off the Beltway; This 16,000-square-foot home in northern Virginia overlooking the Potomac River takes its cues from European castles by way of Washington, D.C.-- Stefanos Chen

Dr. Hazem Elariny, a bariatric surgeon in his mid-40s, purchased the 1.2-acre property in McLean, Va., through a limited liability company in 2005 for $1.55 million, according to public records. Envisioning the project as an investment ...

Marrakesh Estate; This 20-bedroom estate includes a main villa, family villa or "riad," three guest bungalows, two swimming pools and more than 700 olive trees on almost seven acres of land. —Nick Clayton

Stitching Together a Fifth Avenue Mansion; The dream was to unite all nine apartments at 828 Fifth Ave., restoring the original single-family mansion. But the owners are giving up with a few puzzle pieces still missing. (See related article.)

New York Building Sold In $270 Million Deal

A Virginia real-estate investment firm has sold a 22-story office building in downtown Manhattan in a deal valued at about $270 million, including debt, more than doubling the price it paid for the tower in early 2010, according to people ...

Large Investors Choose to Swim on Their Own

Some of the world's biggest investors are betting they can beat real-estate fund managers at their own game. Put off by high fees and disappointing performance of so-called pooled funds, major institutions such as Harvard University's ...

Google Makes Space for City Tech School; CornellNYC Tech to Occupy Portion of Firm's N.Y. Building

Google Inc. will provide 22,000 square feet of its New York City headquarters—in the heart of Manhattan's high-tech zone—to a new applied-sciences school while the institution's new campus is built on Roosevelt Island in the East River.

Penthouse That Lace Built; A couple formerly in the lace-manufacturing business created this penthouse on the Upper East Side by combining two apartments. -- Stefanos Chen

The owners, Bruno and Bonnie Hofmann, both retired, purchased two adjacent apartments in this Upper East Side condo in 1997, the couple said. In 1999, they combined the units and purchased an additional apartment for use as a guest house. ...

A Melbourne Ranch House; This split-level ranch house in Melbourne, Australia, has well appointed entertaining areas as well as windows and balconies that were strategically placed to take advantage of the city and coastline views. —Patrick Brzeski

Walled Garden House; This six-bedroom home near Basingstoke was a fairly modest 18th-century cottage until its current owners added two new extensions to the ground floor. —Nick Clayton

The Bambino's Other House; The former home of baseball great Babe Ruth in central Massachusetts has come on the market for $1.65 million, complete with an upstairs shrine to the Sultan of Swat. -- Stefanos Chen

Built around 1790, this farmhouse in Sudbury, Mass., was once the home of baseball great Babe Ruth, according to town historian, Lee Swanson, at the Sudbury Historical Society and Mike Gibbons, executive director of the Babe Ruth Birthplace ...

London Mews House; This three-bedroom former stables and carriage house in central London has been transformed by its owner, designer Jonathan Reed. —Nick Clayton

Cleanup Mapped for N.J. Toxic Site

JERSEY CITY—Not long ago, city officials here and Honeywell International Inc. were at war over the fate of more than 100 acres of chromium-contaminated land on the city's gritty western edge.

'Topping Out' High in the Manhattan Sky; Boston Properties' 40-story office tower project in Manhattan passed a milestone last week on its way to becoming the first new Midtown office building in three years.

The 1.1 million square foot tower, known as 250 West 55th St., was "topped out" last week, meaning the last beam was placed at the top of the building.

New Plan for a Growth Area

A venture of JDS Development Group and Starwood Capital Group aims to break ground within months on a 50-story condominium and retail tower in a part of Midtown Manhattan that's already seeing a rash of new development.

Private Properties

Celine Dion Lists a Private Island in Canada for $29.3 Million Singer Celine Dion and her husband, manager René Angélil, have listed their private island home in Quebec, Canada, for 29.7 million Canadian dollars, or $29.3 million.

Bronx Mansion Goes Beyond Bling; Manhattan may be king of real-estate eye candy, but the other boroughs have their share of bling. Among the gems on the market: A $14.98 million Riverdale mansion built in 1928 for the second coming of Jesus Christ.

A Riverfront Jaguar Lair

STATS: A house of more than 14,000 square feet with six bedrooms, six full baths and two half-bathrooms, coming up for auction on May 24 through Concierge Auctions with no minimum bid. The buy-it-now price is $5.5 million or approximately ...

Should You Purchase Long-Term-Care Insurance?

Long-term-care insurance. It's a subject most people don't want to think about—but many people know they need to. At first blush, policies that help pay the costs of extended nursing care make perfect sense. Bills add up quickly when you can ...

Asian Contemporary in Bel Air; A dynamic art collection and a soothing verdant backdrop led to the marriage of Asian influences in this 5,375-square-foot Southern California home.-- Stefanos Chen

The owners, Marcia Selz, 65, and her husband Eduardo Subelman, 64, purchased a home on this 0.67-acre lot in Los Angeles's Bel Air area for $1.25 million in 1998, according to public records. They tore down the existing home and built this ...

Mortgage delinquencies, foreclosures trend lower; Divergence in data underlying MBA’s positive report on first quarter

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The proportion of mortgages in the foreclosure process or at least one payment past due has fallen to the lowest combined rate since 2008, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Wednesday in its delinquency report ...

Skip the dorm, buy your kid a condo

Prices in many real-estate markets may be close to bottoming out. We hope. So the old adage about buying low may be something to consider if you have a kid who will soon be heading off to college. The idea is to buy a condo for the kid to ...

Home Depot Gets a Weather Boost

Home Depot Inc.'s fiscal first-quarter earnings rose 27% as unseasonably warm weather in many regions across the country inspired customers to complete exterior projects and start spring-related tasks early.

In a Tub, and Up to Your Ears in Relaxation

The Swedish sauna, Turkish bath and Russian banya have some new competition in U.S. bathrooms: the Japanese ofuro. Manufacturers are adapting the extra-deep soaking tub, used in Japan for a relaxing, meditative up-to-the-neck soak, for the ...

An Alpine Retreat in New Zealand; This seven-bedroom house in Queenstown, New Zealand, with lake and mountain views has been used as a bed and breakfast for the past decade. —Vanessa Ko

Billings Slip Back

After five months of positive readings, the Architecture Billings Index slipped back into negative territory during April, an indication that demand for design services declined.

Gallerist Paul Kasmin; Talking trips, toothpaste and Tati with the dealer and author of a new book on the Lalannes

TURNING GOOD TASTE INTO A BUSINESS is a tricky thing. London-born, New York-based contemporary art dealer Paul Kasmin stands out—not just as one of Manhattan's snappiest dressers, but as an example of the special success that can come from ...

Equestrian Estate in Pennsylvania; This 135-acre equestrian compound has been in the same family for more than a century. It includes four homes, pastures, horse stables and plenty of land for generations to come. -- Stefanos Chen

Martin Benchoff, 48, and his sister Helen, 58, are the fourth generation of Benchoffs to own this 135-acre property in southern Pennsylvania. Mr. Benchoff's great-grandfather, James Madison Benchoff, purchased a portion of the current ...

On the (Old) Road to New York; This 18th-century estate in New York's Westchester County includes a centuries-old milestone used to direct stagecoach drivers and once had its own baseball team. --Stefanos Chen

Singapore Home Sales Stay Strong

SINGAPORE—Sales of new private homes in Singapore rose in April to a near three-year high, government data showed Tuesday, as transactions exceeded 2,300 units for an unprecedented third straight month amid resilient demand in the ...

Battles at One World Trade

After years of delays and fighting over the rebuilding of the World Trade Center, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the site is the battleground for yet another dispute, as the tallest structure on the site nears completion.

Plan Upends Willets Vision

New York City officials are shaking up one of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's key development priorities, putting off for years the creation of a new neighborhood in Queens' Willets Point and calling first for a large retail center next to Citi ...

Is Now the Time to Buy Your First House?

It's been a scary few years for the housing market. But at some point, the nightmare has to end (please?). Is now the time? Should first-time home buyers consider jumping into the market?

Restored French Monastery; This 11-bedroom property in southwest France includes a restored 18th-century monastery and two cottages set in 40 acres of parkland and hazelnut plantations. —Nick Clayton

Where To; The End-Table Game; How tall? Must they match? Decorator Alexa Hampton puts an end to the confusion

I THINK IT'S TIME WE all took a moment to reflect on the end table. In my professional capacity, I notice that it doesn't get an enormous amount of respect. Perhaps it's in the name. A "center" table sounds commanding. A "console," ...

A Jungle Retreat in Bali; Set within the Balinese hinterland is this four-bedroom house built from old telegraph poles. The two-acre property includes a two-story guesthouse and an infinity pool. —Payal Uttam

Modern Country Home; This recently completed five-bedroom house is located in quiet countryside about an hour from central London. —Nick Clayton

Istanbul Villa; This six-bedroom home on the European shore of the Bosphorus was built in 1999 in a fashionable district close to the center of Istanbul. —Nick Clayton

Chelsea's Perennial Inspiration

One of London's biggest see-or-be-seen events has always been the RHS Chelsea Flower Show's gala, the preview the day before the main event opens, with corporations paying as much as £200,000 to participate and highbrow attendees ...

Open-Air Status Symbols

There are all kinds of envy in this town. There's money envy against those who have more, often obscenely more, of the stuff than you do. There's apartment envy, which often correlates closely with money envy. There's career envy, ...

To Doze, Design in Hong Kong; In an industrial section of the city, a vast loft is a place to stretch out

Hong Kong After graduating from Cornell University's architecture school, friends Kevin Chin-Kwok Lim and Edward Yujoong Kim moved to Hong Kong, one of the priciest real estate markets on earth. Mr. Lim, 26, who grew up in the city, moved ...

Contemporary Mews House; This three-bedroom house in London has been completely rebuilt to incorporate a basement kitchen level and a top floor master suite linked by a cantilevered glass staircase.—Nick Clayton

The New First Family of Real Estate; An $85 million L.A. mansion with a 500-worker renovation team. A $70 million London home. Two heiresses are swiftly amassing a global property portfolio—and they're part of a new generation of young, ultra-wealthy buyers.

Some kids cost a fortune. In a real estate shopping spree of epic proportions, the daughters of Formula 1 Racing boss Bernie Ecclestone have snapped up hundreds of millions of dollars worth of high-profile properties in the past 18 months. ...

Fearing the Worst on Park Avenue

The national luxury-home builder Toll Brothers is moving to alter two small, pre-Civil War houses that survive amid the tall co-ops of Park Avenue, despite lobbying efforts by neighbors to save them.

Young Buyers, Big Numbers; Three other ultra-wealthy offspring who are making waves at the very top of the luxury real estate market.

Megan Ellison, the 26-year-old daughter of Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, spent more than $30 million to buy three homes in the Hollywood Hills over the last few years, one of which she put on the market this spring for $15.5 million. Ms. ...

White Carrara Countertops, 1988-2012, RIP

I'VE BEEN DEVOTED to the goes-with-everything look of honed white marble countertops for years, using Carrara in three of my own kitchen renovations—traditional town house, gritty loft and Adirondack cottage—as well as recommending it to ...

Design Save the Queen

As Queen Elizabeth II prepares to mark her 60th year on Britain's throne with celebrations, including a ride down the River Thames in the royal barge, designers are capturing the historic moment with thousands of collectibles, from kitsch ...

China Property Investment Cools Further

SHANGHAI—Investment in property development in China slowed in April, as housing sales continued to be weak despite government campaigns to bring down prices and support first-home buyers, deterring would-be developers from purchasing land.

A Modern 'Traditional'; This 'traditional-style' home in Sag Harbor, N.Y., conceals a decidedly modern streak—it was built recently.—Stefanos Chen

Permits Climb As Developers Up Their Bets

Manhattan is starting to shake off its construction doldrums and could see the first flurry of building activity since the recession, according to the city's Department of Buildings.

Schools, Easy Commute Top Rye Checklist

For the deep-pocketed buyer with a checklist, Rye, in southern Westchester, just might be the city that has everything. Commute? The train ride to New York City is well under an hour. Waterfront? The community borders the Long Island Sound.

Garden's Prospects Dim Under Condo Plan

A planned four-story apartment building threatens to cast a long shadow—literally—over a prominent Park Slope community garden, upsetting area residents who say the new condos would adversely affect the garden's plantings.

Orange County Votes to Keep Brutalist Building

Elected officials in Goshen, N.Y., voted Thursday against a resolution to demolish and replace the Orange County Government Center, a late-1960s building in the small Hudson Valley town that sparked debate on the value of modern ...

Hong Kong Peak Property; Perched near the top of Hong Kong's priciest neighborhoods is this European-style townhouse with panoramic views of the city skyline and subtropical forests covering the mountainside. —Tara Loader Wilkinson

Bringing Work Home; A white-water kayaker builds out his vision in the Columbia Gorge

White Salmon, Wash. The child of a back-to-the-land mother, Tao Berman grew up in the mountains of northern Washington, in a decrepit barn with no running water, no electricity and no heat. In the summers his family slept outside under tarps ...

A Design Legend's Legacy; For sale: iconic items from Albert Hadley's home

DECORATOR Albert Hadley's Manhattan apartment was a place to drink gin, eat peanuts, smoke a Camel or two and revel in the warm company of one of the great gentlemen of our age. It was also a place to discover how personal and Spartan real ...

Private Properties

Late Heiress Huguette Clark's New York Apartments Sell for About $55 Million Three Manhattan apartments owned by the estate of reclusive heiress Huguette Clark are under contract for a total of roughly $55 million. There are multiple buyers ...

Pointed Spat Over World Trade Spire; Developer's Plan to Alter Top of New Tower Arouses Architects' Ire

As construction of One World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan moves toward completion, the building's owners are sparring with their architects over what goes on top of the 104-story tower—a dispute that could stop the structure being ...

Restored Medieval Priory; This six-bedroom house and fully restored 13th century chapel is close to the city of Girona and the beaches of the Costa Brava in north east Spain. —Nick Clayton

Old Europe on the Upper East Side; This 1,900-square-foot duplex apartment on New York's Upper East Side is home to centuries-old European antiques and paintings that give the space an aristocratic touch.-- Stefanos Chen

In the Mood for Thai; Designer Vicente Wolf travels the Silk Road to find practical wisdom and poetry in an eclectic Bangkok home

BORN IN CUBA, based in New York and a peripatetic globe-trotter, Vicente Wolf is known for his worldly style. His interiors mix pieces from different genres, eras and cultures—18th-century French next to African, Mies van der Rohe ...

Over a Bay in Phuket; Along the northwestern coastline of Phuket, Thailand, this Chinese-Thai styled villa faces the Andaman Sea. —Andre Cooray

Makeover Time for Rentals of a Certain Age

When the Clarendon was built in the late 1970s, it was one of the early modern high-rise buildings in the picturesque Kips Bay neighborhood, with the latest in interior design: parquet floors, Formica countertops and popcorn ceilings.

'Rock' Climbing: Arena Area Sees Growth

The New Jersey Nets have played their last basketball game in Newark, but property developments in the shadow of the Prudential Center, the Nets' former home, give no indication of a loss.

Big Bucks for Big Owners

SL Green Realty Corp., the largest owner of Manhattan office buildings, has taken heat for its generous levels of executive compensation, but it isn't backing down. The company's total compensation in 2011 for its five top honchos inched up ...

Putting the Tech in Metrotech; Start-Up MakerBot Industries to Move to Downtown Brooklyn; Engineers Mixing With Office Workers

MakerBot Industries' 3-D printers can create everything from jewelry to bottle openers seemingly out of thin air. Now developers are hoping the hip tech company will work similar magic on dowdy Downtown Brooklyn.