One of the benefits for those who build distinctive luxury homes is the financial ability to include fantastic designs into their home. Some relatively easy accessories to add are unique lighting features that set a home apart from the normal metal fixtures available in today’s market.
Bi-Plane Fighter Pendant Light from Elk Lighting
Take for instance the above light from Elk Lighting. Their novelty lighting fixtures range from airplanes, sports, space ships, and of course my husband’s favorite, the hockey rink with nets and scoreboard included. Elk Lighting is based out of Pennsylvania and has been in business since 1983. They offer a huge variety of lighting fixtures that pay attention to design and value, striving to provide anything but ordinary. If you get a chance, look through their website at the variety of lighting option available for your project.
While most of us that live in the Twin Cities know that the first place we think of to find high end goods is Edina’s Galleria, the Mall of America, or MOA to us locals, is revamping its style to include some luxury brands previously only reserved for the West side. For those of us that now cringe to travel to the Galleria because traffic is just so dog gone annoying, we can now take a detour to the shops at MOA.
The “South Wing” of the mall is getting a face lift to draw in high-end brands, including porcelain tile and crystal chandeliers, all to a luxury price of $5 Million. Current tenants include Burberry, Hugo Boss, Betsey Johnson, Nordstrom, with more to come in the upcoming months. The true test of keeping these brands here will be sale driven, as rent in MOA is pretty high. Only time will tell if true Lux can survive in Bloomington, the shopping ugly step child of beloved Edina.
If you forgot about the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Lake Minnetonka Luxury Home Tour, aka the Twin Cities, then you have one more weekend to get off the couch and out of the house to view some major architectural homes for sale. Half of the homes surround Lake Minnetonka, and the rest are mostly in Edina, Prior Lake, Credit River Township, so there should be no excuse that the homes are too spread out.
If you have been on the tour in the past few years, you might have already visited a few of the homes as they are repeats, but hey, sometimes it’s fun to keep dreaming. I have always like the home in Credit River Township, so it might be interesting to see it again, but I know I just have to visit the home on Palmer Pointe in Minnetrista.
Tickets cost $20 at Caribou Coffee, or $25 at the luxury homes, but if you only want to see one or two of them, you can always just go the $5 route for each single home. Let me know which homes you liked the best!
On June 25, 2010, the world’s largest gold coin will be auctioned off to a really wealthy bidder. Minted in 2007, the Canadian Maple Leaf weighs 220 pounds and 20 inches wide, and is heavy enough that two men cannot pick it up. Yikes!
The coolest tidbit about the coin is the fact is is made of the purest gold on earth, roughly 99.99% pure. Currently face valued at $1 Million, experts believe it will fetch the current gold rate. So that means since gold is currently priced at $1256/ounce, the coin could go for as much as $4.42 Million.
I know it might be a little hard to be thinking of cruising around Lake Minnetonka with the rays of summer beating down on you, what with all this snow and freezing rain falling down on us. But if you haven’t had to sell your boat due to the economy, and are looking for a place to keep that boat for all those summer escapes on the Lake, then you might want to take a look into Gray’s Bay Marina and the boat slip lottery they are holding on February 17, 2009. Only one slip is available so get your name in to see if you can win it!
Visit the City of Minnetonka website for more info.
Recently a 1913 nickel went up for auction in Florida and quickly turned a five-cent coin into $ 3.7 Million. The coin is unique as only five are known to exist and was minted at the Philadelphia Mint. It has quite a story as it used to belong to the Egyptian King Farouk who was disposed in 1952.
I honestly don’t know if I could ever spend that kind of money on a five cent piece, but I guess if you have the money….
If you need some high quality furniture for the room you are redecorating, or you just moved into your brand new home and need some goods to fill the space, then look no further than the International Market Square in Minneapolis.
For three days, November 5-7th, the American Society of Interior Designers is presenting the Annual Designer Sample Sale, where luxury furnishings are being sold at a 50-80% discount. Admission is free and open to the public so make sure to save the date and have fun shopping!
Do you have a historic home in Minnesota that you love to decorate for Halloween?
This year I am introducing the 1st Annual Historic Home Halloween Contest on my other blog, HistoricHomesofMinnesota.com. Send me an exterior photo of your home of how you decorate for Halloween, and I will pick a winner and post your fantastic historic Halloween home here on my blog. Please send your photos to JKirby@theLuxuryAgent.com by October 24th, and I will post a winner on October 26th. Now don’t be shy, I want to see alot of entries, day or night, which ever you think is better!
If you’ve got some time over the next few weeks, make sure to check out the luxury home tour presented by Midwest Home Magazine. There are 15 new construction homes on the tour found from Stillwater, across the Twin Cities, to Lake Minnetonka. Estimated prices of the homes range from the low $1 Million to as high at $3.59 Million. Tickets can be purchased at Caribou Coffee locations.
Twin Cities Luxury Home Tour June 12-14, 19-21, 26-28, 2009 Friday 1-7pm Sat/Sun 12-6pm
I had some free time in Saint Paul today and thought I would stop by Rice Park to see the ice sculptures done a few days ago in celebration of the Winter Carnival in Saint Paul.
It was really, really cold and my hands were hurting after a couple of minutes. Kind of hard to take a photo with heavy gloves on. I can only imagine how cold the artists became while carving this beautiful pieces of art.
"While holding myself to the highest professional and ethical standards, I pledge to take my clients real estate success to new heights by helping them make prudent real estate decisions, and in the process, prove worthy of their trust and friendship so that I may become a long term friend and advisor."
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All views expressed on the Minneapolis - St Paul Real Estate Blog are those of Jennifer Kirby, and are not to be assumed the views of the Brokerage. Please contact me if you have any questions.
I know it might be a little hard to be thinking of cruising around Lake Minnetonka with the rays of summer beating down on you, what with all this snow and freezing rain falling down on us. But if you haven’t had to sell your boat due to the economy, and are looking for a place to keep that boat for all those summer escapes on the Lake, then you might want to take a look into Gray’s Bay Marina and the boat slip lottery they are holding on February 17, 2009. Only one slip is available so get your name in to see if you can win it!
