New Classes from our friend, Correspondent Maria Hodkins!

Late Summer Greetings to You!
Two more offerings yet this September for some juicy JOURNALING--in a gorgeous landscape in the high country when Fall colors will be almost at their peak.  What ecstacy, to be drinking in the landscape and recording wonders in the journal.  Join me in the Aspen, CO area for either (or both) classes at Aspen Center for Environmental Studies (ACES)

What a great getaway it will be!
~Maria 

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 - HAND MADE NATURE JOURNALS
9:00 am to 5 pm - ACES at Hallam Lake in AspenHave you always wanted to do this?  Learn to make a practical and beautiful journal to capture sketches, field notes, and writings about nature. In this one-day class you will make a simple hand-made book, with multimedia paper and a decorative cover, hand-sewn with a Coptic stitch.  Read more...

SATURDAY & SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 17-18 - SPIRIT OF PLACE:  Capturing Timelessness through Illuminated Journaling
9:00 am to 5 pm - ACES at ToklatSome places on Earth seem to hold a unique aura about them, a seamless blend of the natural world and the human spirit, creating a very special energy beyond ordinary experience.  Spend a weekend at Toklat (ACES Interpretive Center, 12 miles up the road in Castle Creek Valley) with sketchbook, pen and color, gathering images from the natural world, and writing words that illuminate the moment, reveal the natural history, and capture the timelessness of this special place.  And for you teachers, this course is offered for one graduate credit from Adams State College - Read more...

To register, call 970.925.5756  Aspen Center for Environmental Studies
or online at www.aspennature.org

Update: Birbaum Sues Gallin

Earlier today we passed along a scandalicious report from TMZ about Hollywood heavyweight Roger Birnbaum suing legendary talent manager turned high-end house flipper Sandy Gallin. Mister B claims the house he bought from Mister G back in 2007 now "leaks like a sieve" and he wants half a million dollars (or so) to make the appropriate repairs.



Your Mama just knew deep down in our dark heart this legal dispute was going to get bitterly vicious and we told the children to pop some popcorn and get ready for the fireworks. Sure enough, here they come, even sooner than we imagined and brighter than a supernova.



Ooo-wee, children. Brace yourselves. Mister Gallin may be a mincer but he's clearly not one to mince words when it comes to his real estate reputation. TMZ followed up with a second report that Mister Gallin filed a counter suit against Mister Birnbaum that positively hisses that '" [Birnbaum] is motivated by his well-known miserly and parsimonious behavior in his efforts to avoid paying for the roofing remodel himself, which he believes will increase the value of the property that is , embarrassingly to Birnbaum, worth less than what he paid for it.'''



Snap!

Kirstie Alley Wants to Sell Maine Estate

SELLER: Kirstie Alley

LOCATION: Isleboro, ME

PRICE: $2,350,000

SIZE: 3,371 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms



YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Every now and then Your Mama gets a ringy-dingy from a friendly snitch in a far off place we know little about who, for whatever reason(s), knows their celebrity real estate stuff backward and forward. Such was the case the other day when we awoke to a covert communique from an unknown informant we'll call Muffy Devareaux who tattled to Your Mama that Fat Actress and (once again) newly svelte Dancing With the Stars runner-up Kirstie Alley put her florid house in semi-remote Isleboro, ME on the market with an asking price of $2,350,000.



Public property records show Miss Alley's retreat on the rugged and dramatic coast of Maine was built in 1993, measures 3,371 square feet and that she acquired it in her own name in April 2003 for $1,150,000. Listing information, on the other hand, shows the 12-room clapboard-sided residence includes 5 bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms in a suspiciously snug sounding 2,048 square feet. We don't know why the discrepancy in square footage but iffin we were the wagering type–and we're not–Your Mama would bet our long-bodied bitches Linda and Beverly both that Miss Alley's Isleboro hideaway is closer to 3,400 square feet than 2,000 square feet.



Once upon a time, in our long ago dewy youth, Your Mama occasionally visited Maine's gay-gay-gay seaside community of Ogunquit where our old and dear pal Flower's family owned a modest modernist cedar and glass summer home. Of course, being natural born contrarians, we only went north to Maine in the late fall and early winter when all the sunbathers had retreated like the tide back to whatever east coast community they called home during the more inclement months of the year. As much as we loved our trips to Maine, the truth is, we rarely ventured farther than the back yard so we know precious little about Maine in general and even less about the upscale summer enclave of Isleboro. A few minutes research on the interweb did teach Your Mama that the somewhat remote and very quiet community is accessible only by ferry or private plane, has long been a gathering spot for rugged blue bloods, Mayflower lock-jaws and various other wealthy folks, and counts at least one other property owner besides Miss Alley who is both a famous actor and a committed Scientologist. Since at least the late 1990s John Travolta and his long-time wife Kelly Preston have owned a massive Tudor Revival style pile on Isleboro all done up and did over with a very traditional English Country house type day-core that was featured in a 1999 issue of Architectural Digest.



Miss Alley's Isleboro getaway, scenically sited on a mild slope above Jones Cove has a bone-chilling but oddly interesting girly-grandma day-core that looks to Your Mama like a kind of geriatric homage to the explosive (and expensive) mixy-matchy floral print and multicolored chintz extravaganzas that made high-class decorator Mario Buatta rich and famous. Well, at least he's famous in the persnickety world of nice, gay decorators, design critics and magazine/blog editors.



Anyhoo, we're not sure who might be responsible for the frilly and almost frighteningly feminine day-core at Miss Alley's shore side cottage in Maine but it all looks to Your Mama like the still-sexy-at sixty Miss Alley dispersed an army of wild-eyed and budget-unencumbered assistants to scour flea markets and yard sales up and down the eastern seaboard to fill the house with old-school doo-dads and gew-gaws that reach back into the days when women were expected to be happy homemakers and domestic dervishes who bake, vacuum and launder day in and day out with a frozen smile on their face, an apron around their waist, and a cloth-diapered baby on each their broad child-bearing hips.



The one-noted decorative style aside, listing information shows luscious wide-plank wood floors run throughout the main living areas which include a few sitting rooms–some with fireplaces and vaulted ceilings with exposed beams–an intimately-scaled formal dining room with built-in buffet, and a country kitchen with Viking brand and retro-style appliances, and old-school marble counter tops. Open shelving display Miss Alley's rather extensive looking pastel-colored collection of vintage glass- and dishware. An enviably gigantic pantry has a dee-voon vaulted pitched vaulted ceiling, vintage wash sink, portable center work island with butcher block counter top, and row after row of open shelves where Miss Alley displays dozens of vintage vases and various other breakable tchotchke.



Each of the bedrooms and bathrooms were given the same effusive and powdery cottage-style decorative rigamarole as the home's more public rooms. The sleeping chambers and terliting facilities all look to Your Mama like the sort of über-quaint high-end bed and breakfast we avoid like the plague. Bed and breakfasts are fine for those who prefer to take their temporary accommodations with a heavy dose of antique cuteness, either authentic or faux. Your Mama and the Dr. Cooter just prefer something less decoratively saccharine and aggressively charming.



Anyhoo, beautifully and lushly maintained gardens surround the house as do various porches and decks that exploit Maine's temperate summertime weather. At one end of the house a covered porch with outdoor fireplace makes for a shaded spot from which to survey the grassy grounds that slope gently towards the water. A dining deck off the main living rooms at the rear of the residence offers a more direct and dramatic view of the coastline through a sparse stand of tall trees. For the record, Your Mama can be an absolute push over for brightly colored things and we're jelly-kneed with desire for the octagonal picnic table and we die for the yellow umbrella trimmed like Ronald McDonald with a vigorous red-orange scallop.



A pathway with hand-carved handrail slopes from the back deck to the secluded estate's 634 feet of water's edge where a narrow wood dock stretches out over the lapping waters to a floating dock perfect for sunbathing, fishing–if you like fishing, which we do not–and parking watercraft.



Naturally we don't have any idea why Miss Alley would want to unload her flagrantly feminine house in Isleboro but, perhaps she just wants to lighten her rather heavy, costly, and high maintenance real estate load.



Miss Alley's other known real estate holdings are significant and include (but are not limited to) a gated estate with a 6,958 square foot mansion originally built in 1931 and located in a prime section of the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles that she bought back in September 2000 for $2,998,000. In March 2008, property records reveal Miss Alley dropped $1,800,000 for a 7,948 square foot mansion with 10 poopers in Clearwater, FL. Clearwater might seem a slightly unusual locale for a Tinseltowner to own a huge home but Clearwater happens to be the spiritual headquarters of the Church of Scientology, the religion to which Miss Alley is famously affiliated. Property records also indicate that Miss Alley owns several homes in her native Wichita, KS as well as a 300-plus acre ranch spread tucked deep into a remote canyon outside of Ashland, OR.



listing photos: Legacy Properties / Sotheby's International Realty

New Fall Classes Starting At ImaginaryTrips.com!

Gosh, it seems odd to be writing Fall when it's still hotter than blazes outside! All the same, the new classes start next week over at ImaginaryTrips.com!

An Imaginary Trip to Paris will begin on Tuesday, September 6th. You can find more information by clicking here.

An Imaginary Trip to New Orleans will start on Monday, September 12th! It will be a whole lot of fun in that great city. Please click here for info on this trip!

Also starting on Monday, September 12th, is Artful Journaling: Foundations class! For more information on getting started with watercolor journaling, please click here!

Please let me know of any questions you may have.

Thanks!

Laure

Legal Brief: Birnbaum Sues Gallin

Hold on to your legal britches bitches because it seems pop music superstar Rihanna isn't the only high profile person in Hollywood engaged in an ugly legal dispute over (alleged) construction defects and water proofing issues at a multi-million dollar mansion in Beverly Hills (CA).



According to gossip juggernaut TMZ Tinseltown tycoon Roger Birnbaum, currently co-CEO and co-Chairman of MGM–recently filed suit in the Los Angeles County Superior Court against talent manager turned high-end house flipper Sandy Gallin. Mister Birnbaum's suit claims that not only did his swanky Bev Hills house began to leak last winter but that there are also significant dry rot and rust issues. He's seeking, as per the peeps at TMZ, $500,000 to cover repairs and related costs.



Mister Gallin, as per prop records and previous reports, paid $5,350,000 for a run down residence on a squeezy .39 acre flag lot in the lower Benedict Canyon area in November 2005. He transformed the house into a 7,187 square foot contemporary farmhouse wrapped in gray shingles. Stylistically the house (shown above in listing photos) could comfortably be picked up and dropped on to a farm view parcel in the Hamptons. Mister Gallin sold the casual but sophisticated residence to Mister Birnbaum in May 2007 for $16,500,000.



Your Mama discussed Mister Birnbaum's Gallinified mansion at length back in April 2009 when, less than two years after he bought the it, he had a real estate change of heart and flipped the property back on the market with a $16,000,000 price tag. As of this morning Mister Birnbaum's real estate thorn in his side has been on the open market 871 consecutive days without a single price reduction.



Current listing information states the mini-estate is "of unparalleled quality, timeless design, the finest materials and accoutrements." Maybe it is and maybe it isn't. Given the legal matters at hand we are certainly not about to pass judgement as regards to the quality of the house. However, Mister Birnbaum's lawsuit a priori calls this characterization of the house into question. If he thinks he's had a tough time selling this house for $16,000,000–and 871 consecutive days on the market with no price reduction does indicate he's had a real devil of a time unloading his albatross–then a publicized lawsuit that alleges the house has serious defects and construction flaws will not likely help his plight. He has, by his lawsuit, turned this "estate of unparalleled quality" into something of a fixer upper with at least half a million clams in necessary repairs.



Of course, all this judicial ugliness does not mean that someone won't still and shortly fall in love with Mister Birnbaum's fixer and pay through the nose to buy it. However, all this business does suggest that he just might not be able to sell it for nearly as much as he originally hoped.



Certainly Mister Gallin could quickly and quietly cough up half million clams and be done with the matter but Your Mama fully expects that he'll lawyer up for an honest to goodness real estate cat fight. At that risk of sounding like we're giddy with schadenfreude–we're really not–somebody pop some popcorn and grab some Good & Plentys because multimillionaires who sue the developers of their super pricey properties just might turn into a fascinating trend of cinematic proportions.



listing photos: Everett Fenton Gidley for Westside Estate Agency

Nifty! I did the cover for this one...

Fun to see an old book still out there!  It brings back a lot of memories...and I can almost smell those gorgeous red carnations.  It came out in 1990, so that's quite a trick.

Lots of different artists in this one, myself included, but I think it's the only North Light book I did the cover for that was NOT my own book.


As I recall, it was a great deal of fun, and a real challenge--often the same thing!

It's on sale for $8.00 from the North Light Book Shop, if you're interested...and nope, I don't earn anything on sales of this one, just putting it up in case you're interested!

Did Piazza Sell to Piven?

SELLER: Mike Piazza

BUYER: (allegedly) Jeremy Piven

LOCATION: New York City, NY

PRICE: $4,582,125

SIZE: 3,012 square feet, 2 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms



YOUR MAMAS NOTES: The New York Post reports today that Entourage actor Jeremy Piven recently acquired an approximately 6,000 square foot duplex penthouse in the same swank New York City building where comedian and lefty-liberal agitator Jon Stewart owns a lofty spread. The Post goes on to report that Mister Piven's "Muscular & voluminous" new pad in the downtown neighborhood known as TriBeCa has three bathrooms, 1,800 square feet of outdoor space and "once belonged to former Mets slugger Mike Piazza."



Now children, with all due respect for our gossip compadres at The Post, some of the details they put forth quite simply do not add up. Buckle your mental safety belts, butter beans, we're going to try to use our pea brain to make some sense of the celebrity real estate matter and it gets a little confusing if you're not paying attention.



Back in November 2005 Mister Stewart sold his Greenwich Village apartment for $3,995,000 to sassy and way too tan Project Runway judge and fashion world queen Michael Kors and his new hubby Lance LePere. The Stewart family traded up into a sprawling two floor penthouse in TriBeCa that property records show measures 5,802 square feet, a number very close to 6,000 square feet. Old listing information for Mister Stewart's rather colossal crib states the 3 bathroom duplex has over 600 square feet of private terrace plus an additional 1,200 square feet of private roof space. That totals, as per our bejeweled abacus, 1,800 square feet of outdoor space, the exact amount mentioned in the Post's report this morning. As far as we can tell from our spin through property records, Mister Stewart's penthouse in TriBeCa was never owned by Mike Piazza. In fact, property records and other online reports show Mister Stewart purchased his jumbo penthouse from a quirky turtle collector named Richard Ogust. That's right, a turtle collector right in the heart of downtown New York City.



Anyhoo, the year before, in November (2004), the former catcher for the Mets paid $4,215,874 for the building's other, smaller duplex penthouse. Listing information and previous reports show Mister Piazza's penthouse measures 3,012 square feet and includes 2 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, and 968 square feet of outdoor space. The outdoor living areas of Mister Piazza's pad are divvied up between a glass-walled courtyard off the upper level master bedroom and two separate roof terraces connected by a spiral staircase and outfitted with a built-in all Viking brand outdoor kitchen and weatherproof speaker system.



In short, the peeps at the Post reported that Mister Piven purchased Mister Piazza's penthouse but the apartment details they offer clearly reference the (old and no longer active) listing for Mister Stewart's penthouse next door.



So, whose apartment did Mister Piven purchase? Mister Piazza's or Mister Stewart's? Well, puppeenuh weenas, we have heard zilch about Mister Stewart wanting to sell his penthouse and a few minutes research did not turn up an active listing for his downtown duplex digs.



What we did figure out is that Mister Piazza finally, recently, and at long last unloaded his TriBeCa penthouse that has been on and off the market since at least early August 2008 when he pushed the sleek and sexy bullpen on the market with an asking price of $6,800,000. The price tag quickly dropped to $6,500,000 and after six months on the (open) market the long and lean penthouse was de-listed in early 2009.



Property records and Property Shark show Mister Piazza sold his New York City white elephant in mid-June 2011. The buyer paid a ridiculously complicated $4,582,125. The new owner's identity is shielded behind a newly-minted limited liability company set up, it appears, for the express purchase of the airy apartment. Therefore and in all honesty we are unable at this point to directly connect Mister Piven to Mister Piazza's penthouse.



With all that nonsense in mind, just about all Your Mama can say with certainty is that prop records show Mister Piazza sold his penthouse for $4,582,125 in mid-June 2011. What we do not know for sure is if Mister Piven is the man behind the domestic limited liability company that bought the apartment. Despite the perplexing report in the Post, iffin Your Mama were the wagering type–and we're not–we'd double down on red that Mister Piven did buy Mister Piazza's penthouse. However we haven't the specific intel to make that claim. So, for now folks, Mister Piven's purchase is merely rumor and gossip as far as Your Mama is concerned. Perhaps he'll give us a ringy-dingy on our bedazzled and bedraggled princess phone to let's us know the complete what's what on the matter.



It's unlikely that Mister Piven really will give Your Mama a ringy-dingy–we're not stoopid after all–but we have no doubt whatsoever that we will soon receive an angry phone call and inevitable verbal lashing from our boozy ball-luvin' b.f.f. Fiona Trambeau whose loins burn like a brick oven for Mister Piazza. We know that as soon as ol' Fiona finds out Mister Piven may have purchased Mister Piazza's penthouse she's going to go 49 kinds of berserk. She will probably run into traffic, pee on some one's porch, and eat chicken feet slathered in kimchi. She will most certainly speak in tongues at an ear piercing volume. We fully expect that she will scream bloody murder through the telephone about the absolute vulgarity than an (allegedly) Mercury poisoned man-ho like Jeremy Piven might pollute sacred real estate space once occupied by the physical perfection that is Mike Piazza. Now, hunnies, listen. We are here to tell you that our Miss Trambeau is in no position to cast aspersions at Mister Piven. Beotch has a goddam revolving door on her studio apartment in San Francisco and we shudder to think of the number of goopy STDs Fiona's had over her long, long, loooong years of activity. But cast aspersion she most assuredly will, at length and with a vitriol that borders on mental illness.



Mister Piven has long called Malibu, CA home where back in July 2004 he coughed up $3,500,000 for an ocean front residence near Pepperdine University that the Los Angeles County Tax Man shows measures 2,424 and includes 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.



Mister Piazza and his former Playboy Playmate wife Alicia Rictor made a baby in 2007 and maintain an 8 bedroom and 9 bathroom mansion in Miami Beach, FL he/they bought in early 2008 for $10,000,000.



Uh-oh...Somebody run quick and get Your Mama a nerve pill and bring us a god damn gin & tonic–extra lime, please–because the phone is ringing and it's Fiona...



listing photos and floorplan: Brown Harris Stevens