Originally owned by US based Haworth Inc, a manufacturing firm, it was built Smed family of Calgary. The total area of this estate is 27,000 square feet. A main home, guest house, porch and a water tower apart, there is a lounge with fireplace, and a training and conference area.

The main residence measures 15,000 square feet, has seven guest suites, an industrial chef kitchen, dining room and lounge. Its  media room can seat over 20 people. The guest house of 12,000-square-feet has six separate suites. It has been a famous luxury executive retreat, hosting politicians and celebrities.

It has put to rest a prior sale in June 2008 – a six-bedroom Crescent Heights home that garnered $7.5 million.
The Falkridge property has been dubbed an architectural masterpiece.

Other features of the property include heated tile flooring, spa-like ensuites, private balconies with mountain and gold course views.

Via: sothebyrealty

 The recession has hit almost every industry quite badly and the plight of the real estate industry is no different. Changes in the price of real estate have led to despair amongst land owners and buyers as well.

The City Center project in Las Vegas had been one of the most high priced developments in the country wih $8.4 billion being invested in the project. Changes in the price of real estate, however, account for a great deal of loss for those involved. Buyers reveal that with the fall in market value, they are now paying more than the building is worth and wish for the price to either be reduced or to be reimbursed for this loss.

Some £313 million in deposits have gone into the 2,44o unit complex and buyers are now approaching law firms in hopes of recovering their money or looking for a fairer deal from the principal developer of the project, MGM Mirage. Home sale prices in Las Vegas have fallen 30% in the past year, however, MGM Mirage reveals that it has not planned in offering discounts to any new buyers or on reimbursing the earlier buyers as yet.

Via: WSJ

Aquiva is one of the most elegant and stylish yachts in the world and what makes Aquiva different is that it is the world’s largest floating hotel. It was supposed to open in time for London 2012 Olympics. Unfortunately, the Aquiva Hotel won’t be launched until the recession gets better.

The people behind Aquiva including Steve Tight revealed that the luxury industry may seem to be throbbing but the undercurrents of recession has severely affected the whole market. Thus they have decided to wait for the recession to pass.

Aquiva comes with 158 rooms and suites, an onboard ballroom, a spa, gym, pool, bars and several restaurants to entertain and regale the guests. It also has the very handy business centre. It can seat 300 guests and will have seven decks. All plans are on hold and would be resumed when the global economy improves.

Wine tasting prior to purchase is very important for the satisfaction of the customer. If a customer does not get to taste how his wine tastes and still is forced to buy, then he may develop a bad opinion about the place where its being sold. Hence, proper wine serving systems are required in order to make sure wine is not wasted due to over spillage and other such problems.

Enomatic has unveiled a tasting concept which makes sure none of the wine is wasted and also that the wine is served hygeinically and that too, in the right quantity. You can also be sure that you would be providing wine which is the most hygienic thanks to the self cleaning system. This means, you would not even have to clean the wine dispenser ever.

There is this ELITE line which comes with Plug and Play technology, temperature control, touch screen display, LCD, high quality design and others. There is no information about the price so you can contact the company.

Via: Open PR

The limited edition Blackberry Bold from Selfridges is almost sold out. It entered the sales market at the outset of this week. According to reports gathered from Selfridges, it has been confirmed that six of the 10 limited edition yellow Blackberry Bold handsets have already been sold. The sales seem to be moving rather fast.

This is perhaps a bad news for those who have been eying on it to own one (not bad for the store though). Worse still is that out of the remaining four, two have already been earmarked and practically all of them would be sold by the weekend. The handset comes with yellow number buttons and a certificate of authenticity in a black and yellow box.

The handset costs a whopping £1000.This is why I say some folks just do not seemed to be affected by the heat of recession that’s burning most people’s pockets all over. I am glad that the handsets will be over during the weekend. At least I will not be tempted to splurge on it like some of the rich folks.

Via: PocketLint

The Bamboo Bicycle: the bike by Ross Lovegrove is handcrafted in denmark using Brazillian bamboo specialist flavio deslandes.

Have a little interest in science fiction? Digg into the 10 things Science fiction has got right!

Recession leading to visible drop in chef salaries: While executive chef salaries witnessed a drop of 3.5% (from $77,611 to $74,869); chef/owners had to face bigger decline of 9.7% (from $94,288 to $85,179).

Need Massage: Now a vibrating plastic dog is at your service. Wait till 1 June and spare $15 to avail this service.

Ylight: Now tire changing will be a child’s play, courtesy designer André Monteiro

Chiller Bin: Designed by Philip Stankard for LG’s refrigerator, the storage compartment understands well the managerial habits of the users and offers enough storage for alcohol bottles in your freezer.

Drinkable Pee: Kudos to designer Leonardo Manavella for thinking to an extent where nature’s call can resolve your crisis. Yes, this prototype has a potential to turn urine into drinkable water.

Etiquette Checker: If bedding with your beloved is becoming scary cause of poor breath and also you doubt the intake of alcohol your darling has had then time to switch on Etiquette Checker from TopMan. It ranks your breath from good to bad (1-6) and alcohol level in 0.5 increments.

Mercedes 300SL Gullwing Panamericana Concept: Designed by engineer Arturo Alonso of Gullwing-America, this fiberglass model features a contemporary 5.5-litre Mercedes V8, producing around 370bhp.

Recession does not quite seem to be a word the decadent ones recognize with. While most of the world is busy fighting for the basic needs of life, these bunch full splurge and how. Some are just born lucky not to worry about money be it during the Great Depression or any other recession for that matter. And there are enough smart designers to rake it in from them. When we go ahead and purchase expensive products only the rich get richer. The famous designer Francis Hooper intends to do just that saying his collections at the Air New Zealand Fashion Week were inspired to make women spend more on luxury items.

The best of the lot had to be the hand-sewn Swarovski crystals in a collection named “There is No Depression” costing around a whopping $33,000 and must help you ease of the burden off your bank accounts. It’s no wonder couture outfits like these after making an appearance or two on the ramp and fashion news remain pretty much unused in the collector’s wardrobe.

Making a signature look with such outfits could be an idea worth considering here. Riche riches keep living their fantasies and these designers to come up with more luxury products encouraging it.

Via TrendHunter