Return of Real Estate Porn

This is Anne Rice's house in La Jolla, CA. Isn't it a beauty? I couldn't resist sharing it with you. I'm not a big fan of her books apart from The Mummy, which is a hoot and a half, but I admire her taste in real estate. She used to own various properties in New Orleans, including the house that she used for the Mayfair witches in The Witching Hour, a book that I loathed but I couldn't put down.

Yes, Real Estate Porn is back. I just discovered that there is a whole web-site called Curbed devoted to those of us who have the addiction, and Michael Gross just wrote a book on 740 Park Avenue, destined to be a classic like Stephen Birmingham's book on The Dakota (read it, it's fabulous, you can find it in the library).

I actually once thought about becoming a real estate agent. The Queen Bee used to be a real estate agent. She wrote her first book while working at Corcoran. I'd even inquired at various real estate agencies (in New York you need to be sponsored by an agent to get your license) but I read in New York Magazine that the market is flooded right now with agents, so I'm going to take a pass for now, but I may eventually take the plunge and get my license.

To further my addiction, I recently discovered this show on TLC called Moving Up while working on Saturday night. I actually had to watch it for work, and I fell in love with it. The premise is that say for instance, I bought Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt's house (let's just say they're still married) and the bought Madonna's house. We each renovate our new abode to our taste, and then the previous owner comes back to see what you did to their house. You then get to watch their reactions on a video monitor. It's fabulous to see what people say particularly when they don't like what the new owners have done to their house. It's almost as much fun as Trading Spaces when people see what Hildy has done to their room. Cardboard furniture anyone?

This photo to the left is from Tuxedo Estates in Tuxedo, New York, a planned community by Pierre Lorillard in the late 19th century. Get this, the guy who it was built for, his last name was Poor! Yes, the house is referrered to as the Poor Palace. However, the Poor Palace isn't poor, the price is a whopping $10,000,000 for this house. You definitely have to be rich to own the Poor Palace.

Tell the truth, have you ever lusted after an apartment or a house that you've seen in a magazine. Do ever feel the urge to run to Home Depot after watching Trading Spaces or another home improvement show.

Confess!