Luxury Markets: What Do The Wealthy Really Want In Their Homes?

By KIMBERLEY HAAS Large saltwater pools, massage rooms, and places to store extensive wine collections are popular, but there may be more important things to prospective mansion buyers. During the National Association of Real Estate Editors conference in Las Vegas this month, a panel discussion was held to flush out current demands in the luxury market. Speaking during “Mansions 2024” was Mike Leipart, managing partner of The Agency Development Group; Rob Jensen, president of the Rob Jensen Company; Architect Michael Gardner of Luxus Design Build; and Architect Johnny Cruz of Robert A.M. Stern Architects. Here are five key takeaways: Wellness technology is popular with the rich. Leipart said he was in a home recently where the owner had a sauna,…

Look At A Newport, Rhode Island Mansion Where “The Gilded Age” Is Filmed

By KIMBERLEY HAAS Fans of HBO’s “The Gilded Age” can take a guided tour of one of the mansions where the popular show created by Julian Fellowes is being filmed this fall. “The Gilded Age” begins in 1882 with the character Marian Brook moving from rural Pennsylvania to New York City to live with her thoroughly old-money aunts, Agnes van Rhijn and Ada Brook after the death of her father. The show’s first-year finale earned 1.6 million viewers across HBO platforms, according to Alexandra Del Rosario at Deadline. Rotten Tomatoes critics said the show has “an outstanding cast making the travails of the rich a compelling watch.” In real life, The Elms was the summer home of Mr. and Mrs. Edward…

Look At The Crown Jewel Of Newport, Rhode Island Mansions

By KIMBERLEY HAAS The Breakers mansion is a grand summer “cottage” that symbolizes the Vanderbilt family’s social and financial pre-eminence in the Gilded Age and you can tour this luxurious estate by the sea. Built between 1893 and 1895 at the cost of over $7 million, this National Historic Landmark located at 44 Ochre Point Avenue in Newport, RI, was the summer home of Cornelius Vanderbilt II. He became the president and chairman of New York Central Railroad in 1885. The Vanderbilt family was one of the wealthiest and most prominent families in America. According to The Preservation Society of Newport County, the Breakers was everything a millionaire of the Gilded Age could want in a summer getaway with its…