Daria Zhukova Leaves Her Nest in The Birds

Let's all hop in our time-capsule hoozy-majigs and go back to November of 2010 when Your Mama happened upon the listing for a 9,691 square foot faux-Tuscan mansion at the tippy-top of The Birds, a star-studded and sexy-sexy neighborhood of steep winding streets–all of which are named after, you got it, birds–that hovers over the heart of the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, CA

Listing information showed the 6 bedroom and 8.5 pooper property was priced at $16,500,000 while property records revealed its owner: Russian multi-billionaire Roman Abramovich's much younger baby momma Daria 'Dasha' Zhukova. Miss Zhukova, according to records, paid $19,500,000 for the beneficially sited property in January of 2010. Although she dates one of the world's most prolific buyers of international trophy properties, it should be noted that Miss Zhukova has her own money thanks to her Russian oil-magnate daddy Alexander Radkin Zhukov. The pampered heiress collects and vends contemporary art and for a short time served as editor-in-chief of the bi-annually published fashion mag Pop.

Anyhoo, within days the listing for Miss Zhukova's nest in The Birds vanished from the interweb and shortly thereafter Your Mama received a friendly but firm communique from one of Miss Zhukova's representatives who insisted that Dasha's big digs in The Birds was "most definitely not for sale."

That was, apparently, a mouthful of hogwash because according to the Wall Street Journal, the striking Russian beauty has done sold her domicile in The Birds for $19,500,000, the exact same price she paid. No transfer records yet appear in any of the online databases we scoured so we're just going to have to take the Wall Street Journal's good word on this.

We had a strong hunch that Miss Zhukova's representative was lying through his little teeth so we're not the least bit surprised by the sale but by far the most juiciest real estate tidbit dropped by WSJ is that Miss Zhukova attempted to buy the two adjacent properties. That would have given Miss Moneybags a sizable compound with serious privacy and the sort of glittery view from downtown to the Pacific Ocean that Los Angeles real estate dreams are built upon.

We're not exactly sure why Miss Zhukova was unable to secure the adjacent properties, particularly since her baby daddy's real estate pockets are startlingly bottomless. One of the adjacent properties has been on and off the market for years and is currently listed with an asking price of $18,000,000. The other adjacent property–a boxy and somewhat forbidding Mexican-modern mansion designed by the late great architect Ricardo Legorreta–was acquired by Irish property investor Patrick McKillen in late 2010 for $9,000,000 a remarkably low number considering it had been listed at a skin-scorching $20,000,000. There's a story there about why Mister McKillen paid what he did but it's Easter bunnies and we just don't have time to forage through the internets to sort it all out. Maybe later...

Given that Miss Zhukova–who we understand lives primarily in London and Moscow where she owns the Garage Center for Contemporary Culture–has deep roots in Los Angeles. Not only did she spend her formative pre-university years in Los Angeles her mother still lives in Lala Land so it seems unlikely that she'll abandon property ownership altogether. And indeed, property records show that Miss Zhukova continues to own a house in Beverly Hills that she bought in November 2007 for $6,495,000. Presumably this is where The Mother lives, but honestly chickens we don't know who, if anyone, lives in that house. For all Your Mama knows Miss Zhukova uses the house as nothing more than a storage facility for her extensive and brutally expensive wardrobe.

Mister Abramovich–and by extension Miss Zhukova–maintain scads of insanely-pricey, ridiculously-ritzy and high-maintenance homes around the world including in celebrity-stocked locales like Aspen, CO, St. Barths in nhe Caribbean, Cap d'Antibes in the south of France and perpetually swinging London. The lavish living globe trotters recently acquired a temporary (and historic) shelter in London's Chelsea area where they can live–or, more accurately, bunk-down when they're in town–until they're able to move into a palatial 30,000 square foot but still under-construction mansion on Lowndes Square in London's upscale Belgravia area.

American Antiques, Folk Art, and Interiors

 

I know this blog usually shows Texan houses with French antiques or houses in France with French antiques, or sometimes Belgian houses with French antiques.  But there are other designers I admire besides Charlotte Moss and  Suzanne Rheinstein.   One such designer I’ve liked for years and years is Karin Blake.    As most who also like Blake,  I first noticed her when she designed Candice Bergen’s house over a decade ago.   The Bergen house really put Blake on the map and introduced her to a wide audience.   Her interiors are very stark;  Blake is a true minimalist.  “There’s not a lot of clutter,” she says. “Each piece stands out, even if it’s a table. You don’t see me with drapes. I even avoid lamps whenever possible.”  Her walls all almost always white and the contrast between light and dark becomes a design element.   Born in Pennsylvania, she attended a Quaker school and spent much time visiting Amish communities – an influence still seen today.   Her accessories are large and spare.  Mostly, she uses American folk art and signs instead of delicate porcelains and plates. 

 

 

An entry hall by Karin Blake features an antique sign and painted floors.   Blake uses large signs in many of her projects.  This one is from the 19th century once graced a hotel.

 

This sign is fabulous!   An antique dough table mixes with an early American firkin.

 

In her own house, Karin mixes modern architecture with lots of American folk art. 

 

This living room combines modern architecture and American folk art.  Notice the coffee table – so trendy today, yet Blake designed this house almost 15 years ago!!!

 

The weather vane is 19th century.  Here Blake combines French antiques with American folk art.  She also typically uses floral fabrics in her designs.

 

 

Great kitchen – love the barn doors on the refrigerator and the modern bar stools. 

 

Why American???   American antiques and folk art are experiencing something of a resurgence.    Auctions have been extremely profitable for collectors of American folk art, paintings and furniture.  Is it because of the popularity of the rather sparse Belgian look that Americans are now looking to their homeland for furnishings?   Or is the current trend a reaction against all the mass produced furniture and accessories coming from eastern countries?   On cable TV, there are over 11 new reality shows about antique pickers – people who crawl around attics and warehouses looking for American treasures to resell.  My husband Ben loves to watch one in particular – “American Pickers” on the History Channel.   Even the NY Times has caught the bug – recently writing several stories about American antiques.

   

American Pickers, one of Ben’s favorite TV shows.  Yeah.  Not quite sure why?

 

 

The popular auction house Skinner Auctions deals with American antiques and they recently listed the most popular items at auction:

 

  1.  Marine paintings are at the top of the list of  popular items.   Paintings of ships and seascapes spurred bidding frenzies at recent auctions.   Favorite artists include Antonio Jacobsen, James Butterworth and William Bradford.  

 

 

2. Painted Antique American Furniture.   It doesn’t matter whether the furniture is fancy or country, or painted in bright or dull colors, these pieces attracted a wide range of bidders. 

 

3.  American Folk Art.  Folk art remains quite popular:   the board games, naïve portraits like above, and advertising signs.   Just one large piece of folk art can set the entire atmosphere in a room. 

 

Last year, I showed a house in Seattle, Washington designed by interior decorator Jane Wood.   The owners had a collection of American portraits, so I named the story, “The Portrait House.”   Comments about this house were many – and most remarked on these haughtily beautiful paintings. To see the story, go HERE. 

 

  The beautiful stair hall features a lantern and four portraits – from one family.

 

Two more portraits are found in the living room.

 

Jane Wood who designed the Portrait House, above, once lived in Houston and now lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.    She recently teamed up with a veteran antique dealer who specializes in American country antiques.   Jane wanted me to see the dealer’s house because it is really unique and a treasure trove of American folk art. 

The dealer, Gloria Oviatt,  is one of the premier American country antiques sellers.  For the past 30 years, she has been doing two to three shows a month, mostly in the midwest.    Gloria lives her work.  Her house is filled with authentic American antiques.   There are few signs of modern life – save for a flatscreen and a laptop.   Most interesting is her house is contemporary!   

 

   Gloria Oviatt’s house in Ann Arbor.   The contemporary house hides what is inside – an incredible collection of American country antiques.    Gloria calls her aesthetic - New Modern Country.  Inside the house there are high ceilings and skylights.    Her walls are white and all the fabrics are an off white plain linen, creating a monochromatic look.   Gloria moved in her house  in 1986.  At that time it was only 900 sq ft.  Since then, she has added on a kitchen and a large family room.   She ripped out all the carpets and replaced them with plain pine boards which she painted….white, of course!   The juxtaposition between the antiques and the contemporary setting is quite unique and I think you will really enjoy this glimpse into the life of a true original! 

 

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  You know at the front door that this is no ordinary house.   The address numbers came from an old Levi’s 501 store.  The old door covers the ‘real” front door. 

 

The floors are pine, painted white.   The coffee table is an old blanket box with original paint.   These chairs remind me of the ones from Restoration Hardware, see HERE. 

 

 

 

This green armoire was one of the first purchases Gloria made.  

 

I wonder where that finial came from?  It’s amazing.

 

Looking through the breakfast room out towards the newly added family room.

 

 

The breakfast room used to be the kitchen before the additions.   I really love the floor!   Notice the dry sink on the left.

 

Looking through the breakfast room to the living room.  I love all her antique signs.  But the upholstered chairs are great – I think they are so amazing.

 

 

  The modern kitchen was once an outside storage room that Gloria enclosed.  There are concrete countertops and modern stainless appliances.   She made the island out of an antique cutting board.

 

 

 

 

The island is incredible.  Love the sign.

 

The family room has modern upholstery mixed with all the antique tables and accessories.  The table under the sign is Amish. 

 

Another view.   A great touch of red in the all white room.

 

This dining room table looks remarkably like all the faux new tables that are so in vogue right now! 

 

In the bathroom, Gloria converted a dry sink into a wet one.  Stainless looks so good against all the antique woods.

 

 

 

The master bedroom is large enough for two seating areas.

 

My favorite vignette in the house – those large treen plates on a shelf – look likes a work of art.   Cute baby quilt.

 

 

She installed this painted mantel in the bedroom even though there is no fireplace.  

 

The guest room is the TV room – one sign of modern life, a flatscreen. 

 

Her office is small in a space taken from the living room.   The signs say it all!

 

 

The gracious homeowner – Gloria Oviatt.  Thank you so VERY much for allowing us this peek into your house!

 

Contact Information:   Gloria Oviatt, 734-663-2523, email: gloriaoviatt@yahoo.com

 

Jane Wood and Gloria teamed up at an antique show last week.  This is what their booth looked liked.  I’m loving the trumeau and the bakers table along the right wall.   They’ll be teaming up again at booth, c-18, at the Ann Arbor Antiques Fair, once a month - 3rd weekend of each month thru October

Here’s a list of Gloria Oviatt’s Upcoming Shows:

Simple Goods, April 23, 9-3pm, 160 Howard St, MtVernon OH 43050, 740/848/4005

Pure and Simple, May 7, 9-3pm, 1500 North Reed Road on US 31, Kokomo, Indiana

Ann Arbor Antiques Market, May 14-15, 10-4, 5055 Ann Arbor-Saline Road,  Ann Arbor, MI  48106

Heartland, June 4, 9-4pm, 861 Salisbury Rd. North, Richmond, IN 47374

 

 

Are you a fan of American antiques and folk art?  Do you like it all, or just a few pieces of folk art here and there?   Has this article opened your mind up to bringing more American into your home?   I really love the antique signs and would love one for my kitchen.  If American antiques aren’t your favorite, what is?  Myself, I’m partial to French antiques first, then English or Italian second.

 

 

Do you shop at One Kings Lane?   I’m really hooked on this place.  They have the best sales – it’s all online, and the merchandise changes daily.  For each sale, someone different is featured.  This weekend Kathryn Ireland will be selling wares from her shop and private collection.   Even if you aren’t a fan of Kathryn’s – there’s lots and lots of other sales going on at the same time.  I just happen to like Kathryn!

 

Remember this picture of Kathryn’s private retreat on her property?  Well, it looks like some of these items or similar ones are going to be in the sale:

 

This chair is in the sale.

Lots of pillows in her own fabrics, like this Suzani are for sale.

 

And this chair too.

The Kathryn Ireland sale runs this Saturday, 4/23 – Tuesday, 4/26.  You have to register to enter the website, but it’s painless and totally worth it!  If you do buy something, send me a picture!   

To visit the sale, go HERE.

 

And Now For Something Personal:

A movie review!!!!   I just went to see the movie Water For Elephants.  If you read the book, then you know how good it is.  If you haven’t read the book, you should – it’s really an easy, good read.   AND, the movie was even better!  I cried like a baby in the first and last scenes – just like I did in the book.     Reese Witherspoon was better than I imagined and Christoph Waltz was as scary as ever.   But, ok, I HAVE to say it, the star, Rob Pattinson of the Twilight Saga movies, was beyond great.   He looks so gorgeous in the movie, it’s almost sinful.   He is going to be a huge star.  OK, OK, back to the movie.    The cinematography was wonderful  - and the sets were so realistic.  You really felt like you were on a circus train traveling through America during the depression.  And Rosie the elephant is adorable.   Go see it!  You will not be disappointed.

 

 

What?   What’s wrong with one more picture from the movie??????   Do you blame me?    What a shayna punim!    OK, that’s Yiddish for beautiful face.  Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson.  It’s worth the price of the admission just to stare at this man’s face!!!!

 

Country Queen Taylor Swift Does it Again

BUYER: Taylor Swift
LOCATION: Beverly Hills, CA
PRICE: $3,550,000
SIZE: 3 bedrooms 3.5 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Reigning pop-country music queen Taylor Swift has gone and done it again, this time on a quiet canyon lane in The 90210.

In late 2009 the four-time Grammy winning whippersnapper paid around two million bucks for a duplex penthouse pad at The Adelicia in downtown Nashville, TN. Just a couple short weeks ago all the celebrity and property gossips went hog wild over the reports that Miss Swift laid out another $1,400,000 to buy a house for her family in an historic Nashville neighborhood.

In addition to all the jibber-jabber about Miss Swift's new Nashville nest(s), the celebrity real estate world has buzzed and salivated for weeks with anticipation over Miss Swift's much whispered-about acquisition of a west coast abode. The whispers turned to tabloid reports two days ago when the Page Six peeps at The NY Post quoted an unnamed source who stated that Miss Swift bought a house in Beverly Hills "so she doesn't have to stay in hotels when she is in LA."'

Since then Your Mama has been flooded with requests and demands from the children to provide more information on the most recent addition to Miss Swift's fast-growing property portfolio. As it turns out we recently and coincidentally received a covert communique from a señorita we'll call Vendela La Tienda who thoughtfully presented us with listing information for a secluded mini-compound tucked up into the Franklin Canyon area in the Beverly Hills Post Office that she claimed Miss Swift had just scooped up.

In all honesty, chickens, we don't know Srta. La Tienda. Therefore we performed our own independent "investigation" and contacted a number of our better-informed real estate insiders to see what sort of information we could scare up. So far no one besides Srta. La Tienda can (or will) confirm to Your Mama that Miss Swift bought this particular house. In fact, Your Mama also heard through the celebrity real estate gossip grapevine she had a hankering for Kevin Huvane's just-sold residence in the Bev Hills Post Office but that house was, in fact, purchased by someone else.

Records that Your Mama espied with our own eyes for the house fingered by Srta. La Tienda as Miss Swift's new crib show that the private property was purchased for $3,550,000 in the first week of April through a trust with a named trustee who happens to be a well-known country music industry business manager known amongst those who know these things to work with Miss Swift. Are y'all following along our winding road? What we're saying is that although Your Mama feels quite confident Miss Swift purchased this wee estate up in Franklin Canyon, at this point we have to get all Kathy Griffin on your asses and say she allegedly acquired the property.

Imagine, puppies, to be in your early twenties and have the financial resources to (allegedly) spend several million bucks on a house in a city where you don't even live just so that you don't have to bunk down in a damn hotel when you're there. Such are the real estate ways of the rich and famous, folks, even the very young ones.

Anyhoo, according to Your Mama's investigation, Miss Swift's (alleged) new pied a terre in the Bev Hills (Post Office) has a long gated driveway–charmingly and partly fashioned from railroad ties–that leads to an amorphous pea gravel motor court that separates the main house from the guest house and garage. There are only a small handful of sounds that make Your Mama squirm with delight and one of them is the aurally satisfying crunch created when a car rolls slowly over gravel. The soothing sound reminds us not only of the long curved gravel driveway at the Outintheboondocks, CA ranch of our beloved but departed Granny and Grandpappy but also of the driveways at our much-missed shingled farmhouse on the eastern tip of the North Fork of Long Island that Your Mama and the Dr. Cooter sold a few years ago when we packed up our long-bodied bitches Linda and Beverly and our mean ol' pussy Sugar and moved west.

Anyhoo, listing information for Miss Swift's (alleged) new Tinseltown digs shows the petite and private 1941 clapboard-sided Cape Cod Colonial–is that what this is, a Cape Cod Colonial?–sits on multiple parcels that total nearly 1.5 acres. There are 3 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms in the main house plus a detached one bedroom guest cottage with vaulted ceiling, fireplace and a compact but fully-equipped kitchenette.

The intimately-scaled rooms in the main house include a living room with fireplace, formal dining room with an terrarium-like floor to ceiling bay window, an office/library with built-in bookshelves and a cozy kitchen with wood floors, glass-fronted upper cabinetry, high-gloss butcher block counter tops, a wide farmhouse-style sink, three-seat breakfast bar and built-in housekeeping desk surrounded by open shelving.

The main floor master suite, according to listing information, includes a dressing room and dual bathrooms and walk-in closets while the upstairs offers two additional guest bedrooms–one with a pair of built-in canopied twin beds–that share a single facility.

Wood-framed sash windows provide bucolic canyon views and French doors open many rooms of the house to vine-draped pergolas that shade various balconies, porches and patios. A large, partially covered entertaining terrace at the back of the house includes an outdoor fireplace. A wide brick stair climbs up the thickly treed hillside behind the house to a lighted paddle tennis court that has a basketball hoop-thingy at one end.

Your Mama wonders if Miss Swift thought this upscale farmhouse in a rugged canyon behind Beverly Hills felt like a little like Nashville's scenic and gorgeous semi-rural outskirts; A little bit of country just a short hop into the center of the bustling city.

Although her (alleged) new crib in the Bev Hills Post Office may be the priciest property currently in her portfolio, it does not appear that Miss Swift–a nice young lady who writes bitter hit songs about ex-boyfriends and lovers–will pack up her gee-tars and bespangled cowboy boots and move from Country Music Capital, TN to Botox Hills, CA. She recently told night time chat show host Jay Leno that, "Nashville is home...[it's] where I live. I love it more than anywhere in the world."

listing photos: Prudential California Beverly Hills