I was dropping stuff off at the Salvation Army on the West Side of Midtown Atlanta last week (yup, my effort to avoid winding up on Hoarders continues – this was from attic crawl space number three) and I found myself completely taken by Allied Factory Lofts. As I stopped to take a picture, I noticed that one of the units was for sale. While I live in a cottage in town on a postage stamp lot, I sometimes dream of going more urban and moving into a loft. Not one of those brand new high rises that calls itself a loft building, but a true Flashdance-esque converted warehouse or factory. This place is a 2 bedroom/2 bath that has been super glammed up, and when I picked up the flyer, it was priced just under $300K:

I cannot even imagine how much this place would cost if it were in NYC! Anyway, if you are interested, the West Side is becoming very artsy and cool (salvage yards meet high end design shops, artist studios meet dive blues bars), and you can find out the details about it here.

This is one of the greatest pieces of fantasy real estate I’ve seen in a long time. It was once the summer hideaway of Greta Garbo, it’s 10 acres located on the rugged north shore of Massachusetts, and it can be all yours for the low low price of $4.5 million.

Straight out of a Winslow Homer painting:

images via J. Barrett and Company Real Estate

I’m not going to get into what “celebrity” means these days; as Joel McHale says, Kim Kardashian is famous for having a big a** and a sex tape,” but it cracks me up that celebrities in L.A. seem to move every year. It also cracks me up that Larry David pokes fun of this by having his Curb Your Enthusiasm persona move every season for reasons like having a wire they think is ugly in the backyard, or too many movies being shot on the street. Thank you so much to Vanessa for tweeting me this Luxist post featuring Kim Kardashian’s condo, which is currently on the market for a million plus bucks. I would like to point out a few massive design cliches that appear here.

Sometimes candles don’t make the room. Neither do hideous throw pillows. And a neutral palette doesn’t necessarily bring the calm:

Just as a big huge brass Buddha/Yogi/not sure (don’t mean to offend, I’m sure the owner doesn’t know who this is or what the meaning is either) doesn’t necessarily bring the “Zen”:

A big crystal chandelier and big tufted headboards and lots of mirrored furniture and

volumes of fabric for draperies do not equal “Hollywood glamor.” Sometimes they just equal “tacky bordello boudoir.”

I do, however, like where this bathroom was going – the wallpaper, glossy black ceiling, and light fixtures are doing it for me, while the floors and off-the-rack-from-big box store-vanity is not.

Word is that the condo is going for over a million. Also, that cute Hidden Hills house of Kris and Bruce Jenner’s is on the market. I think they lived there for about a minute. I rather liked that they lived in a cozy, not over-adorned, somewhat oversized cottage.

If you think this post is too mean, don’t worry. I’m sure a few of the keywords in this post will have me receiving all kinds of nasty spam comments for months. Instant Karma.

Photos via luxist.com via realestalker an the MLS service.

I was in Cincinnati for 48 hours last week and while I didn’t get a chance to check out the exhibit of his newly found paintings at Fabulous Frames, I stumbled upon this remarkable house while checking out a river view house for sale in Anderson Township. I suppose the street sign before the shared driveway should have given me a clue as to what was ahead:

There was another Charley Harper cardinal on the other side of the house in the carport. Those decks have a great view of the Ohio River and the rolling bluegrass hills of Kentucky on the other side.

By the way, this is the house nearby that my friends and I want to make our dream house when we win the lottery and retire:

I just got my internet going for the first time since this morning (comcast – ugh!) and now I am GORGING. While catching up on the latest Huffington Post entries, I perused the slide show of Mitt Romney’s humble ski chalet in Deer Valley Utah. Apparently, the Romneys are “downsizing and simplifying.” Maybe he’s going to follow the current hot political trend of thinking about Abe Lincoln, and trading down for a one-room log cabin. Can you imagine how much it would cost to heat this massive manor? It is 9,500 square feet. They have so many lights on for this photo that at first glance I thought it was on fire. I’m just picturing those energy meters going around and around at warp speed when I look at this:

I’m all for big timber, stone fireplaces, and a bit of hokey-ness in a mountain house, but the decor in this thing is so over-the-top fugly it makes me retch. In a 5.25 million dollar house, I expect a little better. Some of those light fixtures belong in the ugly lighting hall of fame. Ugh, and that wooden cowhide-covered coffee table, words escape me:

For another ridiculous ski lodge on the market, click here.

images from previewutah.com, via thehuffingtonpost.com