Compare Home Equity

Your home provides shelter and warmth.  Your ATM machine provides easy access to cash.  If anything should be learned from the recent housing market crisis, it's that the two must never be confused.

Those who don't learn from history are condemned to repeat it.  Let's hope this maxim doesn't apply to the housing market.

As a housing market turn-around begins to peek through the dark clouds of the real estate market, chances are good that people will once again start tapping their home equity.  Rates are extremely low, and banks are looking to lend out second mortgage products, such as the home equity line of credit (HELOC).  Home improvement specialists are also hungry for work, and offering their services at bargain basement prices.

Despite the glut of cheap home improvement projects on the market, it may be more prudent to resist temptation and work towards building up your home equity.

Home improvement can be tempting

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Why do people feel the need to treat their homes like an ATM machine?  There's a simple explanation:  Lack of financial discipline.  For many people, the American Dream is to purchase a home.  All it requires is a down payment and a home mortgage.  If you're fortunate enough, your house will appreciate over time, and you'll build up home equity in your property.

Traditionally, banks have provided the means for consumers to tap their home equity by offering a second mortgage in addition to a first one.  It can be in the form of a home equity loan or a HELOC.  In essence, the bank allows you to access your home equity, provided that you pay them interest to do it.

Trouble in home improvement city

The problem with tapping your home equity, even if you're using it to improve the value of your home, is that the market could turn on you.  Your home price could plunge dramatically, as it did after the recent housing bubble burst, and you could find yourself owing more than your house is worth.  Many people fell into that trap during the recent crisis, and it's resulted in thousands of foreclosures.

The big question:  Have people learned their lesson?  If they have, the next home purchase they make won't involve running out for a second mortgage the day after they've closed on the first.  Instead, homeowners should try a more traditional method of financing their home improvements-namely, with disciplined saving.  They should choose to budget their money carefully and live within their means.  They must provide themselves with enough equity in their home so that they're protected in the event of another housing crisis.

A home is an investment, but it doesn't necessarily work like stocks or bonds.  You can spend stocks and bonds in their entirety with no consequence.  If you spend all your home equity, however, you're jeopardizing your shelter.  This is a lesson that wasn't understood by countless homeowners during the hey-day of the housing market.  Hopefully, people won't make the same mistake twice.

Home Equity Loan

With credit card interest rates rising right through the roof, some homeowners may be wondering whether a home equity loan or line of credit (HELOC) is the way to get their debts under control. The answer is a definite maybe.
While it's much harder to tap your home equity than it was in the past, it's not impossible. Yes, credit is much tighter in general these days, the decline in home values in recent years means that many homeowners no longer have any home equity to draw upon and banks are concerned about possible further declines in home values.
But many homeowners still retain considerable equity in their homes, particularly those who don't live in states like Florida, Arizona, Nevada and California, which have borne the brunt of the housing market decline. Such homeowners continue to be attractive clients for lenders. And many homeowners retain untapped credit in their HELOC, which is still available for them to draw upon.

Lower interest rates on a home equity loan

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The question is, should they? They are some very attractive reasons for doing so. To begin with, a home equity loan or HELOC will very likely have a much lower interest rate than what many credit cards currently carry. In some cases, the rate on a home equity loan or HELOC may be one half or one third of the 17 percent to 24 percent currently charged on many credit cards - many of which were charging a mere 5 or 6 percent a few months ago. On a balance of $5,000, $10,000 or more, that's a hefty savings.
As mortgage interest, interest paid on home equity loans and HELOCs is also tax-deductable, up to a point. A couple can currently deduct the interest on up to $100,000 in home equity loans, and even more if the loan is put into home improvement.
So yes, it's possible to save a lot of money by borrowing against your home equity to pay off credit card debt. But many financial advisers say it's still a very bad idea.

A HELOC is secured debt

For one thing, you're trading unsecured debt for secured debt. Your credit card debt is unsecured - if you can't pay it off, there's nothing the lender can do to you, other than report you as a bad credit risk. However, any time of mortgage debt - including a home equity loan or a HELOC - is secured by your home.
If you can't make those payments, the lender is entitled to take your home. And particularly in the current economic climate, that extra $10,000-$20,000 you take out to pay off other debts could be the difference between mortgage debts that are manageable and those that are not should you or your spouse become unemployed or otherwise suffer a loss of income.
Another reason financial advisors recommend against using home equity to pay off credit cards is that it encourages continued dependence on deficit spending. Too often, the reasoning goes, someone who wipes out their credit card debt finds it too easy to start running them up again - after all, there's a zero balance and a few small charges won't matter. Pretty soon, they've run their balance back up again and now must contend with the twin perils of credit card debt AND a home equity loan tacked onto their regular mortgage.

Back into the credit card debt trap

This is how many homeowners got into trouble in the current housing crisis. Some people, it seems, are addicted to debt - they can't avoid the temptation of those seemingly insignificant purchases that quickly pile up into big balances on a credit card. For them, tapping a home equity loan doesn't so much provide them a way to get a handle on their debt as it does wipe the slate clean so they can start all over again! Only they're not yet done with their previous debts...
If you do take out a home equity loan to pay off your credit cards, take them out of your purse or wallet and put them away, so you're not tempted to use them for spur-of-the-moment purchases. Many experts advise that you actually cut them up at this point, so they can't be used, but you'll want to retain at least one for emergency expenses, such as a major care repair or as a reserve while traveling. But most of the time, keep it put away to avoid the temptation.
Tapping a home equity loan or line of credit can offer considerable savings for homeowners burdened with credit card debt. But only if they're disciplined enough to keep a lid on future expenditures and not fall back into the same credit trap.

Types of Care

If you are looking for appropriate care it is important to weigh up the different options available to you. There are many types of care from 24 hour residential nursing to sheltered living, this guide aims to clarify the differences between types of care homes and assist you to make the best choice whatever your needs.

Nursing Homes

A nursing home provides 24 hour medical care when necessary and the maximum level of personal care. They are staffed in part by professional registered nurses and will have a range of experienced carers to facilitate any care recommended by a doctor.

As such a nursing home is appropriate housing for individuals who are particularly frail or unable to look after themselves as well as those with many different medical and health needs.

Most nursing homes will offer a range of specialist care and rehabilitation therapies. These could include, physiotherapy, counselling, speech therapy and pain management. This is in addition to all of the personal assistance required, from personal hygiene and toileting, to providing and assisting with meals.

Many nursing homes offer specialist treatments for particular conditions. It is important to make sure that their specialities are suitable for your needs. Specialist care includes services for dementia, the Elderly Mentally Infirm (E.M.I.) and cancer, as well as care of young people (18-64) with physical disabilities.

There are many different types of nursing home ranging from small family-style accommodation to 5* hotel standard homes. So it should always be possible to find a home that is suited to the individual.

Residential Care Homes

Residential care homes do not provide 24 hour nursing. Health care assistants will be available at specified times in order to assist with basic medical needs such as taking medicines, the application of dressings and creams or oxygen therapy.

These homes are suitable for those who wish to retain a certain level of independence whilst having the reassurance of being assisted with daily tasks such as washing and dressing and being able to get help easily if necessary.

Most residential homes will assist residents in the following ways:
Personal care including washing, bathing, shaving, oral hygiene, getting up and going to bed. In addition to this they provide continence management. So help can be provided for toileting and dealing with incontinence laundry.
Food and dietary advice are provided at most care homes. Help with eating should also be available.
Counselling and related support, ranging from companionship and personal reminders to behaviour management and psychological services, are generally offered.

Retirement Homes

Retirement homes are normally purpose built for the elderly, often in the form of flats or bungalows. They are designed to facilitate independence, for example by having their own front door, whilst offering daily care when necessary. There are two main types of retirement home; sheltered housing and assisted living. These types of housing are favoured by residents because they create safe independent communities. Often they are referred to as care villages because of a community feel and the presence of basic amenities such as a hairdressers, shop, café or gym.

Sheltered Housing

Sheltered housing often features a shared entrance and some communal facilities. Most commonly the shared facilities would be a lounge, laundry and guest rooms. Each resident is entitled to have their own bedroom in addition to private living areas generally consisting of a kitchen, sitting room and bathroom. The main advantage to this kind of living is that the housing is regulated by a manager or warden. Whilst this person is unlikely to have specific medical training they are on hand to organise health care and get help in emergencies. Most wardens develop personal relationships with the residents in order to ensure that their needs are met.
A range of subtle safety features will normally be installed. Most commonly pull chords that summon either on site personnel, friends or family members.

Sheltered housing is provided by local councils, housing associations, voluntary and not-for-profit organisation as well as by private firms.

Assisted Living / Close Care

Close care or assisted living has similar benefits to living in a residential care home. This relatively modern form of care generally consists of specifically built apartments, bungalows or cottages constructed in the grounds of a care home. What this means is that residents can retain independence whilst being assisted where necessary. This type of care can provide reassurance to the individual and their family as immediate assistance is available when it is needed.

There are three types of assisted living:

1. A high level of nursing care is available, normally the resident would live in an apartment and would be unlikely to need to move to a nursing home if their condition worsened. This option would be beneficial to an individual who may find moving home confusing or upsetting.
   
2. Much of the accommodation in the grounds of the care homes is suitable for those who are not completely dependant on the assistance of others. The resident would run their household affairs personally as these houses are available for either rent or purchase this allows a greater degree of personal control and freedom. The assistance offered to those in the care home itself would generally be available for the residents of these houses. They are ideally suited for a couple who need differing levels of care.
   
3. The third option is to be a resident in a house that is situated within the community where care is provided by an external agency.
   
   

Respite and Convalescent Care

Many care homes offer rooms on a temporary basis. Respite care allows carers, often family members, to take a break from their duties. It is important for a carer to not be on duty 24/7, so a temporary stay at a care home can ease the burden of continual care.

After an operation extra care is sometimes needed for a patient to convalesce. A care home can often be the best and safest place to recuperate.

The same services offered to permanent residents should be available on a temporary basis at both nursing and care homes, so the type of home chosen must be suited to the degree of assistance required.

Home / Domiciliary Care

There is a variety of different home care available. You can choose from either care workers or registered nurses dependent on your needs. The time that the carer would spend in the home can be anything from a few hours a day to assist with key tasks such as bathing or meal preparation to having a 24 hour live in carer. Services such as physiotherapy can also be arranged through the home care system. Help can be on an intermittent basis or permanent. It is a completely flexible service that can be tailored to your needs.
A key advantage to home care is that the individual can remain within their local community and continue to live as normal a life as possible, whilst having the comfort of regular companionship and assistance.

Home care can be arranged through your Primary Care Trust (the branch of your local council that deals with health care), agencies or an association of home care providers, e.g. UKHCA.

 

National Minimum Standards of Care Homes for Elderly People

The National Care Standards Commission (NCSC) was created by the government in 2000. Their report 'The National Minimum Standards of Care Homes for Elderly People' of 2003 outlines the minimum standards that anybody living in care should expect. There are 7 areas which their report goes into great detail about. We have summarised the key points from this report in order to provide an insight into what constitutes the minimum standards that a care home must provide. Care homes provide such a wide variety of treatments it is important to remember that in some cases these rules may not be followed, for example with the care of dementia patients.

Choice of home

It can be daunting to choose a care home, but you are legally entitled to certain information that should help you to be better informed before you make your choice.

1. A residents guide will be supplied which will contain all of the relevant information about the home. This should cover everything from a description of the rooms, the qualifications of the staff to the range of facilities and services available. It should be in a clear, accurate and concise form, and available in different formats in order to provide for those with disabilities.
   
2. You will undertake a needs assessment in order to clarify that the home can provide for your specific needs. This includes the evaluation of social and dietary requirements as well as mobility issues and medical attention required. If you take a place in the home you will be provided with a personalised programme based upon the results of the needs assessment.
   
3. You are able to have a trial period in the home to ensure that it is the right place for you.
   
4. If you decide to reside in a home they should provide you with a list of terms and conditions that you must abide by.

Health and Personal Care

it is essential that privacy and dignity are maintained at all time. A summary of the guidelines to ensure that this is the case are as follows;

• The resident is entitled to access financial and legal consultation.
  
• Phone calls must be able to be made privately if necessary, and letters must be received by the resident unopened.
  
• Social contact must be allowed, including the right to have visitors at any time.
  
• The resident must be allowed to wear their own clothes.
  
• Respect must be shown by the staff to the residents at all times, including addressing them in the way that they prefer.
  
• Medical examination should be available and always done in private.
  
• Accurate records must be kept of all treatments and medication.
  

All of the respect that is shown to a resident must continue if they are dying, and in death their wishes must be respected as far as is possible.

Daily Life and Social Activities

It is of vital importance that a resident is as happy as possible at any given time. As such food and meals should be regarded as key times for residents. It is essential that residents are not hurried whilst eating, and the food provided should be wholesome and varied. If a resident has particular dietary requirements then they should be catered for at all times.

All of the factors of personal autonomy must be facilitated as far as possible, these include; exercise, leisure, social and cultural preferences. The routines and preferences of the individual must be prioritized particularly in regard to daily routines, personal and social relationships and religious observations. Homes should provide up-do-date information about activities in a suitable format for the recipient.

Complaints and Protection

Complaints must be “listened to, taken seriously and acted upon”. There must be defined channels through which to register complaints with no fear of victimisation or repercussion.

And of course the residents must be “safeguarded from physical, financial or material, psychological or sexual abuse, neglect, discriminatory, abuse or self-harm, inhuman or degrading treatment, through deliberate intent, negligence or ignorance.”

Environment

It is seen to be of essential importance that the home has a philosophy of care that is linked to the design and layout of the building itself. For example a home with an advertised family-like care ethos should not have too many residents or be in too large a building as it is unlikely that this is what their clientèle would be expecting.

Other essentials are;

• Premises should be well suited for their purpose, tidy, clean and safe at all times.
• CCTV should only be installed in the entrances, and should never impinge on the privacy of residents.
• Toilets should be accessible from the main rooms as well as within a short distance of bedrooms. New build care homes will all have en-suite facilities.
• Specialist equipment should be available, such as grab rails or wide doorways for wheelchair users, to maximise independence.
• A resident always has the right to have their own room, if they choose to share additional screening must be supplied.
• Every resident should have a lockable space, either their room itself or somewhere in their room.
  

Staffing

The quality of the staff is one of the defining features of a care home experience. As such a care home is obliged to always have enough qualified as well as domestic staff. Higher numbers must be available at peak times of day. All trainee staff must be appropriately registered. Any staff hired must have at least two good references. Regular training should be seen as a necessity.

Management and Administration

Good management is also listed as essential. The guidelines insist that a manager must be of good character and have at least two years relevant experience within the last five years. They must aim to create an “open, positive and inclusive atmosphere”. The business itself must be transparent with financial plans open to inspection and reviewed annually. Accurate records of all things must be kept, and should be available to be inspected in compliance with the Data Protection Act.

The NCSC conclude that the most important job of the manager is to ensure that the home is run in the best interests of the residents.

Hydronic Heating Making A Comeback

Hydronic heating systems were quite popular in the 1940s and 1950s when Frank Lloyd Wright invented the technology. These heating systems enjoyed a measure of success until they experienced several setbacks, most notably the significant rise in people’s desire for air conditioning. Since the 50s, hydronic heating systems have seen a couple of spikes in demand, but they remain a small portion of the overall heating market. Without a doubt, current statistics reveal forced air systems, not hydronic heating systems, account for the largest percentage of heating systems in the country.

Hydronic heating systems have enjoyed technological improvements recently, which have made them more attractive to homeowners. Though these upgrades have proven effective, still this type heating system only has a 6% market share nationwide. The vast majority of their installations occur in the coldest regions of the country.

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There are a number of differences between hydronic heating systems and force air systems. For starters, hydronic systems by circulating hot water while forced air systems push heated air through vents dispersed throughout the residence. The hot water in the hydronic systems provides the basis for heating to occur through baseboards or flooring, usually embedded in concrete slab floors. Both systems have their advantages and disadvantages when it comes to the optimum distribution of heat. Studies have revealed these weaknesses and yet show that even today hydronic heating systems are more efficient at heating than are forced air systems.

Currently, the most popular way to install Hydronic heating systems is placing them in the floors of newly constructed homes. The in floor systems offer a great deal to please consumers. First, this is the most cost-efficient way to install this heating system. Second, this method has proven to be the most efficient not only in terms of cost, but also in how the system delivers heat to the home. A final advantage of the in floor hydronic heating system is it can be installed in any flooring a home owner might choose be it wood, tile, stone, or carpet.

Vinyl Wood Flooring

You have to be astonished, when looking at vinyl wood flooring, as to the improvements over the last 20 years of the products. Wood-like flooring has all the look and feel of the real thing. The wood textures and natural knots that are imprinted into the materials give a feel and over all stunning result to your home, office or building at a fraction of the price of hardwood floors.

Vinyl flooring materials can come in sheet vinyl, planks, interlocking planks, puzzle type interlocking planks, and the floating floor. Ways to install the various types of flooring are glue, interlocking non-glue, and stick on pieces of flooring. Surface preparation depends on which type of flooring you choose. Installation for many can be done by the home or business owner if you choose but some of the materials may need a professional to ensure the floor will be properly installed.

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Things to look for when purchasing your sheet vinyl flooring are that the materials do not contain harmful glues or chemicals when they were processed. You may find some cheap vinyl wood flooring may contain some of these and would not be suitable for inside your home. Cutting and precision is needed for this flooring to be successfully installed. Before installing you may need to put a sub floor or floor leveler on the surface to your existing floor. Caring for your floor usually requires just a light cleaning, do not use harsh chemicals, and never any wax. Other things to look for are cushion backing for comfort and if the floor has an anti-skid or slip surface if it gets wet.

Many of the plank type and puzzle vinyl flooring are similar in many ways as far as ease in installation and preparation for installation. The plank and puzzle vinyl floors usually have a tongue and grove locking system that offers a waterproof seal when secured. You can lay this type of flooring on top of existing floor if it is level. In uneven areas you may have to put down floor leveler to even the surface. Check with the brand and read your labels to identify any special items you may need to ensure proper installation. This type of flooring is very durable and flexible, maintenance and cleaning.

The floating floor is a floor that has no glues or adhesives to hold it together. The vinyl pieces have an interlocking system. This floor usually has a comfort and waterproof padding underneath and is great in any room of your home. Any do-it -yourselfer be can be successful with this floor installation. You can have the beauty and durability that surpasses wood and minimal care for years. You have to agree; the vinyl wood flooring industry has met all and more expectations of home and business owners everywhere.

Kitchen Lighting Ideas

There are many kitchen lighting ideas for your new build home or your existing home. If you are building a new home a lighting plan for your kitchen before the walls are put up is the best time to implement. Wiring and electrical boxes can easily be installed at this point to ensure you have all the required points of contact for your fixtures. If you have an existing home and want to add accent or additional lighting, planning the electrical needs for your new fixtures is very important.

There are different types of kitchen lighting that can enhance your kitchen experience. Pendant lighting over your kitchen island or breakfast bar can accent your sparkling new counters as well as give you work space illumination. Various types of pendant lighting to match your décor are available and choosing a fixture can be easy. Lighting stores and lighting departments in retail outlets and home improvement stores can give you a hands on visual of what is available for you to choose from. Online stores also offer many of the same choices as well as some hard to find custom lighting that is also available.

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Contemporary-modern lighting offers blended metals and glass for a sleek and streamlined fixture that will match those stainless steel fixtures. Tuscan and Mediterranean lighting can include brushed and antiqued copper and brass pendants for any rustic kitchen themes. Crystal and Tiffany lighting offers elegant and sometimes multicolored fluted and textured glass domes in their designs. Mini pendants can offer an energy savings and create additional diffusion of lighting and ambiance through multiple fixtures.

Under the counter lighting will give you counter top illumination for task work and also function as a night light for middle of the night trips to the refrigerator. These light fixtures are small like a hockey puck and mount under your wall cabinets. They are very easy to install with minimal electrical needs. Led and Halogen bulbs are the energy efficient source for most of these lighting fixtures.

Track lighting is a great way to light your existing kitchen by utilizing a single electric box and string various track to hang designer lighting from. As you can see the many types of electrical fixtures can accentuate your beautiful kitchen as well as add beauty and value to your home. There are lots of kitchen lighting ideas available to you and it can be very exciting as you plan the new kitchen of you dreams.

Lovely Homes

6.Jerry Seinfeld: Comedian Jerry Seinfeld purchased this lavish and luscious East Hampton, New York estate from rocker Billy Joel for the then record-setting price of $32 million in 2000. According to the magazine, OK!, this home beat out properties own by Donald Trump, Sir Elton John, and even George Clooney’s Italian villa noted above for the number one celebrity palace in 2007. This home has been described as a “magnificent Tudor-style waterfront manor … sited on over 14 acres of rolling lawns and naturalized landscaping. There are three buildings total with a sum of twenty-four rooms, including eight full baths and five half-baths. There are thirteen fireplaces, a gym, indoor and outdoor pools, a gourmet kitchen, a tennis court, a bowling alley, a guest cottage, a music room, a smoking bar and a wine cellar. Annual taxes are $208,463.


7.William Zysblat: William Zysblat recently purchased this modern beauty located in East Quogue, New York. Zysblat’s company, RZO Productions, has handled business and management affairs for rock icons U2, David Bowie, The Police and the Rolling Stones among others. The sale of the oceanfront post modern home on Dune Road closed in December for $6.2 million. The asking price for the 3,200 sq ft dwelling had been $6.7 million. The property includes 166 feet of ocean frontage on 2.5 acres. The home was designed by Quogue-based architect Jay Sears, and has a heated gunite pool, guest house, and tennis and bocce courts.

8.Tony Hawk: Tony Hawk shoveled his profits from professional skateboarding and gaming into this modest 5,000 square-foot home with a 4,000 square-foot skate park in Carlsbad, California. He grew frustrated from begin hassled by fans at public parks, so he added this unique skateboarding feature to his home. It comes complete with a rail, a center pyramid and a ledge that serves as a bench. Other outdoor features include a basketball court and a pool. Inside you’d find about $150,000 worth of gaming electronics hooked to a 65-inch plasma HDTV. Sounds like Hawk lives his work - all skateboard and video games. And, although this home seems a bit on the stark side, Hawk has made it his home. That, in our book, is truly amazing for any celebrity.

9.Brad Pitt: We chose Brad Pitt and his home(s) for several reasons. First, although this cliffside home isn’t shabby (worth about $4.5 million), it is just one piece of the Pitt puzzle. When you compare this home to their modest 1830s New Orleans dwelling, the cliffside home takes on a new perspective. This house is unusual, just like the house in the New Orleans that was damaged by Hurricane Katrina. Not to say that the home in Louisiana was inexpensive - it’s located near the French Quarter, and Pitt paid $3.5 million in cash on January 2, 2007, for the right to live there. According to the news story, “A real estate listing for the property shows the house has a grand spiral staircase, elevator, gourmet kitchen, a large private courtyard and a separate two-story guest house. It also has private parking for two cars - a luxury in the French Quarter.” Of course, it was a matter of convenience as well, as Pitt was filming The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in Louisiana last year. And, in the process, he’s also overseer of the housing project in storm-ravaged lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans. This effort, in our opinion, is a mighty one indeed. In contrast to his isolated home in California, Brad and his consort, Angelina Jolie, appear to be good southern neighbors in a busy and famous neighborhood.

10.Sandra Bullock: This home is the quintessential Tybee Island, Georgia beauty. Actress Sandra Bullock spent more than one million dollars to purchase this modest three-story home on the north end of the island in 2001. She also purchased empty lots on either side of the home to protect her privacy. She reportedly owns homes in Southern California, Jackson Hole, Wyoming and in Austin, Texas as well. Bullock bought the home after filming Forces of Nature. The island faces the Savannah river inlet east of Savannah where portions of the movie where filmed.

Beautiful Home

A few weeks ago, we introduced you to what we considered the Top 10 Ridiculous, Obnoxious, and Just Plain Ugly Celebrity Houses. Now, we’re going to do an about-face and show you the homes we believe to be the top ten most beautiful, amazing and unique celebrity homes. While some homes on this list teeter on the border of obnoxious, even the most expensive or largest homes have been saved by tasteful touches. We were not surprised to discover that the most beautiful homes were those that were modest, that seemed to fit into their surroundings, and that supplied just enough panache for each celebrity to call that house a “home.”

The list below is in no particular order. While the home sites are numbered, the numbering does not indicate that we favor one home over another or that they are listed in order of value.



1.Oprah Winfrey: This home, located in Santa Barbara, California, belongs to Oprah Winfrey. The property covers approximately forty-two acres and the house is 23,000 square feet. It has six bedrooms, fourteen bathrooms, ten fireplaces and a home theater. Oprah added a man-made lake stocked with rare fish and she had local Montecito sandstone bricks hand-laid into a quarter-mile long driveway. Although this house is nicknamed, “Oprah’s Hearst Castle,” we like it because of the landscaping, which is meticulous. To Oprah’s credit, this property contains the largest amount of green space in Santa Barbara. Its balanced elegance reminds us somewhat of the famous historic Biltmore estates located in Ashland, North Carolina.

2.Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn: Actors Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell moved to Vancouver, Canada to support their son’s fledgling hockey career. This home, a Tudor-style creation located in the Shaughnessy area, is now on the market again and listed at $5.4 million Canadian. It contains five bedrooms and eleven fireplaces, a gym and a built-in theater room, and the house sports a grand oak paneled entrance hall with fireplace, two dens, new kitchen, private yard and a separate coach house. There is a formal living room and separate dining room, a conservatory, and the master suite contains a separate dressing area. The couple purchased the home in 2002 for $2,995,000, or $1,875,000 US dollars, and its charm and settings make the grade for this list.

3.Madonna: This pop-singer icon made a bid on Ashcombe, the former home of late photographer Cecil Beaton, in 2001. Friends including Rex Whistler, Salvador Dali and Augustus John returned Beaton’s hospitality by painting murals in the house. Located in Wiltshire, England, this 1,200-acre carried a guide price of £9 million. This was the first time that Ashcombe had been for sale on the open market since the First World War. It is an exceptionally private house, hidden in its own valleys which contain one of the country’s best shoots. The pop star learned how to fish, hunt and ride horses, so this home seemed to fit Madonna to a “T” in 2001. The couple also owns a mansion in London, and the Wiltshire property is within easy reach and close to the Wiltshire estate of Sting and his wife, Trudie Styler. They are close friends of the singer and first introduced her to her husband, Guy Ritchie. It appears recently, however, that Madonna has put Aschombe on the market again, this time to the tune of £12 million.

4.George Clooney: This sexy and talented actor purchased this 25-room Italian villa in 2001. Known as Villa Oleandra, it is said to contain an outdoor theater, a large swimming pool and a garage for Clooney’s motorcycles. Italian journalists and tourists swarmed to the small town of Laglio, where this villa is located, when they heard rumors that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie would wed at pal George Clooney’s lakeside estate. Clooney has some illustrious neighbors as well - designer Donatella Versace owns a home on Lake Como near the burial place of her late brother Gianni. Singer Avril Lavigne and husband Deryck Whimbey honeymooned in Lake Como a few years ago as well. Clooney really admires this home and says, “I go there whenever I can. It’s where I wrote Good Night And Good Luck and where I finished the script for Leatherheads. It’s a really peaceful place to go and write.” Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas are regular guests at the mansion, where Clooney also shot scenes for the film, Ocean’s Twelve.

5.Joel Horowitz: The co-founder for Tommy Hilfiger found his home - named Tranquility - in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. This home, conveniently located on the tax-free side of Lake Tahoe, contains a 20,000-square-foot main house that is modeled after a northern European mountain home. It also contains a 3,500-bottle wine cellar, an indoor swimming pool and an atrium as well as a 19-seat movie theater. It also boasts nine bedrooms, fourteen full and five half-baths, a private lake with docks and two par-three golf holes. While this home could be called “ostentatious,” it carries a glamor reminiscent of Europe. The living room features a double-height ceiling adorned with carved beams, large windows at one apse-like end and hand-carved antique fireplaces. The dining room’s floor dates back to the 17th century, and was salvaged from a French chateau. Its ceilings are hand-painted, not with Old World themes, but images of animals indigenous to Lake Tahoe. Want to purchase the home? It’s on the market again for a cool $100 million.