Green Homes. Green homes are becoming an increasingly popular trend, with eco-friendly dwellings – from apartment buildings to monstrous mansions – popping up all over the world.
Unsurprisingly, America’s got the largest of them (we are expecting Dubai to catch up any time now, though). The fact that an unnecessarily large space isn’t very environmentally friendly hasn’t stopped legions of builders and homebuyers from snapping up properties as large as 15,000 square feet. Many have attempted to make up for the excess square footage by piling on as many green features as possible, from solar panels and geothermal heating and cooling systems to low-VOC finishes and sustainable flooring.
Whether or not you agree that you can “have it all” and still be eco-friendly, the parade of ridiculously oversized green homes isn’t likely to stop any time soon. The U.K. has the most expensive green home that has ever actually been sold: the Orchid House broke records at £7.2 million, or $14.2 million USD. Floating homes of the future. The Pearl eco houseboat.
(Photo: Orhan Cileli) Life at sea — it sounds far away, like a distant lifestyle reserved for Navy seamen, ocean trawlers and submarine captains. But as shorelines recede, populations grow and property-ownership ideas evolve, designers and architects are prompted to re-think how — and where — we live. Many look to the water. Shaped like domes and flowers, few of these notions of futuristic dwellings will ever go beyond the design stage. “Just because a design vision is not built yet, does not limit its potential impact,” says Maria Lorena Lehman, Founder of Sensing Architecture, an online forum for architectural design, science and new technologies.
Here are five examples of how people might be living on the water someday: Pearl This open-sea eco houseboat is the brainchild of industrial designer Orhan Cileli. There's more to the Pearl than cool-looking design, though. (Photo: WHY) WHY Floating Home (Photo: Hyun Seok-Kim) Fioriella. Homes with jaw-dropping backyards.
Once upon a time, a backyard with a giant swimming pool and fancy patio furniture were more than enough to while away a steamy afternoon in first-class comfort.
Not anymore. These days the backyards of the rich and famous serve as personal oases with outdoor kitchens, water parks, sculpture gardens, putting greens and even ice rinks. “What’s outside the house is as important as what’s inside the house,” says Gary DePersia, an associate broker with the Corcoran Group and real estate liaison to business moguls and Hollywood celebrities. Among DePersia’s ritziest listings is Sandcastle, the $43.5 million home of Joe Farrell, owner of a Hamptons building company. His 12-acre spread is outfitted with an outdoor kitchen and covered lounge areas plus a fire pit, 60-foot swimming pool with underwater stereo, spa, sunken tennis court with viewing pergola and a recreation pavilion.
In Pictures: Homes with jaw-dropping backyards Here are five inspired backyards: Lawn & GardenHome & Garden. Owning a Private Island. Our summer of discontent is over.
Between the scary debt-ceiling debacle in Washington, economic woes in Europe, and frightening stock-market gyrations, it's time to get away, right? So what would it be like to escape to your own getaway in the Florida Keys, off the coast in the Northeast, or on the banks of Lake Michigan? Usually impervious to market swings, even the private island market has adjusted to the weak economy, with prices dropping as much as 50 percent, according to Farhad Vladi, president of Vladi Private Islands. More sellers are also obtaining building permits in advance of sale -- a long process that can be one of the biggest drawbacks to creating an island retreat. [Click here to check home equity rates in your area.] Don't fool yourself: Owning an island is a luxury, not an investment.
So whether you have the will and the way, or just wonder what it would be like, take a look at these islands for sale. Lower Birch Islands Asking Price: $1.295 million Brewers Island. Villas for rent with luxurious private pools. A La Mer, St.
John (Photo: Courtesy A La Mer) One of the top perks of renting a villa is its pool — truly your own private oasis. Whether you’re up at the crack of dawn to swim laps or you spend your days as a chaise lounge lizard, these villas with stunning pools are sure to satisfy. If you'd like to see your images on Yahoo! Travel, join now and submit your own! A La MerSt. Be a “pool potato” as you watch the game on a 51-inch flat screen, martini in hand, from this pool’s swim-up bar (complete with underwater stools). Photo: Courtesy of Villa Corfu CH Villa Corfu CHCorfu, Greece Within walking distance of trendy Kassiopi, this seven-bedroom home sits on an estate filled with olive trees and lavender.
Photo: Courtesy Villa Avenstar Villa AvenstarSt.