Birthday Break

Listen puppies, today is Your Mama's birthday–yes, it really is–so we've decided to give our self a wee break. Instead of working our fingers to the bone like we do most days we're going to spend the day on our back deck, sipping gin and eating the dee-voon white-trash birthday cake the Dr. Cooter made for us.

However, we hate to leave the children high, dry and starving for a celebrity real estate morsel so here are a few nuts and berries to keep y'all busy for a while.

1.
Alternative music maker Moby recently moved from New York City to Los Angeles where he's made house in the legendary Wolf's Lair, a storied castle perched high above Lake Hollywood. Moby bought the fairy tale property last year from divorcing music executive Jay Faires and tee-vee talker Debbie Matenopoulos.

The quirky house had first been listed with an asking price of $7,500,000. Property records show that Mister Moby paid $3,925,000 for the 3.31 acre aerie and according to a recent article in the New York Times, the picayune, pixie-like musician spent another couple million on renovations and restorations that included the installation of a new kitchen, the addition of three bathrooms to the main house, the conversion of a garage into a recording studio and situating a small meditation deck to hover serenely over the lake.

Photos in the New York Times reveal that Mister Moby has sparely but smartly furnished the house with pedigreed mid-century modern furniture that, as far as we're concerned, makes a delicious juxtaposition against the eccentric architecture and historical architectural details.

2.
We're not sure how many people actually care about this but for those who do Madonna's fire-ravaged childhood home in Rochester Hills, MI can now be purchased for just $49,000. Your Mama presumes there are a healthy handful of crazed "fans" who are, at this very minute, pawning their car stereos and selling their 14-karate gold jewelry to come up with the damn down payment. Iffin we were Madonna–and thank heavens we are not–we'd buy the property, raze the house and donate the land for a neighborhood park with taxes paid for the next 99 years. Just a thought.

3.
Your Mama gets a lot of questions about pocket listings: What are they? Why would someone do a pocket listing? Click here for the low-down on pocket listings. Let us know if you have any questions.

4.
It's no secret that celebrities have special real estate desires and needs and the money to buy them. Here's a list compiled by people at Zillow of the top 10 features famous folks look for in a home.

5.
Hip hopper Salt of Salt-N-Pepa listed her Melville, NY mansion with an asking price of $2,295,000. Who?

6.
An unidentified buyer paid a stunning $47,000,000 for a New York City townhouse originally built for one of those lavish living Vanderbilts. The 33-foot wide townhouse was sold as a pocket listing (see above) sans broker, which means no commission will be paid.

7.
Your Mama asks that the children consider the audacious brilliance of the tiger-striped wall-to-wall carpeting in this New York City penthouse at the Trump International Hotel and Tower. Our friends at Curbed think the high-floor corner condo, recently listed at $24,000,000, might belong to Band-Aid heiress Libbet Johnson whose brother Woody–that would be the owner of the New York Jets and father of tragic socialite Casey Johnson–happens to own the penthouse next door.