Free Republic

Is it all downhill from here? Powerball lottery winner Edwin Castro’s West Hollywood manse was narrowly missed by a landslide this week, aerial images showed — as the crumbling hillside buried half a neighboring home in dirt. Castro’s $25.5 million sprawl was just feet away from the landslide that crashed through the tony Hollywood Hills neighborhood following this week’s storm, according to images obtained by the US Sun.

Snippets: During the first two months of this year, builders in California pulled 35% more permits for single-family homes than during the same period a year earlier, according to census data. Permits for multifamily continued to decline — dropping 33%. Though it’s known as the “mansion tax,” except for rare exceptions it applies to all properties sold for more than $5 million, no matter if they are gas stations, strip malls, apartment buildings or actual mansions. Under the measure, a seller is charged 4% of the sales price for properties sold above $5 million and below $10 million. “ULA is...

A dramatic police raid descended on a raucous Beverly Hills 'squatting' mansion that has been plaguing its celebrity neighborhood with nightly rave parties. The Los Angeles Police Department responded to reports of a home invasion shortly after 3pm Friday at the $4.3 million mansion, the site of a number of out-of-control parties that began in October. Despite counting Lebron James and Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane as neighbors, police had been seemingly powerless to stop the continuing raves - until Friday's incident reportedly included several suspects armed with a knife. It appeared that one of the all-day parties was going...

Chicago's mayor Brandon Johnson is pushing a 'mansion tax' on sales of homes of more than $1 million, as his administration continues to push higher tax on households earning over $100,000. The newly elected mayor, who took over from his disastrous predecessor Lori Lightfoot in May of this year, wants to push a hike in taxes in order to fight homelessness in the city. Allies of Mayor Johnson, 47, have also announced plans to push a $12-billion plan for the city titled 'First We Get the Money'. The plan, seemingly named after a quote from the 1983 film Scarface, aims...

....Demolition has already started at the 1495 N. Ocean Blvd. property, purchased by Lauder from Limbaugh's widow. It's not the first time Lauder has bulldozed his buys to the ground: He tore down homes on two other Palm Beach lots and recently listed the parcels together for a sale price of $200 million, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year. Limbaugh's erstwhile two-story, five-bedroom manse, built in 1992, boasted almost 22,000 square feet; the parcel also featured two smaller residences. Although no blueprints have yet been handed over to local officials, word is that Lauder plans on erecting a...

Climate doomsayer James Cameron has joined his wife Suzy Amis Cameron in listing their 102-acre California oceanfront property for sale. The Santa Barbara ranch, purchased by the couple back in 1999, can be yours for $33 million. Fox News reports the 68-year-old filmmaker and the 61-year-old former actress’s estate is located in the exclusive gated neighborhood of Hollister Ranch on Santa Barbara County’s Gaviota Coast

Michael Jordan's enormous house in Chicago is still on the market after 10 years. Jordan has tried to sweeten the pot by cutting the price nearly in half and throwing in a complete set of Air Jordans with the purchase of the house. And yet, it remains unsold and he pays more than $100,000 in annual property taxes. The house was originally listed for $29 million and has every bell and whistle you can think of. Some "over-improvements" and the house's location are making it hard to sell the property.

An 18-year-old has reportedly been arrested for breaking into NBA legend Michael Jordan's $15million mansion in Chicago. The 60-year-old Jordan was not in the property at the time, according to TMZ, but the teenager was found inside the building after neighbors alerted the police in the afternoon of Tuesday, April 4. The teenager has been named as Raiden Hagerdorn by local media and has been charged criminal trespass and two counts of criminal damage to property. Jordan has not lived at the property since 2012. He has been trying to sell it for 13 years, initially putting it up for...

A number of Hollywood’s elite are reportedly in a hurry to sell their luxury homes ahead of 1 April, when Los Angeles’ new “mansion tax” comes into place. The tax, called Measure ULA, will require sellers of properties of more than US$5 million (approximately £4 million) to pay a four per cent transfer tax. It will also require sales of more than US$10 million to pay a 5.5 per cent tax, with all funds raised going towards public housing. The city aims to raise up to US$1 billion from these sales in an effort to tackle the growing homelessness crisis....

Hundreds of teens broke into a Texas family’s home and threw a wild “mansion rager,” causing thousands of dollars in damages, while the unsuspecting family was out earlier this month. Local high schoolers promoted the Feb. 11 party on social media without consent of the family — who do not have any high school-age children — and then showed up in droves to the Austin property, according to Austin’s Fox 7 News. “We started receiving numerous phone calls from our neighbors that there were kids on our water tower on our property, there were cars up and down the street,...

Now that you all have placed your Super Bowl bets and don’t want to be a chalk-eater, here’s a good underdog wager: A Democrat will win the Mississippi governor’s race this year. Yeah, sounds crazy. The deep-red Magnolia State went overwhelmingly for Donald Trump, hasn’t voted for a Democratic president since 1976, for a U.S. Senator in 40 years — and not for a Democratic governor in almost a quarter century. But incumbent Gov. Tate Reeves is not very popular. A Siena college poll last month showed 57 percent would prefer someone else, and Reeves barely leads the Democratic candidate,...

In the summer, mainly on weekends, Tymoshenko himself was behind the wheel of the car, which was recorded by CCTV cameras. A special pass for the curfew period issued by the Kyiv City State Administration was seen on the car’s windshield.At the same time, Tymoshenko not only drove an expensive car, but also rents a mansion of almost 1,200 square meters with its own access to the water reservoir. The house belongs to the owner of a large construction business, Ihor Nikonov.Tymoshenko explained that he rents this house for security reasons, since his own house is located in a dangerous...

Three months have passed since the national Black Lives Matter group announced the launch of an art fellowship program used to justify its secret purchase of a $6 million Los Angeles mansion, but the charity hasn't even begun to accept applications for the program. Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation announced the fellowship program just days before New York magazine revealed in early April the charity had secretly purchased the property with donor cash in October 2020. BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors filmed videos at the property for her personal YouTube channel, held private events at the compound, and stayed at...

Last week, billionaire internet entrepreneur (Netscape co-founder) Jim Clark broke the news to the WSJ that he sold his oceanfront estate near Palm Beach, Florida, for $173mln. At the time, Clark wouldn’t reveal who the mystery buyer was. Bloomberg reports the buyer of the most expensive property ever sold in Florida is no other than billionaire Oracle Corp. co-founder Larry Ellison. Ellison’s new estate includes a 62,000-square feet Mediterranean-style mansion and several other buildings on the property with more than 30 bedrooms. It was noted by Bloomberg The real estate transaction was off-market. Clark bought the estate in early 2021...

A group of around 200 partiers broke into an $8million Florida home and turned the foyer into a boxing ring before fleeing from police. The Walton County Sheriff's Office was called by security to a house in Watercolor for a 'noise complaint' on Saturday after a large group of rowdy partiers broke in and damaged the property. A flyer was allegedly passed around for a week on Snapchat, announcing the break-in, which the Sheriff's Office said in its post: 'Yes, we know about that too.' 'This had been advertised for an entire week, so that's going to be apart of...

Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors liked to splash the charity’s funds around, with her brother and child’s father both benefiting from handsome cash payments in return for various services. The tax documents reveal BLM paid a company owned by Damon Turner, the father of Cullors’ child, nearly $970,000 to help “produce live events” and provide other “creative services.” The co-founder’s brother, Paul Cullors, saw more than $840,000 of donated funds pass into his hands for providing security services to the foundation. All told the foundation is still worth tens of millions of dollars, after spending more than $37 million...

The creator of Rockstar Energy Drink, billionaire Russell Weiner, purchased the most expensive house in Utah history that looks like a fortress. According to WSJ, sitting on 5 acres nestled in a mountainous region in Park City, Utah, the 17,500 square feet mansion with six bedrooms cost a whopping $39.6 million. In December, the home was listed for $42 million and went under contract in April. Weiner’s purchase appears to be politically motivated. He said Utah is “a pro-family and pro-business state” and expects it to “keep attracting people, especially as people run from high tax states.”Weiner added: “Real-estate values...

**SNIP** English footballers still 'take the knee' before games in deference to BLM and even Sir Keir Starmer was photographed doing the same in his office at the height of the protests. With those who didn't fall into line risking accusations of racism, few wanted to be thought out of step. So no wonder three co-founders of the movement might have felt they deserved to celebrate a little as their cause gained widespread attention. In a video they released on YouTube last year to mark the first anniversary of George Floyd's death at the hands of a white police officer...

Black Lives Matter (BLM) co-founder Patrisse Cullors has spoken against a report that reveals her organization’s purchase of a $5.8 million mansion in southern California, calling the story a “racist and sexist” attack on the movement.Patrisse Cullors attends an event in West Hollywood, Calif., on Feb. 13, 2020. According to the April 4 report by New York Magazine, the 6,500 square-foot California estate was bought in October 2020 using money that had been donated to Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, which acts as a fundraising umbrella for BLM activism. It’s unclear who leads the foundation since Cullors stepped down...

The taxpayer-funded Secret Service is reportedly shelling out at least $30,000 a month to rent a seaside Malibu mansion close to Hunter Biden, President Joe Biden’s scandal-plagued son, to protect him.The security detail reportedly started renting a “resort-style” home in one of the priciest California cities last year to stay close to the amateur artist’s own rented Malibu property, which costs $10,000 less per month according to a report from ABC News. Secret Service rented the $6 million “Spanish-style estate” with “six bedrooms, six bathrooms, a gym, a tasting room, a built-in barbecue, a pool, a spa,” and “gorgeous ocean...