Tag Archives: Chappaqua Luxury Real Estate

Astorino: No Tax Hikes, Layoffs In 2015 Westchester County Budget | Chappaqua Real Estate

Westchester County has approved a 2015 budget plan, with a modest spending increase and no hike in the tax levy.

The $1.75 billion spending plan also contains no layoffs, and maintains and improves essential service delivery, according to the office of county Executive Rob Astorino.

“This is a smart and responsible budget that protects the interests of all county residents,” Astorino said in a news release. “It strikes the right balance between taxes and services.”

The budget increases spending by 0.5 percent, or $10 million – less than the rate of inflation, the release said. There will be no reductions in services, and the county’s safety net was maintained with spending for the Department of Social Services at $545 million, the release said.

The tax levy will remain at $548 million for the fifth year in a row, and sales tax was projected to rise by 4 percent to $414 million, the release said.

The budget passed by a vote of 10 to 7, winning the vote of all seven Republican and three Democrats on the Westchester County Board of Legislators, the release said.

The board did reach a compromise in borrowing to pay tax certioraris – the claims made against the county by property owners challenging their tax assessments. The county will only borrow $5 million rather than the $8 million it borrowed last year, as an alternative to service cuts or layoffs that otherwise would have been used to offset costs.

 

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http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/12/09/astorino-no-tax-hikes-layoffs-in-2015-westchester-county-budget/

Make Your Stone House Feel at Home in the Landscape | Chappaqua Real Estate

Stone is one of the predominant materials used for house exteriors today. Whether your home’s style is colonial, traditional or contemporary,stone lends a timelessness and an organic connection to the earth. But stone homes in the U.S. have historically had an austere look, sitting atop the landscape with little or no connection to their foundation plantings, let alone their gardens.Let’s look at ways to make your stone home feel at home in your landscape.

Come See Rural Maryland’s Craftiest, Swankiest Cabin | Chappaqua Real Estate

t1.jpgPhoto via Vicco von Voss

Over the last 10 years, German furniture maker Vicco von Voss has been building out his dream cabin in rural Maryland, one piece of timber at a time. Recently profiled in the New York Times, von Voss’s 1,400-square-foot, Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired house is a masterpiece of patient craftsmanship: each plank and beam was milled by hand, using fallen trees salvaged from the woods nearby.

A playful mix of straight edges and gratifying curves. >>

Assembling hundreds of varieties of trees, including the Eastern white pine, cherry, cypress, and swamp maple, von Voss added each design feature with care. Take, for example, how von Voss spent weeks crafting the cherry and yellow wood door to his daughter’s room, which now also has notches carved into them to record her growth. Or the fact that he had to let all of the meticulously scavenged wood age three years per inch to control how they expand and contract through the seasons. Check out more photos of the “results” below (the house is still a work-in-progress) and a slideshow of its construction process over here.

 

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http://curbed.com/archives/2014/12/01/vicco-von-voss-centreville-maryland-house.php

Mapping the 10 Most Lavish Waterfront Estates for Sale | Chappaqua Real Estate

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When looking for a home with a view, some prefer city lights, some the soaring blue canopy of Big Sky country, and some just want a place that doesn’t overlook the Dumpsters in the alley (you know, the ones that get emptied at 5 a.m. by a clanging, thunderously loud garbage truck whose metallic thumping is accompanied by a chorus of swearing from a group of preternaturally active sanitation workers jacked up on Dunkin’ Donuts coffee). And then there are those who want to live in a mansion close to a body of water, be it a lake, a bay, or the wide-open ocean. These are the waterfront homes that compound the expense of luxury living with the costs of coastal real estate, resulting in eye-popping architecture and sudden-fits-of-coughing-inducing listing prices. Case in point: these 10 expensive coastal homes on the market. From the shores of Lake Tahoe to the seaside cliffs of Big Sur, these luxury homes embrace the inherent drama of waterfront living.

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http://curbed.com/archives/2014/11/07/10-lavishly-dramatic-waterfront-estates-for-sale.php

Nuclear Plant Sirens Will Be Tested Thursday | Chappaqua Real Estate

There will be a test of the Indian Point sirens in Westchester, Putnam, Rockland and Orange Counties on Thursday at approximately 10:30 a.m, according to an announcement on westchestergov.com.

This sounding is only a test and no action by the public is necessary, the announcement said.

The sirens would sound continuously at full volume for four minutes, followed by the broadcast of an Emergency Alert System (EAS) message on radio and television stations during an actual emergency. Sirens are not a signal to evacuate, but rather for people to tune to an EAS radio or TV station for information and instructions.

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http://mtkisco.dailyvoice.com/news/indian-point-sirens-will-be-tested-thursday

American Horror Story: Floral Wallpaper | Chappaqua Real Estate

 

Floral House, not sane, stood by itself against its flowers, holding unimaginable horrors within…

What dark secrets lurk behind this house’s pleasant, unassuming exterior? Somehow, someone, possibly an escapee from a mental institution, committedunspeakable acts of wallpaper horror within. Not only the walls, but indeed the very ceilings are papered, closing in on you, yes, getting closer all the time… Not content, the interior desecrator added furniture upholstered in a contrasting floral. Then he or she slapped up a few Inuit plaques on the wall because why not and add a coffee table that looks like it’s going to get up and run away soon, and then it was time to wallpaper the next room.

Specifics: $895K for a 1900sf house with three wallpapered bedrooms and two rather nice baths. Plot is half an acre. House will probably be really nice after copious amounts of wallpaper stripper, holy water, and smudging sage.

 

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http://hamptons.curbed.com/archives/2014/10/21/american_horror_story_floral_wallpaper.php

 

Real Life Wolf of Wall Street Character Lists Home for $44M | Chappaqua Real Estate

The real life version of one of the human personifications of the word “douchebag” from the movie The Wolf of Wall Street has put his two-story Tribeca maisonette on the market and it is just the worst thing you can possibly imagine.

Alan Wilzig, who is described by The Real Deal as an “entrepreneur and semi-professional race car driver,” was the character in the Martin Scorsese film who showed up to a party and introduced Leonardo DiCaprio’s character to his future wife. Wilzig later took to Facebook (again, in the words of the The Real Deal) to “[criticize] Scorsese for leaving out the fact that Wilzig had arrived at the party in his red Ferrari Testarossa.” Taking that into account, the listing makes perfect sense — it seems about 20 percent invested in displaying the apartment to prospective buyers and 80 percent invested in showing off his huge collection of motorcycles and multi-colored lightbulbs. The whole place looks like it was designed by a spoiled six-year-old.

Wilzig is asking $43.5 million. Good. Luck.

 

 

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http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/10/08/real_life_wolf_of_wall_street_character_lists_home_for_44m.php

Kitchen of the Week: Warm and Contemporary in the Mountains | Chappaqua Real Estate

When this Minnesota family of four travels to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, they dive into all that valley has to offer, from skiing to rodeos, and they wanted their ski home to reflect how they spend their time there. “We talked a lot about how they wanted to live as a family out here before we started,” says their interior designer, Jennifer Prugh Visosky. Then they opened up the social spaces for a warm, contemporary feel that fits the wooded surroundings.

Teatown Lake Reservation news | Chappaqua Real Estate

October 1, 2014                                                               Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Find us on Pinterest  View our videos on YouTubenull
Apellegrino

PROGRAMS:
Advanced Registration is required for all programs. Unless noted, all programs meet in the Nature Center and are $7 per person or FREE for members. Please register by calling (914) 762-2912 ext. 110
Nature Matters: Managing Deer to Protect Our Forests-
Is There An Answer?
Thursday, October 2
7 pm 

In the Theater at the Ossining Public Library

Speaker: Dr. Mark Weckel,

Postdoctoral Conservation Research and Teaching Fellow,
American Museum of Natural History
This event is co-sponsored by the Ossining Public Library.
Free.
Raptors on the Wing
Saturday, October 4
11 am – 12 pm

It is migration season for raptors as they take wing to fly south. Meet Teatown’s raptor ambassadors and find out the migration stories that make them take flight.

Not suitable for children under 5. 

Field Day on the Farm
Sunday, October 5
1 pm – 2:30 pm

Before the days get colder take one last hike into the fields at Cliffdale Farm where we will look for insects.

Visit Teatown
APellegrino

1600 Spring Valley Road
Ossining, NY 10562
Teatown Lake Reservation’s
mission is to inspire our community to lifelong environmental stewardship.
Nature Center hours:
9 am – 5 pm daily
Trails are open 365 days a year from dawn to dusk.
Click here for Teatown membership benefits, details,
and to purchase or renew
your membership online.

Your donation can make

an immediate impact and help

support our environmental education programs and the stewardship of our 1,000 acre preserve.

 

 

Shop on Amazon?

Click the link below and a portion of your Amazon purchase will be donated to Teatown!

Click here.

Upcoming Events and Workshops:
Hiking the Road to Ruins
Thursday, October 9
7 pm – 8:30 pm

Join author David Steinberg for this informative talk about his book Hiking the Road to Ruins. The Hudson Valley has a wealth of abandoned iron mines and rock quarries, deserted buildings, and historic military sites that make great hiking destinations, especially when you learn the

ins and outs of these locales. This is an adult program.

Nature of Leaves
Saturday, October 18
1 pm – 3 pm

Celebrate autumn by taking a hike with a Teatown educator. Collect autumn leaves and learn how and why leaves turn color in the fall. Work with leaves and other botanicals to create a fall medallion to put in your window for autumn light to shine through. Guided by Strawtown Studio..

Lighthouse Illumination Art Workshop
Sunday, October 19
2 pm – 4 pm
at the Kathryn W. Davis RiverWalk Center, Kingsland Point Park, Sleepy Hollow
 

Join Teatown educators and artists from Strawtown Studio at the Kathryn W. Davis RiverWalk Center, in Kingsland Point Park, Sleepy Hollow for this illuminating workshop! The Tarrytown Lighthouse will serve as inspiration to create lanterns from foils, mirrors, beads and other reflective materials to light up the long winter nights ahead. Learn the importance of light as a guide for animal and human navigation. Please bring a flashlight!

In the Nature Center Gallery:   


Recent Works by

Melissa Bisbee Orme

 

Opening Reception: October 9 at 6pm

On exhibit October 2014

Click here for more info

Teatown Highlight:   

Great volunteers are always making improvements to our trails. 

Last weekend, 12 individuals and 7 families (40 people total) from the Yorktown Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints came to Teatown Lake Reservation as part of their Helping Hands Service to help get our trails ready for autumn hiking. Plan your employee or group volunteer opportunity here.

San Francisco Real Estate is Down | Chappaqua Real Estate

Here’s one sign that the cooling off for housing appreciation has become widespread: The hot San Francisco housing market actually saw home prices drop in July, marking the city’s weakest result since early 2012, according to data released Tuesday morning.

Looking at a broader gauge of prices in 20 cities, July saw overall growth of 0.6% in July, slower than the 1% rise in June, according to S&P/Case-Shiller’s 20-city composite index.

After seasonal adjustments, home prices among the 20 cities fell 0.5% in July — the biggest drop since October 2011 — compared with a 0.3% decline in June.

Slower appreciation could encourage more buyers, though prices are still outpacing inflation. A larger number of homes on the market has helped cool down home-price growth. At the same time, demand has been somewhat curbed by increasingly pricey properties and mortgage loans.

Meanwhile, annual growth slowed down, with year-over-year home prices rising 6.7% in July — the slowest pace since late 2012 — compared with annual growth of 8.1% in June. Among the 20 tracked cities, 19 saw slower annual growth in July.

“The geographic breadth of the pullback in prices is noteworthy,” Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Pierpont Securities, wrote in a research note. “Apologies if you are looking to sell your home, but perhaps a bit of relief on the price side will help to bolster housing demand, which has been disappointing lately.”

 

 

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http://www.marketwatch.com/story/house-prices-see-widespread-slowdown-in-july-2014-09-30