onthebuyside.com

We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again. Hotels are horrible. Yes, yes, in a pinch the Four Seasons will do. But the most savvy frequent travelers know that if possible it is best to own a home in each likely destination. If your travels frequently take you to France, here is just the place for you.

Showcase Chateau - Forbes.com

It was built for the Count of Aufflay, visited by Thomas Jefferson and considered for purchase by Michael Jackson.

And if Château Villette seems familiar, that’s probably because you’ve seen it before.

The 17th-century residence played a role in the film version of Dan Brown’s best selling novel, The Da Vinci Code, as the home of English historian Sir Leigh Teabing . The estate has appeared in other feature films, including Le Libertin and Le Conte de Monte Cristo, as well as numerous commercial, print and television shoots.
The property, which is currently on the market for $29.5 million (including furnishings), has also become a fashionable venue for weddings, seminars and other such occasions. Much of that popularity can be attributed to the Chateau’s beauty, serenity and location. Indeed, the château is situated in the small village of Villette, near the Parisian suburb of Versailles, best known as home to Louis XIV’s palace, the grandest château in Europe.

Call us when the median price of a tri-state treehouse exceeds the national median price for a house.

Luxury Real Estate News at Hauteblog.com
In a not-too-far-off suburb of Long Island, where nothing is ever too good (or too much) for the children, some parents are spending up to $100,000 on professionally designed tree houses. There’s enough backyard building that the sub-sub-specialty has its own starchitects, each with his own style: For a young neighbor in Brookhaven named Mackenzie, Michael Ince, a wizard with recycled wood (and fiberglass, for the roof), adopted his signature Tolkeinesque style to the treetops. Donna Karan met celebrity tree-house designer Roderick Romero through a yoga instructor—he built a tree house in Tuscany with stained-glass windows for Sting, too—and ended up commissioning him to build a house for her grandson Miles in a silverleaf maple in Oyster Bay. Long Island native Pete Nelson designed a 120-square-foot tri-level tree palace on a Westchester estate for two preteen girls out of salvaged barn wood.

Nothing says hedge fund manager like a ten-car garage full of collectibles.

Most Expensive Collectible Cars - Forbes.com

Relying on a database of more than 40,000 public transactions maintained by Sports Car Market magazine, which tracks the market for collector cars bought and sold at auction, we’ve assembled a list of the 15 priciest auto auctions, from the 2002 sale of a 1937 Mercedes-Benz 540K Special Roadster to the record-setting transaction involving a 1931 Bugatti Royale.
While some of the top prices were achieved back in the 1980s, some 37 of the top 50 sales recorded by Sports Car Market have occurred since 2000, with 25 of those 50 taking place in the last two years. In other words, the collector-car market has never been stronger.

And if you are one of the growing number of female executives on Wall Street, for you.
The Cult Of Couture - Forbes.com

In fashion parlance, haute couture is something very specific: A garment that is completely custom-made, from impeccable lining to hand-stitched hem. Not only is the dress bespoke, the fabrics and embellishments are of the highest quality, and the tailors, seamstresses, embroiderers, lace makers and other craftspeople who spend hundreds of hours assembling these pieces are the most skilled in the world.

“The insides are as magnificent as the outside,” says George Simonton, fashion designer and professor at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology.

Flaps? Check.

Fine wine? Check.

Bloomberg? Check.

Do you need one? Check.

Priciest Private Planes - Forbes.com

Private planes run the gamut from workman-like transports to flying palaces, and their prices can run well into the tens of millions. Corporate-owned aircraft are typically mere offices in the sky, done up more with comfort than excess in mind, with amenities like solid leather seats, a satellite communications system so executives can stay in touch and maybe somewhere for the CEO to stretch out between meetings.

When price is no object, however, potential extravagances abound. Features such as surround-sound entertainment systems, exotic wood cabinetry and trim, gold-plated bathroom fixtures, hand-woven carpeting and original artwork combine to create rarefied spaces on high.

“Owning your own private plane is far and away one of life’s great indulgences, so people want them done up with style,” says Eric H. Roth, owner of International Jet Interiors of Ronkonkoma, N.Y., which specializes in crafting luxe insides for high-net-worth plane owners.

Attractive. High quality. This is what we look for in a desktop replacement laptop. In a mobile laptop we just want something light. Really really light.

Sony Vaio VGN-AR11S Blu-ray Laptop

Pocket Lint reviews the Sony Vaio VGN-AR11S Blu-ray laptop and writes - ‘Don’t think its only the looks that are impressive, as the build quality is also high – after all, it needs to be to bear the weight of the panel. The keyboard is centrally mounted and comfortable to use, which means you can even use it for work if you need to. It’s hard to fault such a well-built and good looking machine. Sure, we only managed a battery life of just two hours, but the size and weight of the machine aren’t designed for mobile travel, so we’re not too concerned.’

If you name your cel phone after the guy who built gadgets for James Bond it had better have freakin lasers attached to it. Causes music to stutter? Ship this bad boy to SPECTRE cause we won’t be needin it.
Motorola Q review by PC Magazine

Bottom Line: This excellent phone, e-mail, and Web surfing device will make Q a favorite letter for Verizon customers.

Pros: Very thin. Excellent one-handed use. Great voice quality. Stereo music over Bluetooth.

Sounds like a bond babe.

Cons: A bit buggy. Multitasking can cause music to stutter. Expensive data plan.

It is still the phone with the mostest.

Motorola RAZR V3c

Verizon users have been waiting for a RAZR for more than a year now. The nation’s most popular phone redefined cool with its sharp, silver lines. The new version improves on some of the original’s features while keeping the excellent design, reception, and sound quality.

We dig the light weight, but the keyboard is too cramped and the battery life too short for this to make our short list.

LAPTOP Magazine • Fujitsu LifeBook Q2010

When you pick up the Fujitsu LifeBook Q2010, your first reaction will be disbelief at how little it weighs. Your second reaction will be to hand it to someone else to see their reaction. That’s how light the Q2010 feels. If smallness and lightness are your primary concerns when buying a laptop, the Q2010 will delight. Just be aware of the trade-offs this 2.2-pound, three-quarter-inch-think chassis necessitates.

Who needs green cred when the car in question looks like a… well, Prius. Saab is planning to intro a double-green car that won’t make you look like such a schmuck.

Saab goes double-green with biofuel hybrid - Engadget

Not a whole lot of details to be getting on with here, but Saab has confirmed that they have plans to produce a vehicle based on their Bio Power Hybrid concept currently showing at the British International Motor Show. The vehicle combines the potential of E85, a fuel blend with 85% bioethanol from plants, with the further emissions reducing, power increasing and cost reducing perks of an electric motor. The hybrid’s batteries replace the spare tire compartment in the car’s trunk, and since the Bio Power Hybrid uses run-flat tires, there’s essentially nothing lost in the trade-off. Saab’s Bio Power models have been especially successful in Saab’s home market of Sweden, mainly thanks to the large tax breaks they entail, but even while promising a hybrid within the next few years, Saab is clear that the feature won’t come cheap.