Luxury Real Estate

By Jim Walberg of Caribbean Islands Realty

The St. Thomas Ritz-Carlton just completed the entire re-design of 81 of their 105 two and three bedroom two residences!

As you may recall, the Ritz at Red Hook, St. Thomas is one of my favorite elegant places to stay in the Virgin Islands. This particular Ritz-Carlton was the beta test site for the Deeded Fractional Ownership concept for the Marriott Corporation over ten years ago. The outstanding results created at this Ritz-Carlton with the sellout of their initial fractional ownership opportunities launched the development of deeded fractional ownership within the Ritz organization worldwide. They have now expanded luxury villas at their Red Hook, St. Thomas location as part of their deeded fractional ownership product. Their success with this concept has now swept over the entire Caribbean.

Given that this was their first venture into the Residence Club market over ten years ago, it was time for the Ritz to refurbish their residences. What they have created is over the top! The new décor was designed to highlight the flair of the Caribbean while still keeping with The Ritz-Carlton tradition of pure elegance. Each refurbished unit also includes artwork by the resort’s in-residence local artist, Lucinda O’Connell.

“We are very excited to unveil this makeover to our Members as they return to their residences over the course of this year,” said Ronald Parker, general manager of The Ritz-Carlton Club, St. Thomas.

The fractional owners at the St. Thomas Ritz-Carlton also enjoy their own personal concierge services, which assist them with their every need prior to and throughout their stay - even the stocking of their unit with groceries before they arrive, plus, they have the use of the 53-foot catamaran, Lady Lynsey, and a full-service spa, salon and fitness center. The deeded fractional ownership allows Members and their guests to use a one-twelfth interest, for 21 days annually. As I have mentioned many times, this is a destination I highly recommend for your next visit to the Caribbean. Just a side note, the bay in front of the Ritz is THE kite-boarding center of the Virgin Islands. Until next time…fair winds!

By Carl Peraltaof 77 Great Estates

Carinthia VII, the successor to a monument in yacht design and a keystone for the future: an impression.

The Carinthia VII, one of the largest and most luxurious yachts in the world, berthed at Grand Harbour on 4^th March 2009.

Owned by Heidi Horton, widow of Helmut Horten, the yacht is 97.2 metres long and 15.95 metres wide. Ms Horton, who inherited her husband’s $1 billion fortune, is worth about $3 billion according to Forbes.

The Carinthia VII can often be found at her home berth in the International Yacht Club of Antibes (IYCA). Carinthia VII (Project Fabergé) was built in 2002 by the German yard Lurssen. She was designed by Tim Heywood with an interior by Ellerhorst and Kreuter.

By Donna Sapolin
From her magazine article: Decorati Designer Feature: Robert Passal, Style Infusion

Welcome to a designer feature by Decorati, the online resource for high-end interior design. In this post, we are featuring New York-based interior designer Robert Passal, who has transformed this 2,200-square-foot apartment on Manhattan’s tony upper eastside. See below for some tips that you can use for staging your next home.

His mission: to diffuse the banality of new construction by administering a healthy dose of visual intrigue to heartily lived-in, white-box rooms devoid of interior architecture.

Designed for a couple with two infants, his furnishings plan shuns the sort of precious, hands-off quality that some elegant schemes engender and, instead, welcomes the thrills and spills of everyday life with wear-resistant surfaces and a few colors that politely refuse to show the (sometimes grubby) touch of human hands. Passal’s design concept focused on the creation of dimension and interest through geometry and texture.

LIVING ROOM:

“I use art lamps all over, even in unexpected places, like [in] a powder room over a toilet.”

Entrants to the living room are struck by a strong sense of interior architecture forged by the grid work frame of a Holly Hunt armchair, the x-shaped bottoms of two leather stools, the circular form of a brushed steel B & B Italia side table, and the rectangular shapes of a glass-topped copper Martha Sturdy coffee table and custom-designed cantilevered media cabinet.

DINING ROOM:

The geometric motifs extend to the dining room where a pair of Oly leather chairs and a custom banquette sidle up to an oak table supported by two trios of x-shaped legs. Passal painted the baseboards a deep chocolate tone and carried the color across the bottoms of the Belgian linen drapes, into the cotton velvet upholstery on the banquette and onto its stained base.

“Whenever I am short on surfaces in a room, I use the dining table for art – here, I placed a cast bronze sculpture under the fixture.”


Editor’s Note:
The full version of this article can be found in Decorati’s Access Magazine. Donna Sapolin has written a number of articles for this magazine, and they are definitely worth checking out. This looks like a great luxury property. Luxury Real Estate recently partnered with Decorati to share content between the two sites. You can find my “Hot Spots for Yachts” article from the spring 2008 issue of LuxuryRealEstate.com Magazine published on Decorati here. Very exciting!