Luxe Living

Oprah Winfrey, one of the most powerful and influential women in the world, has recently relisted her luxury Chicago co-op for half of the purchase price, reports The Chicago Tribune. In 2006, the media mogule paid $5.6 million for the 4,600-squre-foot, 3-bedroom, 3.5 bath condo and has now snuck it back onto the live market for $2.8 million. According to our good friend The Real Estalker, Winfrey had first listed the swanky apartment in December 2008 for $6 million with privacy issues being the ultimate dealbreaker, according to Chicago Mag. After a few years of trying to sell it as well as rent it, all the while never even having lived in it, Winfrey has decided to ditch the extra digs and instead pass the time at her main Chicago quarters, an extravagant 15-ooo squre-foot-duplex located just a few minutes away at Water Tower Place.

Alhtough the queen of talk tv is losing out on a couple million with this listing price, we all know it’s hardly putting a dent in this diva’s bank account. Someone just needs to get this Beaux-arts, Benjamin Marshall designed masterpeice out of her hair!

The 6th floor apartment sits in a glamorous 12-story 13-unit building built in 1913. The 3-bedroom, 3.5 bath property boasts 10-foot ceilings, two marbled fireplaces, a beautiful library, solarium, a 462 bottle wine room and bulter’s pantry.  Sun-filled bay windows in the library, living room and master bedroom all offer stunning views of Lake Michigan, as well as the surrounding North Side Chicago neighborhood.

Faster than you can say “welcome home,” Rosie O’Donnell is already trying to part ways with a Chicago home she purchased in September of 2011 for $2,250,000. Last Fall, Ms. O’Donnell made the decision to plant roots in Chicago as she prepped for her hopeful career comeback with her eponymous show on Oprah Winfrey’s O Network. With that in mind, she purchased a stunning West Grace Street home fully furnished and “as-is” from an executive at the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Now, it turns out she’s had a change of plans. According to The Real Estalker, the newly-engaged star’s publicist told the Chicago Tribune that Rosie purchased the property on impulse and that a “corporate-supplied apartment had proved sufficient” for her residential needs in Chicago.

Back on the market for $2,500,000 – a cool $250,000 more than she paid last year, O’Donnell is hoping for a buyer to swoop in and take this impulse purchase off her hands.

Measuring in at 6,000 square feet, the 5 bedroom, 5+ bath home is in the heart of the southport corridor in the desirable Lakeview neighborhood. The home’s outstanding features include high ceilings ceilings, extensive millwork, custom cabinetry and rich designer flare. The previous owner made massive improvements, including adding a top-of-the-line audio/visual and security system for the entire house, a home theater and a sports bar. A marvelous outdoor living area includes a massive, 2,000 square foot roof deck. Perfect for Chicago winters, the home also has a 3 car heated garage.

Media mogul Oprah Winfrey is looking to rent out her swank but never-lived-in Chicago pad for $15,000 a month. The fine folks at Curbed (via the Chicago Tribune) are reporting that Oprah is renting out the East Lake Shore Drive home that she purchased for $5,600,000 in 2006 and tried to unsuccessfully sell for $6,000,000 a couple of years later. She never ended up officially moving in, instead she set up camp in an ultra-posh duplex a few miles down the road. Now, it’s time for someone else (with deep pockets) to move on in.

The luxury, 4,607 square foot home has amazing views from library, living room and master bedroom with 10 foot ceilings. The apartment’s formal spaces include an inner foyer, a grand foyer, living room, library and formal dining room. Other amenities include a solarium, butler’s pantry, wine room, gourmet custom kitchen, laundry room and office (or third bedroom). The en-suite guest  and large master suite come complete with his and hers baths. The unit also includes a 2 car garage.

If you’ve recently caught NBC’s new Monday night series “The Playboy Club” you might have fallen in love with the lavish, sexy and mischievous ambiance that encompassed Chicago’s hottest nightclub in the 1960’s. The show, which centers on the first ever Playboy Club in the U.S., gives us a peak at the exclusive fun and furry Playboy bunnies that only those lucky “keyholders” could relish in.

However, anyone who’s anyone must know the fun definitely did not start or stop at The Playboy Club. In those days, only a few privileged socialites were invited to the real party, just a hop, skip and a jump away at Hugh Hefner’s home – the original Playboy Mansion. While Hef’s current home in the Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles is known as “The Playboy Mansion,” there was another infamous home of his that came before.

While you’ll have to use your imagination when it comes to what actually went on within the walls of this notorious building, you now have your chance to actually own and live within the memories of the once-famous abode. More than a decade after Mr. Hefner left Chicago for Los Angeles, this 72-room brick building was renovated and converted into luxury condominiums. Flash forward to 2011, a full-floor, 7,874 square foot condo is for sale for $6,700,000.

The 4-bedroom, 5-bath single-family residence comes with lavish rooms of generous proportion with 4 fireplaces throughout, an elevator opening up to the foyer, an attached terrace and exquisite gourmet kitchen. The living room was originally the mansion’s 52 x 27, 20-foot high celiling ballroom and still contains the building’s original paneling.

Now, if only walls could talk! Plush smoking jacket not included.

Rosie O’Donnell is making a career comeback on Oprah Winfrey’s O Network, which means she needs to show up on time for work everyday. Rosie’s a long-time resident of New York City, so the only way to do that is to plant some roots and buy some high-priced property in the Windy City of Chicago, Oprah’s long-time professional home base.

In the 1990′s, O’Donnell hosted her own successful daytime TV show, “The Rosie O’Donnell Show,” for which she picked up quite a few shiny trophies at the Daytime Emmys. She moved on to a quick stint on “The View,” where she again picked up a paycheck for talking on television, and she made headlines every week by clashing with ultra-conservative co-host Elizabeth Hasslebeck.

Rosie had a fiery exit from “The View,” but she’s now ready to give it another go with Oprah as her boss and Chicago as her new hometown. The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Rosie is under contract to purchase a stunning $2,500,000 home in the Lakeview neighborhood. She’s reportedly purchasing the home fully furnished and “as-is” from an executive at the Oprah Winfrey Network.

Measuring in at 6,000 square feet, the 5 bedroom, 5+ bath home is in the heart of the southport corridor in the desirable Lakeview neighborhood. The home’s outstanding features include high ceilings ceilings, extensive millwork, custom cabinetry and rich designer flare. The previous owner made massive improvements, including adding a top-of-the-line audio/visual and security system for the entire house, a home theater and a sports bar. A marvelous outdoor living area includes a massive, 2,000 square foot roof deck. Perfect for Chicago winters, the home also has a 3 car heated garage.