The Magazine
The Luxury Real Estate Magazine
At Home with Designer, Potter and Author Jonathan Adler
The New York-based designer, potter and author Jonathan Adler is one of the great contemporary polymaths. Inspired by mid-20th-century design heroes such as Gio Ponti, Alexander Girard and David Hicks, he recognizes no boundaries between different disciplines and works across ceramics, furniture, lighting and textiles, as well as creating interiors for private and commercial clients. Adler’s unique take on “happy chic” has seen his business grow in the past 25 years to encompass more than 20 stores worldwide (including London), while landmark projects include the interior design of the Parker Palm Springs hotel.
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WPP Is Anchor Tenant for Menkes Toronto Waterfront Project
WPP Plc, the global advertising and marketing company, will be the anchor tenant at a new development on Toronto’s waterfront. The London-based firm will lease about 260,000 square feet (about 24,000 square meters) at Menkes Development Ltd.’s Waterfront Innovation Centre on Queens Quay East.
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Lounging Poolside: 6 Ideas to Refresh Your Backyard
Summer is in full swing, bringing with it long days, shimmering pools, cocktails, and lazy afternoons with the latest bestsellers. For the innovative homeowner, the pool patio can be so much more than a functional space for dripping on the concrete. From cozy furnishings to vivid foliage, here are some ideas to refresh your backyard and turn your major water feature into a fabulous oasis.
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Miami Condo Owner Installs $1.5M Pigani Race Car as a Room Divider
The V12-powered Italian thoroughbred certainly makes for a unique interior accent piece. What’s the one thing more opulent than tearing around town in your $1.5 million, 750-horsepower Italian race car? Mounting the fire-breathing beast sideways as a room divider in your luxury residence. This is exactly what the owner of a rare Pagani Zonda R supercar—reportedly one of just 15 manufactured—did inside their $8 million oceanfront Miami condo.
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Who Just Beat the Bay Area in Tech Job? Toronto
Toronto’s tech scene is so hot the city created more jobs than the San Francisco Bay area, Seattle and Washington, D.C., combined last year, while leapfrogging New York in a ranking of “talent markets.” Toronto was the fastest-growing tech-jobs market in 2017, according to CBRE Group Inc.’s latest annual survey, released Tuesday. The city saw 28,900 tech jobs created, 14 percent more than in 2016, for a total of more than 241,000 workers, up 52 percent over the past five years, CBRE said. Downtown, tech accounted for more than a third of demand for office space.
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The Latest in Art, Architecture and Design
Looking for what's new and cool in the worlds of art, architecture and design? Last year, as fashion types posted pictures on Instagram of their weekends throwing clay, Vogue called the craft “the new yoga." Certainly there is a growing appetite for beautiful homewares and sculpture, made from organic materials and produced by a talented generation of new ceramists.
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Top Things To Do In Toronto In Summer 2018
Long days mean more time to take in everything going on. And Toronto has all the things – headline acts, major arts festivals and big league sports. Here are just some of the hot times that await.
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How to Translate Insta-Decor Trends in Real Life
Instagram is flooded with images of some seriously dreamy decor, and translating those trends into your home is a task worth tackling.
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Tropical Oasis in Whitsundays, Queensland, Australia
As the ancient iron gates majestically sweep open leading to the Botanica Whitsundays grounds, be prepared to fall in love. This majestic home was designed in the spirit of innovation. fusing classical and new age elements. The property presents an unparalleled combination: a glamorous private residence in the sub-tropics and an award-winning wedding and event venue.
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RM Sotheby's | The Aston Martin that Broke 300 KPH
While many are most familiar with the Aston Martin through it’s long and exciting relationship with Ian Fleming’s fictional MI6 agent, James Bond, it is of note that the prestigious car has a storied heritage in the racing world. RM Sotheby’s presents a piece of that history.
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How Concrete Modernized a Former Celebrity-Owned Condo in New York
When a client tapped Homepolish designer Jae Joo to fix up his condo in the Lower East Side, he asked for a bathroom renovation and a light kitchen refresh—nothing more. But you know how those things go.
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City Confidential | 6 Must-Visit spots for Eating & Drinking in Hong Kong
Until recently, Hong Kong equated formality with status and sophistication. In recent years, however, the city’s drinking and dining scene has flourished, led by innovative establishments that have regional authenticity and a sense of cultural identity at their core.
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15 Bathroom Renovation Ideas to Transform Your Morning Routine
The bathroom may be one of the most overlooked rooms in the house, yet it is one of the most important. It’s where the day starts and ends. It’s where we go to relax, whether through soaking in a deep tub or indulging in a steam shower. It’s where we get ready to face the world, seated at a vanity or standing at the counter. Dial up the comfort and utility in your day with any of these bathroom renovations that best suit your style:
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Living the High Life
Opting for vertical living has long involved tradeoffs: services versus square footage, turnkey versus autonomy, convenience versus community. But with highly equipped, low-density condominium towers, buyers no longer have to compromise: Distinctive architecture, oversize residences and ultra-luxe services are turning high-rise structures into high-networth communities, with amenities fostering social interaction and a sense of place among affluent neighbours.
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5 Places to Visit That Will Delight Your Senses | Lesser-Known Vacation Spots Span Five Continents
This looks to be the year for immersive travel. Or so says Eric Grayson, founder and CEO of Discover 7 Travel, a luxury-travel concierge service. “People want to do more than go to Paris and stay at the Ritz,” he says. “Instead, individuals are looking for travel that touches more of their senses.” Read on for five experiential travel spots worth journeying to this year.
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Toronto's Highest Values Neighbourhoods
Toronto has garnered quite the reputation among residents and visitors alike—and for good reason. Its landscape is comprised of a vibrant art sphere, burgeoning craft brewery scene, international film stage, and sought-after historical neighbourhoods. The most revered of these carry with them a few marked characteristics: innovative architecture, abundant amenities, and exceptional overall livability.
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Inside Berlin's Mitte and Charlottenburg | Two of the German Capital's Toniest Areas Dazzle Buyers
When Klaus Wowereit, a former mayor of Berlin, described his city as “poor, but sexy” in 2003, he was commenting on its growing appeal in the years following the fall of the Berlin Wall and German reunification.
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Ins and Outs of Displaying Modern Art | Don't Be Afraid to Mix Up Styles or Periods
Modern art can be many things: Towering sculptures, floor to-ceiling paintings, object installations—all of these types of works have their rightful places when they live in a museum. But displaying them in the confines of your living room, kitchen or dining room can be an art in itself.
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The Wonders of Wallpaper | Design Options Span from Basic to Bold and Neutral to Colourful
In the design world, wallpaper is the great change artist. It has the power to transform the look and feel of a room in a blink—adding glamour, creating whimsy, lending refinement. Few decor modifications are as instantaneous or as drastic.
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2018 Mid-Year Top-Tier Real Estate Report
In the Greater Toronto Area (Durham, Halton, Peel, Toronto and York), market confidence and top-tier sales activity renewed in the first half of 2018 as consumer psychology recovered from the April 2017 introduction of the Ontario Fair Housing Plan, particularly within the City of Toronto. Given unprecedented gains in the region’s $1 million-plus sales volume from 2015 to 2017, with surges of 56% in 2015 over 2014, 65% in 2016 over 2015, and 41% in the first half of 2017 over the first half of 2016, year-over-year comparisons of 2018 to 2017 sales activity mask the region’s market resilience. On the surface, $1 million-plus residential real estate sales fell 46% year-over-year in the first half of 2018, while sales over $4 million fell 51%. However, 2018 sales volume trended in line with 2015’s pre-surge levels: GTA $1 million-plus real estate sales in the first half of 2018 increased 25% from the number of units sold in the first half of 2015, while sales over $4 million were up 72%.
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Market Watch | June 2018
Toronto Real Estate Board President Garry Bhaura, in his first market release as TREB President, is pleased to announce some positive signs with respect to the housing market. Greater Toronto Area REALTORS® reported 8,082 home sales through TREB's MLS® System in June 2018 – up 2.4 per cent compared to the low June 2017 result. After preliminary seasonal adjustment, sales were also up 17.6 per cent on a monthly basis between May 2018 and June 2018, continuing the trend of somewhat volatile month-over-month changes over the past year as home buyers reacted to various policy changes impacting the market.
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Less Is More | Minimalist Homes Focus Our Attention on What Really Matters
Minimalism is design through simplicity—of form, colour, volume and detail—yet this aesthetic isn't simple to achieve. Go too far in one direction, and the result is cold, even sterile; cross the line the other way, and messiness begins. Hitting the sweet spot involves an architectural and decorative language of unity and repetition and the clever manipulation of space—not as an element to be filled, but as one to be celebrated—as well as light.
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For a "Family Estate Within the City", Torontonians Turn to the Bridle Path
Toronto certainly has its share of posh, exclusive neighborhoods, but none compares to the Bridle Path. Homes in the neighborhood command top prices and attract a clientele from around the world. Called “Millionaire’s Row” in the past, it might be more apt to call it “Billionaire’s Row” now because of the neighborhood’s homes’ constant expansion, according to Paul Maranger and Christian Vermast of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada.
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Play Host | 7 Properties with Incredible Guest Houses
We live globally—family spread across continents, children on the other side of the country, friends who forgo a home base to travel the world. It takes a consummate host to bring together a far-flung cohort, to create an inviting anchor point worthy of an extended visit. Put up your family and friends in these remarkable guest houses and take a break from coordinating elaborate meetups away from home.
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