Celebrity Home of the Week: Donna Karan's Island Retreat

After yesterday's post about a famous hip-hop mogul's home, we figured we'd give you something nice to look at today.  Fortunately, the latest issue of Architectural Digest (December 2009) offers plenty of choices. We just got ours in the mail this week and we were delighted to see that the entire issue is devoted to celebrity homes. And we loved almost every home we saw!

We especially loved the British West Indies family retreat of celebrated fashion designer Donna Karan (shown above on the left, with her daughter Gabrielle).  It's earthy and gorgeous!

SEE MORE PHOTOS OF THIS RETREAT AFTER THE JUMP BELOW
Donna's family retreat consists of a series of pavilions -- including separate guest, spa and yoga pavilions-- ranging from 4,000 to 7,000 square feet each.  All are located on Parrot Cay in the Turks and Caicos Islands.  It reminds us of film-maker Rob Cohen's Bali retreat.

The main house pavillion (top photo and below) is casually open, with ocean views and numerous spots for lounging.

In contrast, the guesthouse living room, filled with beautiful African Art, looks wonderfully secluded:

And imagine waking up bathed in the morning sunlight in this master bedroom in the spa pavilion:

 We would never leave!  That's why, it's our Celebrity Home of the Week!  Ciao!

To see more of this fabulous home and read the story of how it came to exist, go here.  Photos by Durston Saylor.

Bill & Hillary Clinton: They're Gonna Need a Bigger House!

The New York Post's Cindy Adams reports today on Page Six that ex-Prez Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary ("He's not the Sec'y of State, damn it, I am!") are house-hunting in Westchester County, NY. Cindy says they want a bigger place, enough for his-and-hers quarters.

After all their history, it wouldn't surprise us that Bill and Hill would want to be as far apart as possible if they're going to be in the same house. And we guess their Chappaqua house (above) in Westchester County isn't big enough.

But, according to TMZ, they were spotted just last month holding hands while on vacay in Bermuda! Check it out:

We're still scratching our heads! Like, was that a photo op or what?

Top photo credit: Mike Albans

A Peek Inside the Obamas' Vacation House

Architectural Digest has an exclusive look at the vacation house used by President Obama and his family this summer. We always wondered whether it was one of those giant structures with huge impersonal rooms. And we were relieved to find out that it is NOT!
As you can see, it is tastefully simple. The dining room above is obviously "nothing fancy." Likewise, for the bedroom below:

We think this porch speaks volumes about what this home really offers: a quite place to connect with your family. Sigh! We wish we could see more celebrity homes that looked like this, instead of the vulgar mansions of today. But then we'd have nothing to dish about!

All photos by Richard Keith Langham.

Blue Heron Farm: The Obamas' Summer White House

As we reported to you last month, President Obama and the First Family are spending a week on Martha's Vineyard for their summer vacation. They arrived this week at Blue Heron Farm in Chilmark, a white Victorian house that sits on 28+ acres:

Plum TV has a fabulous video of the farm:

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The Obamas Will Vacay in the Vineyard

Everybody sing a little Cole Porter now: Kennedys do it. Clintons do it. Even the Farrelly brothers do it. Let's do it. Let's fall in love . . . with Martha's Vineyard!



President Barack Obama and his family are headed there next month to spend a few weeks chillin'. Gotta admit he deserves a break. After all, he IS the hardest workin' man in presidency.



They're staying at Blue Heron Farm, a 30-acre Chilmark property overlooking Tiah's Cove currently owned by William and Mollie Van Devender (John McCain supporters, fyi). It is the same property formerly owned by the late couple Anthony Fisher and his wife.



Okay, so the Vineyard is not a very original vacation destination, since it's the stomping ground of former presidents, most notably John F. Kennedy. It's still beautiful.

But we're starting to wonder whether, much like the Clintons, the Obamas just want to BE the Kennedys.

Film Producer's Paradise: Eco-Friendly Retreat in Bali

The East Bali vacation home of american film producer/director Rob Cohen is featured in the August 2009 issue of Architectural Digest. Cohen, who brought us movies like xXx: State of the Union and The Fast and the Furious, acquired the property while on holiday with his wife and decided to build an environmentally friendly retreat there.

The home consists of several elevated pavilions -- including a living/dining pavilion and two guesthouses -- built almost entirely from recycled woods and bamboo.

Pictured below is the master bedroom pavillion, which has a view of the Indian Ocean as well as the sacred volcano Mount Agung and Seraya mountain range.

Well, we always thought only people in the movies live like this. Turns out that it's actually people who make movies that get to live like this. Can't blame them, though. This is truly paradise.

FYI, this is a great issue of AD, so be sure to pick up a copy. For more information and photos, check out AD's article here. Photography by Tim Street-Porter.

Stedman Cruises Around Oprah's Hawaii Digs

So they ARE still together! Oprah's longtime beau Stedman Graham was recently spotted biking around Oprah's posh Hawaii home, shown here:

And what a gorgeous home it is--albeit a little generic in decorating. Enough with the horses and roosters already!

I guess we can't blame Stedman at all for sticking around for all these years. Photos: Michel Arnaud. Visit Oprah's site for the slideshow.

Let's Dish the Dirt on Celebrity Homes!

ALL celebrities, some rich and some not-so-much, HAVE to live somewhere . . . .

Some celebrities live in beautiful homes . . . .

And some . . . well . . . not-so-much!

Here at CELEBRITY DIGS HQ you'll get the latest scoop on celebrity homes found in shelter mags and pulled from other news sources.

Naturally, we'll tell you which celebrity homes we really DIG! And we'll even take a few "digs" at celebrity homes we really hate!

Can't wait to dish with you!

--Celebrity Digger (C.D.)