Speaking of Old Money Digs: du Pont Mansion Reopens

Last week, the Washington Post featured the newly reopened Nemours Mansion and Gardens. It is the Beaux Arts home that Alfred I. du Pont built for his second wife, Alecia du Pont. This lesser known 300-acre estate is located in Wilmington, Delaware. It recently underwent a $39 million renovation and is now open again for tours (May thru December).

Photo: Jim Graham

Be sure to check out the Washington Post article and slideshow for more about Alfred "The Count" du Pont, a colorful member of the du Pont family who left his fortune to a children's healthcare organization. You can also learn more at: http://www.nemours.org/.

Celebrity House Hunters: Brangelina, Megan Fox & Others

Looks like a few of our favorite celebrities are on the hunt for new digs.

Photo: Corkery/News

New York Daily News reports that megastars Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are checking out hi-rise digs on NY's Upper West Side. Under consideration is the century-old Apthorp Building, described as "fortress-like luxury" and in the process of converting to condos. They might spend to the tune of $25 million for 3 units. Guess they need all that space for their tribe.

Other celebs who may buy there too: Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick with their recently expanded clan, and Alec Baldwin. Hey, maybe uber-parent Alec can babysit all the kids!

Poor Megan Fox. Perez Hilton reports that she's house shopping in L.A. But we think she's shopping with chump change: $2-$3 million. Fortunately for her, the economy is lousy, so she might score a real bargain. Of course, no amount of money can buy her some class. Saw the photo, Perez. Geesh!

Chace Crawford Moves Out of Ed Westwick's Apartment

Chace Crawford Moves Out of Ed Westwick's Apartment

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US Weekly has the exclusive: The Gossip Girl star, who is also set to star in a remake of the movie Footloose, is reportly moving to Dwell95 in NY's Financial District.

Bernie Madoff's New Digs: The Big House

Starting today, after receiving a 150-year sentence for an illegal Ponzi scheme, Mr. Madoff will spend the rest of his life in this North Carolina federal prison. It's a long way from the New York penthouse he used to call home:

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Welcome to the Big House, Bernie! Make yourself at home!

Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch: Underrated?

Photo: Jim Wilson/NY Times

R.I.P. MJ -- We always loved you and your over-the-top style! We all know the familiar photos of Neverland Ranch, like the Graceland-ish front gate and Disneyland-like train station. But the above photo from a recent New York Times article reveals the true Neverland, a gorgeous French country home in Santa Barbara County, California, that we bet interior designers would LOVE to get their hands on.

Exposed brick walls, oak floors, cedar closets, picturesque views of lovely grounds. The list just goes on and on. Just check out the Today Show's tour:

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Alas, Neverland will probably wind up as a tourist attraction a la Graceland.

In a perfect world, we would love to see an L.A. designer like Peter Dunham or Betsy Burnham take it on as a project. Okay, in a perfect world, we would love to see MJ come back to us. We miss you MJ!

More photos from the NY Times and other sources below.

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.)

My dream kitchen

This blog chronicles my entire kitchen renovation from start to finish. Greentea Design has provided me with their solid wood kitchen cabinets, and I'm taking care of the rest.

If you'd like to be brought up to date, check out the archive in the sidebar for previous posts. I posted recently some before and after photos, and for this final post I'd like to share some photos I took for Greentea, the interview they have added to their website about my renovation, and a video tour of the kitchen.

My kitchen is complete, and I am ecstatic at the result. I can finally say that I have my dream kitchen. It is beyond my expectations, and every time I walk through my front door and see it, I can't help but smile. I am never going to want to sell this house. I can't imagine leaving this kitchen behind. I'd like to take this opportunity to again thank the folks at Greentea Design. They made this dream come true for me, and I am so grateful (and shocked) that they agreed to this partnership. It was alot of fun and hard work (on both our parts) and they were so patient and helpful throughout the whole process. I hope I can get in a trip to Toronto sometime soon so I can finally meet them and see their showroom. So thank you Greentea Design - you guys ROCK and I'm so proud to have a Greentea kitchen.

To start this post off, I wanted to invite you to check out the interview Greentea did with me that is now published on their website. They've divided it into 3 parts - Planning, Demolition and Installation, and the Finished Kitchen. What an honour to have my renovation featured on their main page. Here are some photos they've included in the interview.




I took some photos not too long ago for Greentea that really showcase the cabinetry so I thought I'd share some of them. (For the purpose of getting decent shots of the cabinets, the dining table and chairs were pushed into the living room).








And last but not least, a video tour of my kitchen. I really do not like seeing myself on camera (I can't even bare to watch the whole clip), but I agreed to do this for Greentea. Pay no attention to the cats meowing and interrupting me, then jumping up onto the counter, and subsequently leaving a trail of footprints along the range. (GRRRRR)

Thanks to all those who have followed along in this process. It's been quite an adventure, and I'm glad I had this opportunity to share it. I hope my mistakes and advice help those also venturing into the treacherous but exciting land of kitchen renovations.