All good things come at a price, and when they're as meticulous, wonderful and small as the Astolat Dollhouse Castle, they should. The astonishing vision, meticulous preparation and incredible items (over 10,000) of the 29-room, 800-pound dollhouse justify the hefty $8.5 million price tag. The seven-level masterpiece was created by artist Elaine Diehl around 1980 and unveiled in 2015. It took no less than 13 years to complete and was estimated at the time to be worth over $2,000 per square inch.

Image – Astolat Dollhouse Castle
That makes this 9-foot-tall dollhouse castle more expensive than a fully furnished 4-bedroom, 6-bathroom, 4,000-square-foot home in San Francisco, and that's just how much money you'd have left over to buy a Tesla even after buying the house, according to the Zillow listing.

Image – Astolat Dollhouse Castle
It may not be a livable space, but it's definitely a stunning one. The tiny objects and rooms of the world's most expensive dollhouse will make you feel like you're Alice in Wonderland. What first catches the eye is the historic exterior of a property that takes its name from the castle in “The Lady of Shalott,” a 19th-century ballad by Alfred Lord Tennyson, according to Bloomberg.

The rooms are illuminated by working chandeliers. Image – Astolat Dollhouse Castle
One can't help but marvel at details like fountains, topiary, and a grand arched entrance with ornate columns. And that's just the outside facade. What lies beneath is truly amazing. Details such as armor, a $5,000 silverware set, artwork, paintings and gemstone collections in the extravagant rooms showcase the talent of the carpenters, goldsmiths, glassblowers and silversmiths.

Experienced carpenters and artists have crafted the incredible miniatures. Image – Astolat Dollhouse Castle
Although all rooms are luxuriously appointed with features such as real parquet floors, hand-stitched tapestries, marble bathrooms and gold trim, it is the library that captured my heart.

Image – Astolat Dollhouse Castle
This outstanding area contains tiny books with real printed pages that can be read under a magnifying glass. In the library, one can (if one really tries) find a Bible that is said to be one of the smallest in the world. Notable items kept here include a $2,500 fold-out secretary bookcase and a miniature Hebrew Torah valued at up to $2,500.

Image – Astolat Dollhouse Castle
Expensive items include a miniature grand piano valued at $7,000, a midget Jeep 949 station wagon valued at over $3,300, and a miniature portrait valued at nearly $2,000. It was apparently so small that it had to be painted with a single bristle brush.

Image – Astolat Dollhouse Castle
Of the seven floors containing regular rooms like the main parlor, dining room, bedrooms and butler's quarters etc, the sixth floor was the most exciting with the grand ballroom, musician's alcove, bar area and living rooms. At the very top of the multi-million dollar miniature house was a wizard's tower with fascinating details like astronomical displays and zodiac signs, a telescope and an observatory.

Image – Astolat Dollhouse Castle
These are just a few examples of the dedication and excellence of the 29-room home, which was unveiled to the public in 2015 to benefit the nonprofit organization Autism Speaks and a selection of other children's charities. The exhibition was hosted by the Nassau County Museum of Art. “The castle is so valuable because of its structure,” said Paula Gilhooley, the museum's curator. She added, “Astolat is one of the most beautiful miniature structures in the world and exhibits a rare combination of sculpture, artistry, engineering and detail that sets it apart from anything that has existed before. Astolat is a tremendous feat of construction and when you see it you will be absolutely speechless.” The museum-quality dollhouse was acquired by collector L. Freeman in 1996 and moved to the Nassau County Museum of Art.

The living area of ​​the house for sale in Francisco. Image – Zillow.

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A registered sex offender has been arrested for installing a hidden camera in a Starbucks restroom in Union City, police said.

Union City police said Wednesday that David Lista, 35, of Hayward, was in possession of child pornography and video footage of people using bathrooms when they searched his home on Aug. 30. Police said they also found drug paraphernalia.

Police said they conducted the search after they linked him to the hidden camera found in the Starbucks at 32240 Dyer St. in Union City.

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He was booked into Santa Rita Jail on three counts of possessing child pornography, illegal videotaping, possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia. He is being held on $75,000 bail.

Lista is a registered sex offender, convicted of possessing child pornography in 2008 for videotaping girls at Mills High School in Millbrae, police said.

Investigators suspect that Lista may have illegally videotaped customers of his plumbing services.

Police are asking anyone who hired Lista as a plumber or as a contractor to contact Detective Angela Fonseca at 510-675-5283 or afonseca@unioncity.org, or Detective Steven Fong at 510-675-5259 or sfong@unioncity.org.

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When you think of a spalike bathroom, you imagine a space with lots of bells and whistles (a showerhead that doubles as a speaker, a bidet with five temperature settings). But there is another way to zen out, and modern farmhouse bathrooms hold all the answers. Instead of giving you all many luxuries that seemingly make for a relaxing experience, these spaces slow your mind and body down by stripping away the techy upgrades and leaving you with just the essentials. Think: cast-iron sinks that are deep enough to also hand-wash delicates in and pine wood walls that smell so good on their own there’s no need to light a candle. Ahead, we rounded up 10 modern farmhouse bathrooms that’ll make you want to bliss out.

The Basement Modern Farmhouse Bathroom

With no natural light, designer Priscilla Frost had to find a way to make this Portland, Oregon, basement bathroom feel less cavernous and more welcoming with a series of optical illusions. The first? Swathing the room in floor-to-ceiling subway tile gives the impression of a taller ceiling. And unlike a curtain, the glass shower enclosure (a $1,200 Home Depot score) keeps the space feeling airy and open. 

The Family-Friendly Modern Farmhouse Bathroom

Interior designer Rachel Sloane Sherman thought about her New Jersey clients’ entire family when renovating their beige primary bathroom (the owners’ three kids were ages 7, 4, and 1 at the time). Next to the new freestanding soaking tub, she carved out a marble-lined niche so everyone could grab a towel without getting water on the polished herringbone Nero Marquina floors. Then for Mom and Dad, she went with elevated materials like white zellige shower tile and glass knobs on the prefab vanities. 

The Modern Farmhouse Bathroom That’s Actually in a Cabin

What is a modern farmhouse bathroom without a scrappy DIY? To support the 100-pound stone sink they bought on Etsy for their woodsy Maine retreat, designer Hannah Oravec and her husband, Michael, had to build a frame structure out of old beams so they could drop it securely in place. In an effort to not have too much going on in such a tiny space, they continued the checkered Fireclay shower tile (in Antique and Carbon) onto the edges of the tub and the floor. 

The Bright White Modern Farmhouse Bathroom

For Leanne Ford, white acts as the best canvas for showcasing organic and textural elements—in the case of this 1945 farmhouse, that included things like ceramic tile, shiplap boards, and a cast-iron tub. To ensure the monochromatic space didn’t read as boring, she used a sail (yes, like one from a boat!) for the shower curtain. 

The Green Thumb’s Modern Farmhouse Bathroom

When designer Kelsey Duda stumbled across a piece of land located in Elk Rapids, Michigan, for sale on Craigslist, she knew it would be the perfect place to build a rental property. And while many vacation homes feel like an afterthought, her rustic retreat keeps guests in mind around every corner, even in the shower and nearby open shelves. 

The Cali Modern Farmhouse Bathroom

Mariam Naficy, founder and CEO of Minted, took two classic farmhouse design tropes—barn doors and raw wood—and put her own, San Francisco–inspired spin on things. Rather than mounting the dark green door on a sliding track, she stuck to matte black hinges. Over at the vanity, she topped a chunk of wood with a wide metal sink that leaves just enough counter space for toothbrushes. 

The Canadian Modern Farmhouse Bathroom

“There’s something so romantic about life in the country,” says interior designer Luke Havekes, who owns this 1841 farmhouse in Canada’s Eastern Townships. He fully embraced this perspective upstairs with a claw-foot tub, toile wallpaper, and a sculptural brass mobile that’s on full display when the shutters are open. 

The Brooklyn Modern Farmhouse Bathroom

Mid-century and modern farmhouses are an unlikely yet totally harmonious pair. This bathroom by the Brownstone Boys is exhibit A: They turned a classic West Elm media console into a vanity complete with vessel sinks and quartz counters left over from the kitchen reno. 

The Artful Modern Farmhouse Bathroom

Streetwear designer Beth Birkett imparted her signature vibrant shades on her sons’ bathroom with a vintage orange sink and a craft cart that is filled with bathing essentials. Everything looks even punchier against Farrow & Ball’s Off-Black paint on the walls.

The Earthy Modern Farmhouse Bathroom

Emily Ward drew on the sunny palette of Northern California when designing her West Marin home. The bunkhouse bathroom features Clé’s zellige tile in Golden Henna and an exposed pipe shower by Signature Hardware. An antique lamp and gallery of oil paintings give the room that coveted out-in-the-country touch. 

The post 10 Fashionable Farmhouse Loos That Exude Zen appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

metro

From Joshua Rhett Miller

October 1, 2020 | 2:19 p.m

Romeo Sanchez
Paramus Police Department

A creepy handyman admitted to hiding cameras in bathrooms in homes in Paramus and Wayne, NJ, police said.

Romeo Sanchez, 47, of West New York, was arrested by Paramus police on September 17 for invasion of privacy after a homeowner who hired him to install a window discovered a suspicious device in her bathroom in late August. reports WABC.

The device, which police said was set in a bathroom wall, was later determined to be a micro camera fitted with a memory card, the station reports.

The homeowner saw the device plugged into an outlet in the bathroom and knew it “didn’t belong to her,” Paramus Police Detective Mark Pinajian told CBS New York.

The victim then saw clips on the device showing herself and her bathroom and another location, Pinajian said.

Investigators set out to track down Sanchez, a married father who admitted to installing the camera at Paramus’s home – and claimed he intended to retrieve it when he got back to finish the job, police said with.

The other location caught on camera was a bathroom at a home in Wayne where Sanchez was also hired for a job, police said.

No children were present at either house and there is no evidence that Sanchez distributed the video, CBS New York reported.

“As far as we can see, he’s not a licensed contractor,” Pinajian said. “He’s like a handyman, doing small, occasional jobs, and he’s been referred to other people. That’s how he got into business.”

The investigation into the Wayne home is being conducted by investigators there, Paramus Police said. Wayne Police have not returned a message seeking comment on the case, NorthJersey.com reported.

Sanchez, who faced up to a year in prison, was released pending trial, NJ.com reports.

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A dirty and trash-strewn bathroom in Norfolk, Virginia in February 2021. Some families don’t even have that. Source – Yitzilitt, CC SA 4.0.

When they need to go to the bathroom, more than 1 million people in the United States must turn to chamber pots, school showers, and public toilets. Almost half a million households do not have basic indoor plumbing, new research has shown.

While some rural and indigenous communities have never had indoor plumbing, you may be surprised to learn that the vast majority of Americans “plumbered” live in urban areas – with one in three households in 15 Cities across the country, according to research by the Plumbing Poverty Project (PPP).

The Plumbing Poverty Project is a joint venture between King’s College London and the University of Arizona. The work is based on the community surveys of the US Census Bureau. The full analysis was released Monday in association with the Guardian as part of a long-running series exposing America’s water crisis.

The researchers found that even in some of the richest cities in the country, renters and people of color were more likely to live in a house with no running water or flush toilets. The situation is particularly dire in San Francisco, California and Portland, Oregon.

Both cities are considered to be advanced technology centers on the west coast with a growing wealth gap and a homeless crisis. And San Francisco has more billionaires than any other metropolis except New York and Hong Kong, according to Wealth-X.

In San Francisco, nearly 15,000 families live in homes without adequate plumbing. That number has increased 12 percent since 2000, while the median price of a home has tripled. The data also showed that while black Americans make up 9 percent of the city’s population, they make up 17 percent of households with no indoor plumbing.

Captive twilight real estate photography captured in Cleveland, Ohio as part of real estate and corporate virtual tours in 2020. Source – Captivlymedia, CC SA 4.0.

Here’s an example: In San Francisco, Rosa Ramirez and her two daughters lived in a studio apartment for $ 2,300 a month until recently. Yellow water was coming from the tap on the sink and the toilet could not be used because it was not connected properly; her landlord wouldn’t fix it.

The family went to a nearby donut shop or coffee shop to use the restroom. When the pandemic started, the doors were closed to them. “It was unbearable,” said Ramiréz.

“The history of sanitary poverty in San Francisco is inextricably linked with priceless housing, falling incomes, transformations in California’s post-recession rental sector, and racist prosperity gaps fueled by a kind of ‘anti-black urbanism’ that has either propelled blacks in San Franciscans precarious or out of the bay, ”said Katie Meehan, senior researcher at PPP and Professor of Environment and Society at King’s College London, according to The Hill.

Tenants in San Francisco make up less than half of households in the city’s metropolitan area, but nearly 90 percent of homes have no working plumbing, The Guardian reported.

The report also notes that cities like Milwaukee, San Antonio, Phoenix, Seattle, and Cleveland made little or no progress in improving plumbing problems between 2000 and 2017. All five of these cities have more than 3,000 households without proper plumbing.

The post Plumbing poverty getting worse within the U.S. with over a million missing enough bogs appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

A creepy handyman admitted hiding cameras in bathrooms in homes in Paramus and Wayne, New Jersey, police said.

Romeo Sanchez, 47, of West New York, was arrested on September 17 for invasion of privacy by Paramus police after a homeowner who hired him to install a window discovered a suspicious device in her bathroom in late August reported WABC.

The device, which police said was inserted into a bathroom wall, was later classified as a micro-camera with a memory card, the station reports.

The homeowner saw the device plugged into an electrical outlet in the bathroom and knew it was “not hers,” Paramus police officer Mark Pinajian told CBS New York.

The victim then saw clips on the device showing herself and her bathroom as well as another location, Pinajian said.

Investigators set out to track down Sanchez, a married father, who admitted to having the camera installed in the Paramus house – and claimed he intended to retrieve her when he returned to finish work, police said With.

The other location pictured on camera was a bathroom in a house in Wayne where Sanchez was also being hired for a job, police said.

No children were present in either house and there is no evidence that Sanchez distributed the video, CBS New York reported.

“As far as we can see, he’s not a licensed contractor,” said Pinajian. “He’s like a handyman doing little things and he’s been referred to other people. That’s how he got into business. “

Investigators are investigating Wayne’s home there, Paramus police said. Wayne police have not returned a message asking for comment on the case, NorthJersey.com reported.

Sanchez, who served up to a year in prison, has been released pending a trial, reports NJ.com.

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My first time in San Francisco will never forget looking for a place to live.

My husband and I saw a dizzying number of places that day, unsure of which neighborhood to live in, and mostly dazed with sticker shock at each new place. But the jaw-dropping prices weren’t what stood out the most that day – it was one of the first places we saw in Noe Valley. As an old Victorian apartment, I was immediately delighted with the bay window and high ceilings. Then I opened a hall closet door, which I assumed.

There sat a lonely pink toilet – the only one in a confined space. My confused reaction was evident. The real estate agent who showed us around knew we weren’t from here and immediately said, “It’s a shared bathroom.”

More than five years later, I’ve seen tons of shared bathrooms at friends’ homes, and most are just like the first ones I saw – no sink, with the sink and shower in a separate room next door. The occasional “lucky few” huddled or wall-mounted a small sink in a corner, but that was likely an addition to the tiny space in later years, said Bonnie Spindler, a real estate agent and “Victorian specialist” of San Francisco.

When most houses were built in the Victorian era, there was no toilet in the house at all as most people would still have used an outhouse and / or chamber pots. Indoor plumbing was just becoming the norm, so Bay Area residents may have installed their sinks and tubs years before adding an indoor toilet. Once they were able to add the toilet, it might make more sense to convert a nearby closet into a toilet room than to build it into the existing bathroom.

More likely, however, this is due to the Victorian era’s new obsession with hygiene. “The idea was to separate where you clean yourself and where you have bowel movements,” said Spindler. “You would have thought it would be most unclean to empty yourself in the same room that you take a bath and shave in.”

A shared bathroom in North Beach.

Ben Ramirez

Spindler also said that most toilets at the time did not have something called a “backflow preventer”, which prevents wastewater from flowing back through the toilet and onto the floor. Thus all incidents would have been limited to the small area. She said that the Victorians are also responsible for the proliferation of tile in bathrooms and kitchens as it is an easy-to-clean material.

Rob Thomson, president of the San Francisco Victorian Alliance, said Victorian-era residents were avid adopters of new technology, and there was no bigger story in the home than indoor plumbing in the second half of the 19th century. “This residential trend was compounded by the advent of consistent municipal water and sewer systems – these were the fiber optic data networks of the 1870s,” he said.

Open, multi-purpose floor plans like those common today were unknown. “In the houses, the Victorian and Edwardian San Franciscans were very aware that they should separate the space for different uses and users: double rooms, separate stairs and entrances for servants, and formal dining rooms played one role in both architecture and society special role, “said Thomson.

Shared bathrooms are particularly common in San Francisco, but they can also be found anywhere from Europe to Australia.

The Victorian and Edwardian San Franciscans were very conscious of separating the space for different purposes. The shared bathroom is a good example of this.

Caroline Smith

Modern home design has its own version of the split bathtub in the form of a water closet, although these are usually included in a larger bathroom. Many San Francisco homeowners choose to convert shared bathrooms into one large bathroom during a renovation, Spindler said.

But more than a hundred years later, many homeowners and landlords with these old San Francisco homes have chosen to keep the shared bathroom simply because it is often more convenient for families or roommates.

I did and I loved it. Had 2 roommates so it was almost like having 2 bathrooms – one could use the toilet while another is showering or brushing teeth. I was really a great setup.

– Jeffrey Jones (@ JeffreyJones63) February 8, 2021

Multitasking is great, and I also like it a lot when the toilet and its aerosolizing properties aren’t near the sink and shower, toothbrushes and towels and – you get the picture.

– Eugene Archibald (@Dzhena) February 8, 2021

Loved it. Only 1 bathroom for 3 roommates, but rarely waited for “important business”. Used the sink when someone showered.

– Christine Herron (@christine) February 8, 2021

Loved it, was the perfect setup during the parties, we could keep a keg in the bathtub.

– Sammy the dead rat @ (@gmonie) February 8, 2021

Keeping a barrel in the tub is also a great perk for sharing bathrooms.

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