Shower Power

Do you ever have moments where you begin to value some of your habitual actions or routines more than ever? This week has been a long one and I've never been so grateful for a sound sleep and good old fashioned steamy soak.  

2250 Vallejo

Just a few doors down from the C&C Headquarters is a residential building we've been lusting after for some time. It's quite apparent that she has had great bones right from the start, thanks to her initial construction in 1902 - the elaborate molding work alone is sensational. Just over 10,000 square feet, 2250 Vallejo is getting an extensive renovation thanks to Los Angeles based architecture firm McClean Design. Details of the project are very tight-lipped, however after viewing this video, my intrigue is only heightened! The elaborate engineering alone is impressive, not to mention plans that call for an open floor plan, an entire wall of glass that will take advantage of the views, and a roof deck to include a spa treatment area. It's uncertain if this project is a spec-house or if it's been commissioned by a new buyer, however we'll be sure to keep you informed.

Cowboy Moguls

I caught up on Friday's WSJ accompanied by an epsom salt bath and tea. I was especially drawn to the article discussing the strong demand for mega ranches in the U.S. - those with typically over 100,000 total acres (with often a substantial portion of deeded acreage) listed from roughly $10 million to $175 million. (Find your mental map of the U.S. and think about New Mexico - this is where the 'cowboy moguls' are mostly flocking to). In the fiscal year of 2014, the value of U.S. pasture land normally grazed by livestock rose 11%, making property with revenue streams highly desirable. With drought conditions slowly on the upswing, higher cattle prices, a boom in the oil & gas industry and attractive interest rates on mortgages, ranches that have been sitting on the market are starting to sell. In 2012 for instance, Billionaire Stan Kroenke, (owner of St. Louis Rams and soccer's Arsenal F.C), scooped up the 124,000-acre Broken O Ranch in Montana for a cool $132.5 million. Head due south, and D.R. Horton (founder of America's largest home building company) purchased Great Western Ranch in New Mexico for over $59.5 million, where he hopes to use the 293,000 acres as a landscape to entertain clients and made available for use by his 'key employees'. Despite the alluring qualities of entertaining and sporting on the majestically vast land, there is certainly keen interest in investing in an asset that can aid in profitability, whether it may be fracking and mineral rights, livestock operations or fees from wildlife hunting. Those billionaires might be on to something...

Read on, here. 

Perspective

I found myself chatting up a storm with a Texan in Atlanta last evening. That’s right, a cardiologist from Texas that like moi, was attempting to ship up to Boston. Long delays among travel adventures are never fun but I do enjoy the beauty of meeting people you might not ordinarily meet…when life gives you lemons, I suppose? We got chit-chatting about our respective life journeys – he was meeting a woman for a romantic getaway, the first of its kind since his wife passed away with breast cancer – and I was about to begin a new chapter of my own. We watched each other’s belongings as we took turns venturing out to drown ourselves in coffee and somehow always found our way back to deep conversation. He was an absolute delight to converse with, (generations ahead of me) well mannered, curious about my stories, and an instant new friend. It was a connection that gently reminded me that everyone is on their own journey...

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