Latest news with #Chilmark
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
The Obamas' Former Martha's Vineyard Getaway Hits the Market for $39 Million
This iconic Martha's Vineyard estate—once the Obamas' go-to summer sanctuary—is back on the market, asking $39 million. Represented by Maggie Gold Seelig of MGS Group Real Estate and Brian Dougherty of Corcoran Property Advisors, the listing has both an architectural pedigree and presidential provenance. Set on nearly 30 private acres in Chilmark, the estate hugs the shoreline of Tisbury Great Pond and delivers serious Vineyard magic: rolling lawns, meadows, and waterfront views. The Obama family rented the home for their summer getaways between 2009 and 2011, reportedly paying $50,000 a week, according to The Wall Street Journal. It's also where President Barack Obama addressed the nation after Hurricane Irene and honored the late Senator Ted Kennedy, Architectural Digest reported. Years later, the former first family would return to the island to put down more permanent roots, purchasing a $14.85 million estate in nearby Edgartown in 2019. More from Robb Report Inside the Aviator, a $7.5 Million Flight-Inspired Home on a Rugged Mountaintop High Above Malibu The Dalmore Just Dropped a Rare Duo of 17-Year-Old and 52-Year-Old Whiskey Giorgio Armani Designed This New 236-Foot Megayacht, and It Just Hit the Water At the heart of the property is a gracious 7,000-square-foot main house—classic New England on the outside, tailored luxury inside. Think vaulted ceilings, stone fireplaces, wraparound porches, and a dining room with knockout water views. Arrive via a gated drive, passing a 150-year-old Pennsylvania barn clad in cedar shingles, and it's hard not to feel like you've stumbled into an East Coast fairytale. RELATED: Al Pacino's Former Beverly Hills Rental Home Is Up for Grabs at $16 Million But here's where it gets really interesting: the estate's current owner is none other than vaunted British architect Norman Foster, the mind behind London's Gherkin and Wembley Stadium. Foster was struck by the estate's pastoral approach and the authenticity of its architecture, describing it as a 'classic New England house that had grown from historic farming roots,' The WSJ reported. What made it special, he added, was its ability to feel remote and expansive while still sitting in the heart of Martha's Vineyard. Since acquiring the property in 2011 for $22.4 million, Foster, the founder and chairman of Foster + Partners, has injected his signature style into the compound, most notably with the sleek, contemporary pool and poolhouse he designed to contrast the classic clapboard main home. Modernism meets Martha's Vineyard? Yes, indeed, and somehow, it works. RELATED: Bill Gates's Former Waterfront Mansion in Florida Can Be Yours for $23.5 Million Scattered across the grounds are a five-bedroom guesthouse, a boathouse with a private dock, a design studio, a gym, tennis and basketball courts, an apple orchard, equestrian paddocks, and staff housing. It's a compound built for both deep relaxation and active living—with just enough gravitas to host a head of state. While Martha's Vineyard's luxury market has cooled since the pandemic peak, properties with notable provenance continue to draw interest. Case in point: Diane Sawyer's waterfront retreat sold for $23.9 million in late 2023 after just two months on the market and for just shy of its $24 million ask. Meanwhile, the island's median home price dipped to $1.1 million in April, down more than 30 percent from the previous of Robb Report The 10 Priciest Neighborhoods in America (And How They Got to Be That Way) In Pictures: Most Expensive Properties Click here to read the full article.
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Outdoor Easter garden returns to Salisbury Cathedral for third year
An Easter garden created by a Chelsea Flower Show winner has returned to Salisbury Cathedral. The garden at the cathedral is said to be inspired by the "landscape and story of Jesus." It is the third year of the garden display and is a collaboration between the cathedral's Works Yard and horticultural designer Andy McIndoe. The garden is based on the native plants of the Holy Land, including drought-resistant aromatic trees and shrubs that flourish when there is sufficient rainfall. Andy McIndoe and assistant Billy Moss (Image: Finnbarr Webster/Salisbury Cathedral) Other Mediterranean plants such as rosemary, laurel, olive and santolina have been added to the garden. The display also includes three crosses mounted behind a symbolic tomb made of Chilmark stone, the same stone used to build the cathedral. The crosses and tomb were made by the cathedral's Works Department. Horticultural designer Andy McIndoe has won 25 consecutive Gold Medals at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. In 2017, he also received the Veitch Memorial Medal, one of the Royal Horticultural Society's highest accolades. The Revd Dr Kenneth Padley, Canon Treasurer, who has oversight of the Easter Garden, said: "Our team have been receiving enthusiastic compliments and encouragement from passers-by as they have constructed the garden this week. "Like a crib at Christmas, the Easter Garden is a simple way of visualising what God does for us through the death and resurrection of Jesus, overcoming our faults and guilt with the hope and joy of eternal life. "We offer this garden to worshippers and visitors as a sign of this holy and happy season." On Easter Day, the sealed tomb will be opened to represent Jesus being raised from the dead, three days after he was buried. The Easter Garden will stay in place until Pentecost on June 8, the day when Christians recall how God's Holy Spirit was given to the disciples after Jesus' Ascension.
