The Cuban leader Fidel Castro, a revolutionary Che Gevara, politicians Winston Churchill and Bill Clinton, writers Somerset Maugham and Mark Twain, the actor and the political figure Arnold Schwarzenegger – these names are well-known and these figures are best known to the world for their political, social, literary and other achievements. Moreover, the abovementioned people highly esteem cigar smoking and, thus, they come as people who own the greatest number of tools and accessories so requisite for this leisurely process and among others there are cigar lighters.
In the light of a variety and availability of glass items, glass ware is still appreciated by plenty people, especially when it comes to cut glass. The cut glass produces a long, lingering and musical tune when you put your finger at the cut-glass edge. So, in Japan the craftsmen make unique musical instruments. A crystal violin, completely transparent, is estimated for fifty thousand USD. Crystal glass tableware is not so much expensive though it is able to produce the charming, unique and so brittle music providing it is properly cared.
Wealthy persons are mostly known for their fortune only. However, despite they make billions, these people possess some personal features that attract people when estimating them. While Warren shovels up money, he has to do with quite conflicting image he created: he is known to be the proved miser and at the same time he privately donates huge amounts for charity purposes.
Natalia Vodianova, Johnny Depp, Alsou,
Nicolas Cage, Ronnie Wood from the «Rolling Stones»... Oh, this is just the first
names on the long-long list of celebrities who can be already called the owners
of the European castles. Would you like to join them in this list? Well here is
a textbook from us to you and those who wish to purchase the medieval property.
Step one: Choosing the Country
Let's be honest, you don't quite need to
have a million to buy a castle somewhere in Europe. Well the rumors about
buying the castle for the same price as a small old flat somewhere in the
suburbs of Moscow also aren't the whole truth. It is really not everything that
is called castle that really is one, even if the sales agency argues so. An old
mansion ruins somewhere in the Eastern Europe (mansion ruins, nothing to do
with a castle) would really cost you around a hundred thousand dollars maximum.
While this might be a really romantic spot and purchase it doesn't look very reasonable,
does it? A castle for the price of around one or two hundred thousand dollars
would most likely be a small, hard to reach one and would definitely require a
lot of investments to be made. A price for a real medieval castle somewhere in
Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia, Serbia or Eastern Germany would be around two
or three hundred thousand dollars. A castle in France, England, Scotland,
Western Germany or Austria would cost you something around five to eight
hundred thousand dollars. And the castles at the Azure Coast or in Switzerland
are being sold for more than a million dollars.
A completely different thing would be
castles with their own history or dynasty stories and it doesn't even matter
then where the castle is located. If only somebody killed, poisoned or stabbed
somebody else to death and now people say there are ghosts living in the
castle, then wow - the price for the property doubles or rises up even more.
For example the supposedly count Dracula's castle in Romania would cost one
more than twenty five million euro.
One can also choose the «dwelling-space»
from the medieval times taking a look at the celebrities. Nicolas Cage is the
owner of the castle in Bavaria (bought it for two million dollars) and also a
castle in England (estimated price is said to be ten million pounds sterling).
Another celebrity - George Clooney - is the owner of several old mansions
somewhere in Italy. British castles are owned by a Russian singer Alsou, the
legendary «Rolling Stones» member, Ronnie Wood, a well-known rapper - Puff
Daddy, a celebrity-singer Madonna, the Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow and
another actress Jillian Anderson. A castle located in the south of France is
owned by the celebrity-couple of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt which the two
bought for sixty million dollars right before the two twins of their were born.
Step Number Two: The Beginning of the
Restoration Process
At this very stage the real reason behind
the natural-born counts and barons rushing in the attempt to get rid of their
family residences for ridiculously low prices is being revealed. First and
foremost in case of the inheritance of a castle a very large tax is to be paid.
Second of all the European Union government demands that any castles or mansion
that represent any, even the smallest amount of, cultural or historical value
are to be restored and maintained in the
appropriate condition. In case of nonobservance a large penalization
takes place and nobody wants that. Therefore not later than a year after the
purchase, the owner is obliged to start the restoration process if he doesn't
want to get fined for the nonobservance. One can always ask the government of
the country the castle is located in for aid and material help and most likely
the government would accept to help financially and usually forty percents of
the expenditure would be covered. In exchange for that however one would have
to deal with tourists since the castle would then be opened for those twenty
four - seven and without any compensation. In addition to that the interiors
would not be allowed to be changed under any circumstances and in the area
opened for tourists you will not be allowed to install no modern canalization
neither to install the telephone cables. Furthermore: any possible restoration
work to be done would have to be done by a company that has a special license
declaring that the company is allowed to carry out restoration processes in the
property with any historical or cultural values and those people usually ask
more for the job to be done than any other companies in the market. A famous
top model Natalia Vodianova loved to tell the stories about how she wanted to
redesign some of the rooms in her husband's (Justin Portman) family castle and
turn them into nursery rooms after her daughter was born. However since the
castle was build in the year 1212 the couple were not allowed to beat a single
nail into the walls without the government permission! In addition to that
every restoration and redesigning process was observed by a medieval
specialist.
Finally Step Number Three: Finding Your
Profits
However, by simply living in such a
monument of architecture would pay for any moral or material expenses made. And
if there is a wish, one can turn their castle into a real tourist attraction
that will, in addition to the fun provided, bring large profits to its owner.
If the castle is big enough and his sizes allow this, then a wing or a part of
it can be used as the area where a café, a hotel or a club can be built. Such
practices are being encouraged by the government itself and therefore can lead
to lowered taxes or even any property or land tax dispensation. This is exactly
what the famous billionaire - Roman Abramovich - wanted to do. It is
well-documented that the oligarch wanted to purchase the «Bran» castle in Transylvania
built by the Teutonic Order knights in the year 1377. According to the legend
this was the castle where the famous prototype of count Dracula - Vlad the
Third Tepes - lived. The Russian billionaire not only wanted to invest into the
restoration of the castle but also was ready and really wanted to create and
manage the building of the tourist's infrastructure around the location to
attract more tourists and to create an attraction park out of the vampire-count
Dracula's tabernacle well described in the book by Bram Stoker. According to
some of the calculations a castle which price was considered to be twenty five
million dollars could have paid off in no more than four years. However the
transaction was canceled due to Roman Abramovich divorce lawsuit and all the
hassle behind it.
So that makes the famous castle vacant for
now. And if you ever would want to purchase property in Europe and would go to
a castle-shopping tour (and such tours are indeed arranged by the companies
dealing with the out-of-town property), then don't forget to visit this castle
in the to-buy property list, since it really is worth it.
Could you please tell me the name of the castles that the following celebrities own: Puff Daddy, Madonna, Gwenyth Paltrow, and Brad and Angelina. Also, do you know the name of Nicolas Cage's English castle? Doing research, appreciate any help!
Lingerie for women was just the plain underwear until the 20th century when it became the mean self-expression, as the subject of esthetic admiration. A piece of lingerie seen in between the women wear looked quite shocking to be shame and no one thought of designing luxury items based on lingerie, leaving alone works of art. Today every woman dreams of having a pair, or even more, of luxury and high quality lingerie to associate with sexuality, sensibility and attraction with male.
Today the knitwear is presented in so many styles and
it is so popular that no single autumn and spring collections can do without
hosiery. Knit
women's coats are offered in classic, sporty, romantic, vintage, casual and
ethnic styles. The demand for knit coats
grows in line with the more increasing range of color and texture of woolen
yarn as merino wool, angora, alpaca, Kashmir. Globally known brands launch knit
coats for women in their latest collections and most celebrities today appear
wearing knitwear for many occasions and that's hard to picture that some time
back it was something different.
First established in 1860, Chopard is one of the reputed watch and jewelry houses producing incredibly beautiful, fascinating jewelry items and watches of dream. The house also launched a number of celebrated fragrances as Casmir, Wish, Madness and Infiniment. Despite the long and solid history of the brand, it appeared only recently in the market of fragrances with the first fragrance Chopard launched only in 1992. Six years later, in 1996, the Chopard House presented its Mira-Bai, the fragrance which is still in favor among women keen on oriental scents. Mira-Bai shows no intentions to compete with such a fashion-setter in the sphere of oriental compositions as Guerlain Shalimar, though the fragrance by Chopard takes its niche among the classic perfumes in the market of oriental perfume.
Perfume launched y the Japanese brands or the one inspired by the Japanese culture is something so special in the international market of perfume. Unlike the other fragrances produced in bulk, such perfume with the traces of Japanese inspiration and life surely exert attention and this is reasonable: it is not only the perfume to market and ear money but the whole philosophy, covert but absolute. So, most perfume launched by the famous Japanese culture followers take their niches in the global market, like Kenzo and Issey Miyake. Issey Miyake launched the genially iconic fragrance of the 90s with such a simple and unpretentious name as Issey Miyake L'Eau D'Issey.
