At Home for the 2021 Oscars: 5 Estates with Star Power

It’s time for Oscar’s closeup. The nominations are in and the countdown is on for Tinseltown’s biggest night: the 93rd Academy Awards on Sunday, April 25. It’s to be a less lavish, socially distanced affair this year—at two Los Angeles venues: the Dolby Theater and Union Station. The good news? There’s no Zoom. The evening’s unsung stars, however, share an attribute with Luxury Defined: location, location, location. Sometimes, a film’s most memorable scenes are shot in cinematically beautiful private homes. (Who could forget Jack Woltz’’s opulent Beverly Hills mansion in The Godfather or Karen Blixen’s enchanting Ngong Hills farmhouse in Out of Africa?) Other homes deserve the limelight by virtue of the Hollywood legends who live in them. The five homes in this Luxury Defined collection are stars in their own right: Elegant and luxurious, their provenance is a lasting, sometimes profound connection to the movies and the people who make them.

In Vino Veritas at Albany, Bahamas

Encompassing 600 oceanside acres in New Providence, Bahamas, the luxury resort community of Albany is the collective vision of its founders—Joe Lewis and private investment organization Tavistock Group, along with golfing greats Tiger Woods and Ernie Els and actor and musician Justin Timberlake. Albany features an unparalleled combination of surroundings, architecture, sporting amenities, and service. In Vino Veritas is a contemporary home on the 12th hole of Albany’s championship golf course. The 8,370-square-foot, five-bedroom home has two levels of spacious, ultra-modern living space surrounding an open-air courtyard with a Jacuzzi and alfresco dining area. High ceilings and expansive windows showcase the stunning architecture and create an idyllic resort-like environment for entertaining, both indoors and out. The kitchen has a sleek, minimalist design with professional-grade appliances by Wolf and Sub-Zero, while the adjoining breakfast room features a soaring double-height ceiling and an abundance of natural light. Upstairs are the private quarters: three en suite guest rooms and a principal suite opening to a private balcony with a view of the fairways. Also overlooking the course is the spectacular pool and patio.

Lyle Berman’s Buckskin Ranch in Placerville, Colorado

Buckskin Ranch is an incomparable recreational retreat in the shadow of Colorado’s majestic Mount Wilson massif in the San Juan Mountains. Lyle Berman, a high-stakes poker maverick and Las Vegas executive, bought the 1,418-acre expanse in 1997 from Academy Award-winning director Oliver Stone. Architect Rob Wellington Quigley designed the main house in an arresting mix of industrial and mountain contemporary styles that frames the mountain views from every room. The property offers a total of 17 bedrooms, 15 full and 2 half bathrooms in the 12,400-square-foot main house and six ancillary dwellings. Mr. Berman enhanced the original structure with a stone façade, spa facility, professional chef’s kitchen, expanded media room, timber window frames, and an expansive stone deck with a firepit. Two art galleries run the length of the home. The great room, with wet bar, is anchored by a monumental fireplace. The 32,000-square-foot equestrian facility has 22 horse stalls, an indoor riding arena, tack room, apartment, and recreation room. Also included are two guest houses, a ranch manager’s residence, a mountaintop cabin, and original homestead, as well as a three-acre trout pond, world-class sporting clay range, pastures, flower-filled meadows, aspen forests, and miles of private trails.

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High Point Estate on the Navesink River in Middletown, New Jersey

High Point Estate is the home of rock icon and New Jersey philanthropist Jon Bon Jovi and his wife, Dorothea. This timelessly beautiful château is named for its spectacular setting on New Jersey’s Navesink River, just an hour from Manhattan. The magnificent main house—18,000 square feet of peerless craftsmanship—was designed by Robert A.M. Stern in 1999. The 15-acre grounds were originally laid by Olmsted Brothers, sons of Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed Central Park. Internationally acclaimed French artist Pierre Finkelstein painted the interiors: His realistic wood graining, intricate glazing, 18th- and 19th-century patinas, gilding, handmade plaster finishes, ornamentation, custom-cut stenciling, and architectural trompe l’oeil are detailed throughout. Other highlights include a 50-foot living room with custom-designed movie theater, 18-seat dining room, chef’s kitchen with adjoining breakfast room, and a warm family room opening to a pergola. The second floor provides the family wing and guest/staff quarters. Complementing the main house are four outbuildings: a circa-1910 carriage house with three bedrooms and full kitchen, a pub with billiards area, a converted barn housing the recording studio and seven garages, and a workshop and storage facility. The acreage includes a heated pool with two cedar bath cabanas and separate kitchen and 750 feet of river frontage with a deepwater dock and boat lift.

Chelston on Grape Bay Beach in Paget Parish, Bermuda

Graced with an impressive provenance and just minutes from Hamilton, this grandly proportioned 14-acre beachfront estate is an integral part of Bermuda’s heritage. Chelston was designed and built between 1939 and 1941 for C. P. Dubbs, inventor of the Dubbs Process, a crude oil thermal “cracking” technology. In 1964, the property was conveyed to the United States government. For more than 30 years, it was the official Bermuda residence of the United States Consul General, who received a who’s who of U.S. presidents, international dignitaries, and celebrities, including actors Michael Douglas and Brooke Shields. Chelston subsequently underwent an extensive three-year renovation by a team of international architects, builders, and craftsmen. The stately, 10,000-square-foot main house, some 200 feet above sea level, commands vistas of the Atlantic Ocean, the city of Hamilton, and the estate’s gardens and sweeping lawns. The gated compound also includes three, three-bedroom guest cottages; a two-bedroom staff cottage; a pool house; and a charming beach pavilion. A 75- by 40-foot zero-edge pool, croquet lawn, and the pink sands of Grape Bay offer myriad recreational pursuits

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Quinta Villa Beatriz in Santo Emilião, Portugal

The historic vineyard estate was the stunning backdrop to Espelho Mágico (Magic Mirror), a 2005 film by Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira and starring Leonor Silveira and Michel Piccoli. The jewel-like blue palace on the banks of the River Ave is surrounded by 173 acres of landscaped gardens, ancient woodland, farmland, and vineyards in the heart of the Vinho Verde wine region. The magnificent neo-Gothic palace was built at the end of the 19th century by Francisco Antunes Guimarães, and it has remained in the Guimarães family ever since. In 1991, the property was restored to its original grandeur by Francisco Antunes’ descendent Carmen Guimarães. The blue-tiled structure consists of four towers, rising three stories high, and four wings, each with two floors. The main façade is recessed to integrate the great hall and its balcony. The interiors have retained all their original splendor. It’s thought that the signature crimson staircase (designed by Portuguese engineer Francisco Xavier Esteves) inspired two locales in the Harry Potter book and film franchise: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the Flourish & Blotts bookshop. Villa Beatriz is classified as a Monument of Public Interest by the Instituto de Gestão do Património Arquitectónico e Arqueológico (IGESPAR).

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