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Recent residential sales in New York City and the region
Simba has a ‘no-quibble’ guarantee but it hasn’t fixed a ridge running down the middle
I bought a Simba mattress in March 2017, and at the beginning all was good and we were happy with it. However, within six months it developed a serious problem – a big ridge that runs from top to bottom in the middle. It is causing me bad back pain, and I have had to be treated by an osteopath. When I lie in bed with my two small children, I am higher than both of them, in the middle.
I contacted Simba, which sent what it said was an independent company, to assess the mattress. Without actually lying on it, the person concluded that the offending ridge is between 0-3 cm high and therefore it is deemed to be within the “acceptable tolerance”.
Sheridan Coakley revitalised British design through his shop, SCP. Now he’s doing the same with his Hampshire home
At the far end of Sheridan Coakley’s 1970s bungalow is a bathroom that has been frozen in time. It is encased in high-gloss brown tiles. There are two brown sinks built into a vanity unit the shape of a baby grand piano. A 40-year-old beige shagpile carpet creeps up the walls. It’s like stepping into a bowl of chocolate ganache. “It is kind of kitsch,” admits Coakley.
The house was built by a local architect for a bachelor – an engineer with a Porsche Targa in the car port – in 1974. “Because he was an engineer, everything is such good quality,” says Coakley, who bought the property from the original owner 15 years ago. He’d been searching for a house in the area for two years before seeing it advertised in the local paper.
Bring a small plot to life with a water feature – however tiny
Of all the ingredients that make up a garden – trees, boundaries, seating areas, planted beds, lawns – in my experience there is nothing that captures the interest of the visitor time and time again quite like a water feature. Place one in any plot and it is hands down the first thing our eyes are drawn to and the one we are most likely to wander towards to inspect most closely.
This unique ability for water not only to catch our interest but to hold it longer than any other landscape feature is probably something that has been hardwired into our psychology since we wandered the Serengeti. However, in our increasingly tiny gardens, ponds are often thought of as an impossible dream, something only for those with rolling lawns and acres of space. But get your planting choice right and anyone can have a stunning piece of nature in a container as small as 60cm wide, which will fit into little patios, backyards and roof terraces.
Favourite flowers and much-loved trees are a guide to where you live
I map my walks in flowers, or at least in interesting trees. There is the heavy-scented perpetual rose I will take a wide detour for if I am walking towards Regent’s Canal; and there’s the semi-wild, three-cornered leek that fills a Kentish Town front yard whose flowers I always enjoy and smell.
In autumn, I change my route to admire the dinner-plate saffron dahlia that grows by the Hindu Centre. In summer, it is the Bengali amaranth in window boxes with gourds clambering over a neighbouring wall.
Average homeowner with a typical loan of £175,000 is now paying £44 a month more than last autumn
Rates on the most popular mortgage deals have reached their highest levels in two years as lenders increase prices in advance of an expected interest rate rise next month.
The average mortgage rate has gone up by 0.25 percentage points since last month. This follows a previous mortgage rate rise by lenders around November when the base rate moved up by a quarter of a per cent. The average two-year fixed mortgage rate has now reached 2.5% – the highest level since July 2016.
The PM's former Pt Chevalier property, the scene for a pregnancy announcement and post-election barbecue, sold for $1.32 million - $333,000 more than she bought it for.The sale of Jacinda Ardern and partner Clarke Gayford's Pt Chev...
What recourse do residents have if their neighbors decide to rent out their homes through sites like Airbnb and VRBO?
The luxury homes in Dublin have been painstakingly constructed, as reflected in the careful preservation of 150-year-old trees included on the development.
Our gardening expert on the best way to eat this nutritious green
Perhaps it is a little perverse to talk about kale when the season is finally allowing us to look ahead to summer. Why talk of winter vegetables when you can start thinking of sweet lettuce hearts? But we surely need to stop seeing kale as being only for the winter; sure, it is a cold-weather vegetable, but it can be as tender as any lettuce.
Kale is ancient stuff: it’s considered to be far closer to wild cabbage than, say, brussels sprouts or broccoli. In case you missed the millennial memo, kale is king of nutrition. It’s certainly the most nutritious vegetable you can grow at home. It’s one of the best sources of vitamin K, a rich source of vitamins A, C, B6 and folate, and a good source of iron, calcium and vitamin E. It’s a multivitamin, without the plastic pot.
“22 Jump Street” writer Rodney Rothman has found a winning offer for his home in Venice, selling the modern cottage for $2.5 million.
Originally listed for $2.995 million, the home saw its asking price trimmed twice for a total of $400,000, records show.
The two-story home is fronted by a grassy...
It all depends what you want to do once you get there
Er, the seaside? The UK has lots of coast for its size (exactly how much is debatable, thanks to the “coastline paradox”), and lots of beaches. The UK Beach Guide lists more than 1,500. But which one? There’s plenty of clickbait advice. TripAdvisor voters plumped for Bournemouth. Rough Guides named Pelistry Bay on the Isles of Scilly. UK Beach Guide voters liked Anglesey’s Traeth Cymyran.
Time Out prefers Cornwall’s Kynance Cove. For accessibility, Brighton & Hove, Dundee, Aberdeen, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Newcastle upon Tyne have a lot of beach closest by for the biggest populations. But objective advice is harder to find. The Blue Flag scheme has no top 10s, but lists 68 beaches in England, 45 in Wales and none in Scotland, which opted out in 2016. Its 33 criteria, though, include things such as “provision of first aid equipment” so it tends to favour less remote beaches.
We recently asked garden experts Scott Daigre, Mark Anderson and Yvonne Savio to share their favorite tomatoes and comment on the debate over hybrid versus heirloom varieties. Now it’s your turn. Readers wrote to us from all over California as well as Washington state and Louisiana to share their...
The most expensive home for sale in America is still found in Los Angeles, but it’s no longer the larger-than-life mansion that debuted a year ago in Bel-Air at $250 million.
That speculative wonder of owner-developer Bruce Makowsky has returned to the Multiple Listing Service at $188 million....
UK millennials face a lifetime of renting, according to a report – here’s how other nations cope
In the former textile quarter of the southern German city of Augsburg, Matthew Robinson, a 35-year-old school teacher, his wife Karoline and their two toddler daughters live in a three-room flat with a balcony that runs almost the entire length. It looks out over former brick factories-turned-flats, a park and a stream, along which Matthew cycles to work. The monthly rent for the 80 sq metre space is €1,090 (£948), made up of €780 in net “cold” rent, €200 for all the amenities, €60 for a garage parking space and €50 for the built-in kitchen.
Our deal is ending and we’re wondering if we should fix for two or five years in case rates rise
Every week a Guardian Money reader submits a question, and it’s up to you to help him or her out – a selection of the best answers will appear in next Saturday’s paper.
This week’s question:
Free goodies may seem like Christmas every day, but for one reader they became a problem
When Tiffany Crow’s doorbell rings, her heart sinks and she immediately wonders: what will it be this time?
A box of £25 wireless speakers, more fitness wristbands, or a further batch of projectors? What is certain is she will have to spend more time disposing of the item, as well as all the packaging.
RAF veteran received a paltry £38.80-a-week state pension – because he moved to Australia
RAF war hero Harry Penny was shot down over Holland in 1943, successfully evaded capture for 10 weeks, and was awarded a military OBE. But, much later in life, he ended up engaged in a battle with the British government – over his paltry state pension. And he died knowing that he hadn’t succeeded in winning that particular skirmish.
Penny served his country with honour, but how did the UK government repay him? By freezing his basic state pension at the 1987 level of just £38.80 a week. He was effectively “punished” for emigrating to Australia, a Commonwealth country. Yet, if he had retired to Germany, the country we were at war with, and which he had bombed, he would have received up to £115.95 a week.
In actress Tiya Sircar’s Hollywood Hills living room, Texas and India merge to create a unique design style reminiscent of home.
An open archway leads to this sunny enclave, revealing a conglomeration of objects and art including gold armadillos, a longhorn-skull bowl and various depictions of...
Amy Heuch on how she saved for travelling but now hopes to get on the property ladder
I’m recently back from travelling and am living with my parents in Kent. It’s not my first choice. Not that I don’t get on with them – I do, but before I went travelling I lived in London and had moved away to university, so I’ve had my taste of freedom. Compared with some people’s parents, mine are very generous. They don’t make me pay rent. My mum calls me a “boomerang child”.
I’ve got a new job as a property auctioneer’s assistant in London. I’ll be doing the sales pitches and the prep for the auctions. When I started earning money, my attitude towards it changed – I became thrifty.
This newly built home illuminates its Venice street with an angled front and mixed-medium siding that pops against bright accent lighting. The gleaming details are echoed in the living room, where floating light fixtures and backlit molding create an ambience-changing effect. In the master bathroom,...
Hockey, baseball and basketball players tend to move around a lot, so there’s never a shortage of real estate activity off the field or court.
We’ve loaded this week’s collection with sports stars. For local flavor, there’s a Kings player looking to drop his custom digs in the beach cities. But...
Pattern is big news for summer and designers are really going for it with repeats galore, clashing prints and brightly coloured palettes.
What's better than a tiny home? One that's 15 feet up in the air and built for less than it costs to buy a new car.
The post Explore a Tiny, Tropical Treehouse in Hawaii appeared first on Zillow Porchlight.
Happy Earth Day!
We asked readers for their favorite ways to curb single-use plastics, recycle more, consume less and generally do their part to celebrate Earth Day every day.
Here are a few of their tips. If you want to share your best tips for going green, email us at [email protected] and we...
Chilling out this summer will be a breeze with these tips for getting the most out of your cooling system.
The post Everything You Need to Know About Cooling Your Home appeared first on Zillow Porchlight.
We’ve all gotten the memo on single-use plastic water bottles, right? Skipping them in favor of reusable water containers is better for the environment, eco-warriors say.
Well, this Earth Day, the new Public Enemy No. 1 in green-minded circles is single-use drinking straws. The reason? The typical...
Fans of the perfect orchid, or set-and-forget succulents or a bountiful edible garden can all find their bliss at the Southern California Spring Garden Show, taking place April 26 through April 29 at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.
The theme of the show — “At Home in the Garden” — will transform...
Retired referee Ed Hochuli was known for his lengthy penalty explanations during his time in the NFL, but he wrapped up the sale of his San Diego condo pretty quickly.
The three-bedroom unit sold for $2.395 million, the same as his asking price, just a month after he introduced it to the market....