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Cantoni Celebrates 25 Years of Contemporary Design and The Bugatti Grand Sport

Well, now I’m really offended. I see that my colleague Kristiana Heap got to actually DRIVE the Bugatti Grand Sport , while when I asked to have a photo taken in it (just to give my husband apoplexy) I was told, no way. Please step away from the car. The $1.96 million dollar, 16-cylinder, 1001 horsepower (Jeeze Louise) auto was parked last evening in the pristinely beautiful garage of the new Cantoni show home at 5903 Lakehurst, another listing kudo for Briggs-Freeman, agent Linsey Barnes. Oh yes, I forgot: I write about homes and real estate; Kristiana, who is young, fun and beautiful, writes about fast cars. 

At it’s Metropolitan Home sponsored debut party Thursday night, the new Cantoni house cradled these puppies as eye candy. There was the newest Bugatti and a few Bentleys ranging in price from $135,000 (the cheapest) to $1.1 million, I think, my head was swimming once I saw a car priced for more than a million dollars.  Good thing I toured the contemporary masterpiece the previous day; the 7500 square foot home was bursting at the seams and loaded with every design/architectural Who’s Who in Dallas, from the 22 foot long counter connecting the bar with the kitchen to the exterior pool-side linear fire pit. I could see why they wanted the cars there — the Cantoni homes’ garage is like a piece of art, with clean lines, porcelain tile floor, and sliding glass doors. Perfect showplace for designer cars. The idea, which is so smart, is that you arrive home every night in your garage, you see this room every day, sometimes more than you’d like. Why not make it attractive? Or enjoy the same foyer your guests enjoy — the house is designed so that you enter the front foyer from the garage and walk into the most beautiful formal rooms first thing. The view from the garage is spectacular.

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I Heart Gordon Keith & More Media En Route To Dallas To See Bush Home

I should have posted this yesterday but, ah, we had the D holiday party. Beauty of the web is I will soon be able to post a link for you right here. Gordon Keith was kind enough to have me on his show  to chat up chez Bush. He also had a hysterical visit with Santa, who I secretly slipped my Christmas list. (Santa said something about dreaming on, then passed the flask.) Speaking of house dreams, folks on Daria Place may be itching to clear the media from their cul de sac, but should be thankful they are not in the Albany Park section of Chicago. Might as well set up a few tea and crumpet stands because more media are on their way to Dallas: BBC World Service Radio is making a documentary about the Bush legacy and will be in Dallas in the next couple weeks.

Mother Always Said Nothing Good Happens After Midnight

Tell that to Dallas developer Steve Dieb, who was robbed of his car – a 2007 Bentley convertible — cell phone and cash at 4:00 ish a.m. Tuesday morning, election day. (Who says luxury is dead?) Mr. Dieb was on McKinney Avenue, stopped at stop light at 4:20 a.m. heading back to Hotel ZaZa, where he lives.  The DMN reports that Mr. Dieb is the owner of DMc Properties, and I found his name associated with Global Import Cars, which may explain why he was driving a $200,000 auto.

Glamour Shots For Your Car

I am not even kidding.

Car Styles Of The Rich And Famous

If you love beautiful homes, you likely love beautiful cars because they are great pieces of jewelry for the driveway. Don’t be surprised if every Gulfstream and Lear at Love Field’s FBO is wheels up west to Carmel, CA this week. It’s time for the uber epitome of car shows, Gooding & Company’s Pebble Beach Auto Auction, August 16 and 17 in — where else, but Pebble Beach. (Ellen Terry may be there, she’s in Carmel.) Gooding, like a Sotheby’s for fine car collectors, sold $61.3 million worth of collector autos last August. As their press liason  told me in so many words, last year was nothing compared to what will be on display next weekend: pictured here, one of three cars from Oprah Winfrey’s private collection inlcuding the 1954 (great year!) Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing — plus her 1988 Rolls-Royce Corniche II Convertible (a gift from John Travolta) and 1997 Aston Martin DB7 Volante. The Gullwing, famed for it’s upward opening doors (remember the Delorean?) was ordered up by the DuPont family and is one of the most revered autos of all time, or so my auto collecting buffs tell me. Also, proceeds from another collection — that of Dr. Peter and Susan Williamson — 12 Bugattis — will be donated in the late Dr’s honor to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Hanover, NH: my husband is a Dartmouth alum, I also attended Dartmouth. Actually, that 1932 Bugatti roadster might be a fun little birthday present, honey, and you could write off the one million dollar price tag as a donation. Never can be too thin, too rich, or have enough write offs…     

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