Maureen Mengel Blog

The Carnegie Public Library Building in Paso Robles, California Getty Andrew Carnegie took the reins of a nascent public library movement and scaled up. From 1886 to 1919, Carnegie funded the design and construction of nearly 1,700 public library buildings in over 1,400 cities and towns in the United States alone. Through founding free public libraries, Carnegie channeled the impression that reading had upon his life, and supported people who desired to learn by providing them with places to access volumes of books. Carnegie’s aspiration combined with his action sparked both community development and personal enlightenment. When he passed away in 1919, Carnegie’s global philanthropic contributions totaled $350 million, about 90% of his wealth, with $41 million for the creation of libraries in U.S. communities. A century after the final U.S.-based, Carnegie-financed library, the buildings symbolize an idea and a benefaction. With good fortune, many cities have built larger...

The home is fortified with nearly indestructible ICF construction (insulation, concrete and foam). David Hernandez for ONE Sotheby’s Run for your lives! Emboldened by Wall Street’s bull market and Trump tax cut windfalls, billionaires are heading for the hills (and underground), including many climate change deniers—just in case. Much fuss was made over paranoid Silicon Valley tech billionaires buying Armageddon bunkers in New Zealand, in the event of a cataclysmic disaster, stock market crash or Armageddon. Billionaires from Silicon Valley are securing doomsday bunkers in New Zealand, as if they're hobbits in Lord of the Rings. (Hannah Peters/Getty Images) Getty Seems extreme no—perhaps a little Lord of the Rings -ish? Well, that’s the point, isn’t it? Extreme weather, extreme politics, extreme rhetoric equals extreme paranoia. The world is getting a little out of hand. But a few million dollars can go a long way in alleviating that fear. Now that’s an inconveni...

More than half the real estate agencies in Sydney's east targeted in a NSW Fair Trading blitz were found to have breached the law, prompting them to cop fines totalling more than $51,000. About 20 real estate agencies were fined for non-compliance after investigators swooped on 32 businesses across Botany, Mascot, Bondi, Bondi Junction, Kingsford and Maroubra. Start the conversation, or Read more at Sydney Morning Herald. Real estate agents in Sydney's east cop $51,000 in fines over breaches curated from Real Estate News

Thinking of  turning your backyard into an income source? You might have already looked at shipping container houses on HGTV , and be mulling them over as a self-contained, more private alternative to a traditional guest house. Sturdier than a tent or treehouse by far, these containers are great for places that get severe weather. They’re less expensive than a guesthouse. Booking platforms like alternative lodging site GlampingHub categorizes them as outdoor lodging – but they provide a roof and four walls. And they’re a free-standing, encapsulated situation, perfect for landlords and lodgers who don’t want to share a wall or entrance. This structure used to be a storage container. GlampingHub.com But if you think making money off a shipping container rental is as simple as buying it off the Internet, dragging in some furniture and running the electrical from the main house to the container – sorry, there’s quite a bit more to it. And a substantial amount more of a...

Residence 950 sits atop Lombard Street in the Russian Hill neighborhood. Jacob Elliott A spectacular hilltop without a picturesque perch isn’t worth a damn. Beautify it with an extraordinary estate and look out—it’s priceless. One of America’s best views has come to market high above perhaps America’s most beautiful metropolis—San Francisco. Residence 950, a biophillic-designed mansion atop the Russian Hill neighborhood is listed as the Bay City’s most expensive property at $45 million by Val Steele of Pacific Union, who also sold San Francisco’s most expensive house in 2017 (at $40 million). With it's $45 million infinity pool view, Residence 950 is currently San Francisco's most expensive residence. Jacob Elliott Residence 950 sits atop Lombard Street in the Russian Hill neighborhood. Jacob Elliott This exceptional 9,500-square-foot bay view estate radiates a sense of wonder, wellness and serenity within an elevated park ambiance in the nation’s 13th ...