About FamousHomeowners

The sharp angles of modern homes seem to be all the rage in the land where the movie stars live, so it’s nice to see something quaint and lovely hit the market. Julia Ormond, best known for her roles in Legends of the Fall, First Knight and Sabrina, has listed an absolutely gorgeous home with fine English sensibilities for just shy of $3 million.

Color takes on a whole new meaning

This house has one charming touch after another. The ivy growing up the walls around the outside of the home speaks to stately privacy. Towering trees and cleverly-positioned shrubs make the courtyard of the house a little no-paparazzi haven. Inside, the dark wood floors and mostly white walls offer a canvas for decorating, which has been done with perfect use of color — the rooms pop with bright window treatments and rich fabrics.

But sometimes there is an even bigger surprise, like the built-in shelves that serve as a small library and the blue wall that accompanies them. Look up to see wide, dark wood beams, which I’m betting are original to the home. Sit down at the kitchen table, which is a burst of yellow sunshine amid all-white kitchen cabinets and stainless steel appliances.

Windows, windows everywhere!

The windows are wide and long and tall, allowing light to pour into the house from every side. Even the doorways inside the home are outfitted with sliding glass doors that make the space seem larger. The result is an airy atmosphere that makes this place seem more like a country house than a city dwelling.

This 3-bedroom home was built in 1928, so it has definitely gone through some renovation in its time. Given the lovely look of the house right now, further renovation might be the last thing it needs — let’s hope that whoever snatches up this gem enjoys it just as it is.

Want to see the eye candy? David Offer at Prudential Realty has the listing.

Is it possible to have too much space? That might depend on how the space is used. For instance, the 30,000 square foot of custom house that Derek Jeter owns in Florida might seen excessive, but if much of that footage is taken up by basketball courts and baseball practice areas, then it’s slightly less insane.

Larry the Cable Guy has the problem of too much space. Though there is no square footage listed for his $1.5 million Wisconsin lake house, a look at the massive great room of this house tells you that no matter how big it really is, a good renovation would make sure it’s utilized more effectively.

A big lake house redo

The landscaping for the seven acres of land is simply perfect, and with 440-feet of lakefront, the view from those wide windows is awesome. But step inside the log house and things start to seem rather…well, like a warehouse. The living room is decidedly small, and the den and bedroom aren’t much larger. All the space in this place is taken up by the great room, which has towering ceilings and so much openness that your voice would echo as you called the kids to dinner.

Speaking of dinner, the kitchen and dining room area are right there in the great room. Right now it looks (and probably feels) like the cooking area for a massive cafeteria. A kitchen remodel that closes the kitchen in a bit and adds skylights might be a vast improvement. Right now the open space makes the house look as though it is only half-finished.

The kitchen cabinets are interesting. There is a wide range of styles here, from glass fronts to traditional designs to more contemporary, each with different types of hardware. It adds a quirky look, but the rest of the house is so sedate that this just doesn’t work. Cabinet refacing, here we come!

To see the eye candy for yourself, visit the listing at Zillow.

A fixture of the Pittsburgh Steelers for fourteen years, Hines Ward is known for his sunny disposition and being Superbowl MVP. Now that he has retired, he can be known as the guy with 28 flat-screen televisions in his house.

Ward took local television station KDKA on the grand tour of his 13,000 square foot mansion in the Atlanta suburbs. From the trophy room to the hyperbaric chamber, this place literally has it all.

The ultimate man cave

The story of the house is heartwarming. Apparently Ward was cutting pictures out of magazines and dreaming about what his house would look like for many years before he actually built it. He spared no expense on anything in the home, determined to make it exactly what he envisioned. The result is a sleek yet comfortable home that will stand a long time before it needs any renovation.

The gym includes a wide array of physical fitness equipment, massage tables, billiard tables, a hyberbaric chamber and plenty of memorabilia on the walls. There is a long bar with a granite countertop, surrounded by comfortable chairs and couches scattered about the room, all within sight of a television. Speaking of television, how about that TV Room, where four 42-inch televisions surround the massive 100-inch big screen?

The exterior features of the house prove this man is all about sports. Besides the amazing swimming pool and fine stonework, there is a full-size basketball court complete with rows of hedges, a nod to his Georgia alma mater.

But it’s not all about the man of the house. Ward’s mother will be retiring this year, and she plans to move into the mansion her son built. In the corner of the trophy room is son Jaden’s first T-ball trophy, right alongside the larger and flashier ones brought home by dear ol’ dad. Who knows what other shiny baubles the youngster might add to the room someday?

If you want to get in on the big tour with Ward himself, check out the uncut video at KDKA.