Sylvester Stallone, has battled Russians in the movies but now he is happy to say "There's a bit of Russian in all of us." That's the slogan for the new ads he is doing in Russian for the vodka brand Russian Ice. Russian vodka producer Synergy announced that Stallone signed a one-year contract to promote the brand. Despite the fact that his character Rocky pummeled Soviet boxer Ivan Drago in Rocky IV and his other iconic action hero, John Rambo mowed down Soviet troops in Afghanistan, Stallone is popular in Russia. Synergy is also tauting the fact that Stallone, though most known for his Italian heritage, does have a Russian great-grandmother, Rosa Rabinovich from the Ukranian town of Odessa. Stallone will pocket around $1 million for the ads.

Omega may have sealed the deal for James Bond's watches but what about the villains. Enter Dr. Swatch, otherwise known as Nicolas G. Hayek. Swatch has created a new collection dedicated just to Bond's antagonists. The new collection will be out next month and will be a tribute to those Bond has sparred with in twenty-two James Bond films, from Dr. No to the forthcoming Quantum Of Solace. Featured villains will include Christopher Walken's Max Zorin, Gerd Froebe's Goldfinger, Lotte Lenya's Rosa Klebb and more. Sounds like fun, I'm just hoping my favorite, Richard Kiel (aka Jaws) has one.

We've been looking at a lot of traditional homes lately so let's mix it up with a big slice of modern. Today's home was designed by architect Rafael Vinoly in 1994. It sits on a five acre hilltop setting with long views in Ridgefield, Connecticut. The home has both indoor/outdoor pools and a glass bridge to the private tower which houses the master bedroom, penthouse office and an observation deck. The interior features lots of heavy concrete, wood ceilings and so much stainless steel, the owner probably has to employ a designated polisher. It's stunning but I wonder how easy it is to live in. It's listed at $10 million.

Italian fashion designer Roberto Cavalli becomes the latest designer to take his talent to a hotel project in Dubai. The Fairmont Dubai will be the site of Roberto Cavalli's first Cavalli Club a new 'entertainment and night-life' concept. In Dubai, Cavalli is planning a two-story club with a separate entrance from the Fairmont Dubai. The floors will be done in shiny black quartz with reflective crystal dust and tall walls of Swarovski crystals create sparkling curtains. Want to shop late at night? The ground floor will showcase jewelry, watches and exclusive accessories from the Cavalli Maison. There will also be selection of refined food products chosen by Roberto Cavalli to express the best of 'Made in Italy."

Upstairs, an Italian restaurant is at center of the hall, while on either side of the Italian restaurant, there are are two large atolls in gold-colored glass and fur, suspended from the floor, which host a sushi bar and a wine bar featuring Cavalli Selection red wine. The upper floor also features a lounge bar with music and a suspended platform that will host the DJ and the dancers, as well as other entertainment and shows. The Cavalli Club Dubai will open in November 2008, with Cavalli set to take his party to Florence and Milan later.

(In this photo Cavalli poses with a plate portrait done by Julian Schnabel. Cavalli bought the plate portrait in 2007 at an AmFar auction).

It's not quite Brad Pitt body wash but the architecture-loving dad has teamed up with Kiehl's on their new new Aloe Vera Biodegradable Liquid Body Cleanser. The product is the popular skincare brand's first item that is completely eco-friendly right down to the packaging and is certified by Cradle to Cradle. Pitt won't be appearing on the bottle or in the advertising but he did pen a hand-written note that will be on the bottle. All the profits benefit JPF Eco Systems, a charitable foundation created by Kiehl's and Brad to support global environmental initiatives. The project hopes to raise $1 million for charity with the first funds raised earmarked for Pitt's Make It Right foundation, which builds eco-friendly housing for those affected by Hurricane Katrina.

I mentioned this one back in 2006 but it deserves another look with some new pictures. There's a reason it's been on the market for a long time, it appeals to a very particular style. This eight-bedroom home in Chandler, Arizona has a manor style that seems rather out of place in the Southwest. The home was built in the 1980s by someone with a taste for the baroque. It is on over 11 acres and the home itself has over 13,600 square feet of space. Most of the furniture is remaining with the house because it was purchased for the home. The home also has an English bar with a pool table, a large theater room, game room, wine cellar and two workout rooms. The estate also includes a guest house, gardeners house and a garage that can hold 15 cars. Murals, stained glass and an amazing barrel vaulted library room all contribute to the overall sense of English style gone theme park. A Sotheby's listing shows the home at an even $10 million but the property website has it at $8.8 million. It was listed at $11.5 million back in 2006.

For more prime properties and lush locations, see Luxury Homes and Mansions.

Tennis star Maria Sharapova and her cute white dog Dolce are starring in another campaign for the Canon Powershot cameras. As part of the promotion and in anticipation of the U.S. Open, Canon will be giving away five diamond-encrusted cameras in each color that the camera is offered in. Sharapova will debut the five diamond-covered Canon PowerShot Elph cameras during an invitation-only event at "Canon Center Court" on Aug. 20 at South Street Seaport. The cameras are worth around $12,000 each and the contest will run from August 20 to October 20 on the Powershot website.

Just when I was despairing of finding a fun celebrity home to dish about this Sunday, the Real Estalker Mama delivered with the news that infamous porn goddess Jenna Jameson has put her Los Angeles home on the market. Jameson's three-bedroom home is a sweet little piece of Los Angeles history, a Spanish style charmer that was a former Valentino family home.

The multi-story Mediterranean is a quirky mix of California casual with some of the more bold choices you might expect from a woman with a reputation to uphold such as a bordello-red bathroom and a media room with black striped walls, a zebra striped ottoman and sliding glass doors leading out to the courtyard spa. There's much to love here including the tiled staircases, gleaming hardwood floors and beamed ceilings. It also must be noted that she has one impressive shoe collection in her large dressing room. But the house does seem to be one of those hillside homes that gives you stairs at ever turn, stairs to the entrance and the home has a piecey multilevel vibe. Not great as a family home.

Jameson must be in a hurry to move (there is that pregnancy rumor after all) because she's put the home on the market for the same price she paid in 2006, $2.7 million.

A few months ago, British socialite Daphne Guinness auctioned off some of her couture possessions for a good cause. Now willowy British model Erin O'Connor has followed suit. She has consigned thirty items of designer clothing and accessories to be sold at auction through Christie's, South Kensington. The proceeds go directly to the British Fashion Council which nurtures young designers and models at the start of their careers. Her items include dresses, jackets and shoes by top names such as Marc Jacobs, Chanel and Alexander McQueen.

O'Connor has an abiding interest in young fashionistas, last year she began The Model Sanctuary, a retreat and area for models to find health advice during the hectic tumult of London Fashion Week.

The lawsuit between bicycle racing champ Greg LeMond and the battling Blixseths has finally been reached. As I mentioned back in March, the Tour de France winner, his parents-in-law David and Sacia Morris, and Jorge Jasson, a family friend claimed Tim Blixseth tried to buy their shares at the Yellowstone Club for a total of $13 million, which they say was a fraction of their value. The parties had previously reached a $38 million settlement in the case. Blixseth paid the first installment on the suit but missed a payment in January. Now the suit has been settled for a $39.5 million settlement.

The news comes after Tim Blixseth and Edra Blixseth, who are working their way through a divorce that started off pleasant but has become contentious, have resolved the questions over ownership of the exclusive Yellowstone Club.Edra Blixseth is now the club's majority owner and chief executive, and will be footing LeMond's bill. Her spokesman Bill Keegan says she has ambitious plans for the Montana getaway which caters to the wealthy. Bill Gates and Dan Quayle are members and Greg LeMond has said he will keep his residence at the club.

From the LA Times Hot Property:
--NBC Today Show travel editor Peter S. Greenberg has listed his home in Sherman Oaks for $2.395 million.
--Emmy winning director Todd Holland and actor Scotch Ellis Loring have sold the Studio City house that's been their temporary home for the last two years while they were remodeling their principal Mulholland Drive residence for $1.66 million. The buyers are songwriter Pamela Sheyne and her husband, Nigel Rush.
--Irwin Yablans, an executive producer of the original "Halloween,"has listed his Hollywood Hills home, shown above, for $2.95 million. The property website for the three-bedroom, 4 1/2 -bathroom traditional home near the Sunset Strip is here.
A hilltop vintage Spanish villa in the Highland Park area of Los Angeles owned by French artist Sylvain Copon has hit the market for $1.899 million. The home, which was built in 1939 has four bedrooms and is full of charming details such as and-hewed wood beams, bronze window screens, an octagonal breakfast room and is decorated with over 800 Batchelder tiles. The property website is here.

From Newsday Real LI:
--An Upper Brookville, NY home used in the filming of Gossip Girl is on the market for $12.9 million. It was our estate of the day on Friday.
--James Seuss, the chief executive of Cole Haan has put his four-bedroom getaway home on Shelter Island on the market for $1.485 million. The listing is here.

From the Real Estalker:
--Jenna Jameson has put her Hollywood Hills home on the market. It's our estate of the day later today.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Earlier this year, Roman Abramovich spent nearly $50 million for two houses in Snowmass, Colorado, now another wealthy Russian, energy tycoon Eugene Shvidler has paid $14.5 million for a house in the same town.
--In nearby Aspen, a mansion has sold for $20.75 million to a Greenwich, Conn., family, making it one of the biggest purchases in the area recently. You could say they got a deal though, after all the house was listed at $27.5 million when we checked it out as an estate of the day last year.
--Baseball player Mike Piazza has put his condo in the the Murano at Portofino development in the South Beach area of Miami, Florida on the market for $4.9 million. The listing is here.


From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--NY Yankees Alex Rodriguez is in negotiations to buy a four-bedroom unit at 15 Central Park West.
--Tim Burton and Helena Bonham Carter have sold two apartments in the vintage 27-story Art Deco tower at 1 Fifth Ave. in Greenwich Village that had a combined assking price of $8.75 million.
--Chef Thomas Keller has closed on a new condo two years after signing a contract at 20 Pine St. He aid $1.46 million for a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment in the Armani-decorated former Chase Manhattan Bank building.
--Male model Tyson Ballou is taking one of the first apartments in the Charles, a planned 34-story condo with 45 units at 1355 First Ave. Ballou is rumored to be buying a two-bedroom with a terrace priced in the vicinity of $2.5 million.

From the Luxury Property Blog:
--Kenneth Brown, star of HGTV's reDesign, has listed his loft in The Broadway Hollywood building for $1.899 million. He designed the pad himself and you can check out his work on the two-bedroom space at the listing here.

From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--Renée Zellweger has gradually created a $8.2 million spread in a co-op at 82nd Street and Madison Avenue. A real estate trust called the East Coast Group, which has been connected to her past deals just paid paid $2.8 million for a unit on the same floor where she also owns a $2.2 million space and a $3.2 million combined-unit co-op she bought last year.
--Cardboard magnate Dennis Mehiel who was once a nominee for lieutenant governor of New York, and his wife, Karen put their 10,350-square-foot duplex condominium at the Carhart Mansion on the market this week for $35 million. They bought the five-bedroom space in September 2005 for $15.5 million. The listing is here.
--Anilesh Ahuja, the former head of the multibillion-dollar mortgage-backed securities group at Deutsche Bank, bought a five-bedroom apartment at 120 East End Avenue back in 2005 for $7.5 million. He has sold it for $9.3 million and the deed has him at the penthouse at 807 Park Avenue, a 5,577-square-foot space currently on the market for nearly $16 million. The building was once owned by Sean Combs.
--Anita Mandl, the wife of architect David Mandl who died a year ago, has sold the apartment that he built for the two of them at 280 Park Avenue South. Shel sold it for $3.1 million and is moving to a smaller condo in the building.
--The Upper West Side apartment that belonged to cookbook writer Karen Hess, who died last year at age 88, has been sold for $1,911,000, according to city records.

Marnell Corrao Associates has announced the topping off the M Resort, Spa and Casino in Las Vegas. The $1 billion project is located on South Las Vegas Boulevard and St. Rose Parkway a bit of a ways from the Las Vegas Strip. The M Resort, Spa and Casino will have 390 guest rooms, nine restaurants, a destination wine cellar and tasting room, more than 60,000 square feet of meeting and conference space, a 23,000 square foot spa and fitness center and over 100,000 square foot pool and events piazza named Villaggio del Sole. Of course there will be a casino with over 92,000 square feet of gaming space including 1,846 slot machines, 64 table games and a state-of-the-art race and sports book. A March 2009 is planned.

The resort has also entered into a partnership with Taubman Center Inc. to create the first full-scale, department store anchored regional mall to be directly integrated into a casino resort. It will add one million square feet of in-line shopping to the resort and is expected to open in late 2011 or early 2012. Another feature of the resort will be a 63,000 square foot movie theater with 14 screens and 3,100 seat of all-stadium luxury seating with digital sound and premium concession selections,.

Charlize Theron may not have gotten along too well with the Raymond Weil watch people but she seems to be doing just fine with Breil Milano. The leggy blonde actress has renewed her contract with Italian luxury brand signing up to appear in the company's advertising campaigns until 2011. She will appear in ads not just for watches and jewelry but for Breil Milano's forays into the luxury leather goods and eyewear markets. She has filmed a new campaign with photographer Jean-Baptiste Mondino in Los Angeles.

The Wyck Estate in Manchester-by-the Sea, Massachusetts is another old beauty that has been on the market for a while. It had been on the market for at least a year when I first wrote about it in 2005. This is one of the most beautiful homes on Masschusetts's North Shore. Built in 1912, the main residence is a replica of a French chateau created using bricks imported from France. The 7.85 acre compound also includes tennis courts, a private beach, boat house, children's playhouse and a filtered saltwater pool. The home has been owned by the same person since 1944 so it maintains its original charm including marble fireplaces, plenty of carved wood and ornate stonework. This grand summer estate was on the market for $23.5 million three years ago. Now it looks like the carriage house is being sold in a separate parcel of 2.1 acres and the main home is for sale for $13.25 million.

For more prime properties and lush locations, see Luxury Homes and Mansions.

Mike Ditka isn't the only coach with a wine label. Legendary University of Michigan coach the late Bo Schembechler is now the namesake of a 2005 California merlot. According to the Ann Arbor News, the Bo Merlot will be unveiled in the Ann Arbor area in the last week of August which marks University of Michigan's home football opener against Utah.

The wine is being distributed by Studer imports, a wine company founded by Marlena Studer, She defends her choice to use a California winery in Monterey to source the wine rather than a Michigan winery by saying that California symbolizes the Rose Bowl, where Schembechler tried to get this team to each year. The price of the wine is $19.69 which references 969, the year Schembechler arrived on campus. Two dollars from each sale goes to the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center, which treated Schembechler when he was ill. He died of heart failure on Nov. 17, 2006. The wine will be sold in local stores in the Ann Arbor area.