Lorre White, The Guru of Luxury

One of Three Diamond Blackberry.

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Introducing the World’s Most Expensive Diamond-Encrusted Blackberry by non other than Alexander Amosu.It took 350 hours of painstaking craftsmanship in solid 18 carat yellow gold, encrusted with 4,459 brilliant cut diamonds (weighing 28.43 carats). Each phone can be personalized with your name or company logo while featuring a 24-hour global concierge service focused on “accessing the inaccessible”.

Worlds Most Expensive Blackberry

World’s Most Expensive Diamond-Encrusted Blackberry.

World’s Most Expensive Diamond-Encrusted Blackberry.

World’s Most Expensive Diamond-Encrusted Blackberry.

World’s Most Expensive Diamond-Encrusted Blackberry.

The handset cost £125,000 ($240,000) and one has already been sold to a client in the Middle East.

Only 3 diamond encrusted blackberry, one of the world’s most prestigious luxury mobile phone at the moment, will ever be made, so, if you need one, hurry up!

Ivory Sales In China

Ivory

For more than 7,000 years, Chinese artisans have been crafting elephant ivory. Favoured by the Imperial household as far back as the Qing dynasty (1680), ivory has an illustrious reputation and an association with the wealthy and elite. But in 1989, the trading of ivory was banned worldwide through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), after more than half of Africa’s 1.3 million elephants were poached in a single decade. And yet, with a carving trade established in antiquity and a burgeoning middle class who, for the first time, can afford to buy ivory, China remains its biggest importer.

As Asian elephant herds dwindle, African elephants have become the only source of ivory. In late 2008, Cites authorities allowed China to bid with Japan for tusks from official stockpiles – consisting of ivory collected from elephants that had died a natural death – in four southern African countries. In an open declaration of a continuing demand, 12 Chinese traders bought 62 tonnes at an average price of $144 per kilo. Since this legal purchase, more than 11 tonnes of illegal African ivory have been impounded en route to China.

Elephant poaching largely takes place in central Africa, where poverty and political instability are rife. Chronic unemployment, the availability of firearms and corruption all facilitate the illegal ivory trade. These regions are also home to unregulated domestic ivory markets, where carved items are bought and sold. According to ivory expert Esmond Martin, the majority of buyers are Chinese. In a scramble for Africa’s minerals and resources, the continent has seen a recent influx of Chinese workers – a presence that is visibly reflected in the illegal retailing of ivory. On a recent trip to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Martin recorded 1,433 items of ivory openly displayed in the city’s main streets and central market. Among these were 149 pairs of freshly carved ivory chopsticks, selling for $16 each – in sharp contrast to a Chinese retail price of $139 – and signature stamps and jewellery. All of these items were small enough to potentially smuggle through customs.

Martin had previously estimated that 4,900 to 12,000 elephants from central Africa were killed each year to supply tusks to the craftsmen of Africa, China and Thailand. Conservationists are deeply concerned. According to Barbara Maas, CEO of Care for the Wild International: “With the number of Chinese nationals resident in Africa rising, and poaching on the increase, the frontline between supply and demand for ivory is now perilously close, with a disastrous outcome for elephants.”

Rose Gamble, freelance journalist

China's love Affair Wirh Gold

Gold

China loves gold in all its forms: as a reserve currency, jewellery, an investment – even gold that is not real at all, or “virtual gold”, the internet commodity used as currency in online games such as

World of Warcraft

. The Chinese government is trying to crack down on trade in virtual gold, which is “farmed” by online gamers in China and sold to online gamers in the first world.

But when it comes to the real stuff – gold jewellery and gold bullion, for either adornment or investment – trade in China has risen sharply. Beijing recently revealed that it had been secretly buying gold for years in order to diversify its foreign reserves, and had almost doubled its bullion holdings. But they are not the only ones: the rising tide of wealth among middle-class Chinese has made China the second-largest gold jewellery market in the world since 2007, behind only India. Sales of gold and silver jewellery in China rose by an astounding 28.7 per cent in May year on year – proof, if any more were needed, that Chinese consumers have certainly not stopped spending money during the financial crisis. Total gold demand in China last year was nearly 400 tonnes, up by 21 per cent from 2007.

But Chinese people like their gold purer than their western counterparts: 24 carat, rather than 18 carat. The reasons for that, says Shi Heqing, gold analyst at Beijing Antaike Information, are partly historical: “Chinese people have gone through several wars in the last century, and the memory of those is still fresh, so they like secure ways of keeping their money. In the west, people seem to use gold more for decoration or beautification.”

The recent rollercoaster ride in the mainland stock market – which at one point last year had fallen by 70 per cent from its 2007 height, but has since crawled back to half the peak level – has also prompted more investment interest in gold in bullion form, gold market analysts say.

Mr Yu, a 55-year-old antiques trader in Shanghai who declined to give his first name, says he bought 500g of gold in 2007 and increased his holding to 2,000g at the end of last year. “I know people who are still buying stocks at this moment … but gold may be better for people my age who are more risk-averse.”

Or as Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research in Shanghai, puts it: “In China, the banking system has only recently become stable. Chinese people like gold: you can always melt it down and it’s easy to carry.”

Patti Waldmeir, with additional reporting by Yan Jin, former FT Shanghai news assistant

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Clinique La Prairie Mixes Luxury Lifestyle into the Spa Experience...

During a period when many companies involved in luxury are having a difficult run, it is always nice to run into success stories.
 
Clinique La Prairie (CLP) in Clarens-MontreuxSwitzerland year-to-date is actually ahead of 2008 in terms of revenue according to Yael Bruigom, Marketing & PR Manager, thanks to a few wealthy clients.  Like virtually all entities in the hospitality arena, actual bookings are down; however, a couple of large bookings from ultra-wealthy Middle East families has kept the revenue numbers strong.
 
A perennial name on lists of top Destination and Medical Spas, perhaps one reason that CLP is enjoying continued success (70% of its guests return within 18 months) is that in addition to luxury accommodations and a unique array of treatments and picturesque surroundings, under Bruigom (who previously served under Swiss watch marketing Guru Jean-Claude Biver at Blancpain and before that was a marketer for Oracle) the spa has aggressively cultivated partnerships that speak to their clients' lifestyle.  "Many of our guests arrive by private jet," she told us during a recent visit.
 
Shopping and affinity for special products is a passion of many guests, and to make sure they don't feel isolated, Bruigom has created what some refer to as the "CLP Mall," a series of hallways with vitrines and showcases featuring the works of Breguet, Boucheron, Audemars Piguet, Lalique, Piaget, Chopard, Roger Dubuis, Prada, Gucci, Salvatore Ferragamo and of course Hublot to name a few.
 
In fact, a $40,000 green crocodile Hermès Kelly bag sold the day after it was placed in its showcase.  "Guests have a lot of free time while they here," Bruigom notes, adding there has never been a complaint about the various high-end displays.  "They are done in a very nice way, and we only really feature companies we know our guests will have an interest in."
 
It is in many ways a comparable strategy to Elite Traveler and Luxus with our distribution aboard private jets and in private jet terminals as well as on mega-yachts.
 
From watches, jewelry and accessories, there are even displays featuring Persian rugs (yes, guests have made purchases as a result), private client services from UBS and a local purveyor of caviar.
 
When it comes to accommodations, the 59 units range from standard single rooms to an Imperial Suite with a private elevator and rooftop garden.  All are furnished to the standards of a five star hotel "except there is a call for the nurse next to every bed."  With 210 employees, CLP has a staff-to-guest ratio of more than 3-to-1. 
 
Guests stay from a minimum of seven days to as much as a year (a princess who wanted to lose weight before her marriage) with many clients staying several weeks and a significant percentage coming as couples.  One week with the basics starts at about $20,000 but with a clientele that includes billionaires from all continents, spending can range into the millions based on treatments and length of stay.
 
Known specifically for its Cellular therapy treatments using sheep fetus extract, CLP also offers dental and plastic surgery, hydro therapy and literally dozens of more health focused programs.  Its restaurant is so popular that it is now open and gets a strong local clientele who enjoy the haute cuisine prepared in a healthy way.  For patients who are used to the private jet lifestyle, they each receive menus customized by a dietician "so if there are 50 people, there are 50 menu variations."
 
Cuisine is so highly rated by guests that from time-to-time guests will bring a chef home with them to train their staff on how to prepare meals the CLP way.
 
The spa, Bruigom notes, has a unique public relations tool.  While the number one source of new customers is current client referrals, the La Prairie cosmetic brand (which was sold by the owners in the early 80s and today has no connection to the spa) has built the CLP into a name with high worldwide awareness.  It's interesting that the skincare products that are now used exclusively at CLP are "Swiss Perfection," a house brand developed by the owner which started to gain a strong following outside CLP.
 
In addition to the various displays of luxury goods, CLP also offers its guests art exhibits from time to time, including one sponsored by Hublot.  For further amusement there are ornate and complex music boxes from haute couture maker Reuge, stop-bys of exotic cars as part of auto rallies, and even some shopping trips, where all guests at a local Hermès boutique received a replica of their picture imposed on to the cover of the Hermès house magazine, wearing of course an Hermès scarf.
 
With business strong, CLP is open to new projects to enhance customer experience and provide an even more unique experience.  "We weren't just waiting around for the recession to start before getting into action.  This has been our direction for the last several years," she noted.

By Doug Gollan

Elite Traveler

The most Expensive Cell Phone Sells for 1 Million Euros.

Goldvish Le Million - 1 Million Euro Handy

The most expensive mobile telephone worldwide.

Both the name and price of the "Le Million" cellphone by Goldvish are loaded with 140 grams of gold, flawless 120-carat diamond facing and crocodile leather.

The second claimant for the title of World's Most Expensive Cellphone is the "Le Million" from the Swiss manufacturer Goldvish.

Italian Luxury - Burano Hand Lace

Our many readers are very knowledgeable about luxuries. Lorre White (The Luxury Guru) loves to help expand our knowledge about all types of interesting luxuries and their role in our history.

 

 

 

The History of the Burano Lace

 

Legend has it that a young Venetian seafarer brought his beloved a seaweed from the far, distant seas. As she wanted to preserve the memento forever, she painstakingly copied the delicate outline and patterns using her needle and thread.

 

The Production of Burano lace in the

Venetian

Republic

reached its heyday in the 16^th century. The impulse for the expansion had been given to this traditional type of needlework by Duchess Morosina Morosini, Doge Morosini’s wife. She was so fond of Burano lace that, at the end of the 14^th century, she established a workshop employing 130 lace makers. The lace produced in part found its way into the Duchess’s personal wardrobe, but much of it was presented as a gift to her friends in the greatest courts of

Europe

.

 

Upon the Duchess’s death, the workshop was closed, but the lace making art lived on through the labours of the best lace makers.  In the course of time, the fame of Burano lace spread throughout

Europe

and was very much in demand. On his coronation day, Louise XIV of

France

was said to wear an original and very precious lace collar made by the Burano lace makers in two years of patient needlework.

 

The Venetian art of lace making was so valued in beyond the Alps that Catherine de Medic and Minister Colbert persuaded some lace makers from Burano to move to

France

. The Royal Manufactory at Rheims produced “Punto In aria,” the typical Burano needle lace, under the direction of Marie Colbert, the Minister’s niece, and soon it numbered 200 Venetian lace makers among the much more numerous French workers.

 

In 1665, “Punto in Aria” became “Point de France,” and a strong competitor for Burano lace. In spite of all efforts, French lace never equaled Venetian needlework, the Venetian had turned lace making into an art, the French into an industry. Like many other French products, also lace was protected with heavy duties levied against foreign products, so that the export trade of Venetian lace into

France

was hampered. French taxes notwithstanding, the art prospered so much that at the beginning of the 18^th century the Venetian workshop"Ranieri e Gabrieli" was employing 600 workers.  In 1797, with the fall of the

Serenissima

Republic

, also lace-making came to a stop, and the craft was practiced only within the confines of the home.

 

The winter of 1872 was particularly cold, and for the economy of Burano, based exclusively on fishing, the season was a real disaster.  It was then that Countess Adriana Marcello and the Hon. Paolo Fambri revived lace making mainly to provide relief for the destitute population of Burano.

 

The heritage of the golden age of Burano lace had jealously been guarded by an 80-year-old woman, Vincenza Memo, called Cencia Scarpariola, and she disclosed the secrets of lace making to a primary schoolteacher, Anna Bellorio d’Este, who in turn taught them to her daughters and other girls.  Needle lace featuring “Punto in Aria” and “Punto Rosa” became popular once again and a school was started, and soon lace making became the main resource for the Island al Burano.  Through the offices of Countess Adriana Macello, many noble ladies of that period, such as the Princess of Saxony-Weimer, the Duchess of Hamilton, Countess Bismark, Princess Metternich, the Queen of the Netherlands, and Queen Margherita of Italy, to name but a few, commissioned important work from the school, which in 1875 gave work to over 100 lace makers.  Countess Adriana Marcello died on 23 January, 1893, and her work and charities were continued by her son, Count Girolamo Marcello, and the school thrived until 1915, when World War I broke out, slowing down the demand for Burano lace.  After a few years, orders began to flow in again, many from foreign markets, but also from the Italian Government During World War II, and in the following years, the school experienced some ups and downs, until it was finally closed in 1972.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The New York Times

TRAVEL

SHOPPER'S WORLD; Burano's Legacy: Artistry In Lace

 

The New York Times/Aug.16, 1987 Mark E. Smith

 

By ANNE MARSHALL ZWACK; Anne Marshall Zwack is a writer who lives in

Florence

.

Published: Sunday,

August 16, 1987

 

Burano is the poor relation of the Venetian Lagoon. The tourists who throng St. Mark's Square in

Venice

or take a boat to Murano to watch craftsmen blow arabesques in glass often pass by the little island community of fishermen.  Yet Burano is the cradle of lace making in

Italy

, and it is also the place where we found some of the best fresh seafood in the whole Laguna Veneziana.

 

The fishermen's houses are like those of a child's drawing: two-story cobalt blue, russet red, turquoise or grass green houses lining the canals, where every day is washing day and where fishing boats dawdle cocooned in nets that are used to gather soft-shell crabs. More nets skim across the mirrorlike surface of the lagoon where more fishing boats are moored to spindly poles, their reflection wriggling into the water. The grandly termed cathedral has a leaning tower, something that apparently causes little concern in a part of the world where even the bell

tower

of

St. Mark

's collapsed into a heap of rubble in 1902.

 

The wives of the Burano fishermen once sat mending nets to fill the anxious hours as they waited for their husbands to come home with the day's haul. This led, about five centuries ago, to lace making. The fine net background of this kind of lace is still called Burano stitch or tulle, looking as it does like a gossamer fishing net.  Today fewer and fewer women want to perfect a painstaking art at wages of little more than a dollar an hour. Burano does, however, have a lace making school where courses in lace making are free to whoever wants to learn: 600 hours divided into two periods in spring and fall, and the results are impressive.  The students' work pales, however, before some of the lace exhibited in the museum that belongs to the school, some of which is so exquisite that without a magnifying glass the stitches are practically invisible.

 

The lace making school in Burano was founded at the end of the 19th century - when lace making was in its heyday and everything from cradles to corsages was draped in cascading frills of fine lace - by Andriana Marcello, a countess whose family is still actively involved in the school.

 

At the same time, another Italian countess was founding a school, the Emilia Ars in Bologna, while in the Friuli region an American, Cora Slocomb from New Orleans, married to the Italian Count di Brazza, brought a New World briskness to teaching young women from the region how to produce lace that would be sold all over the world. Much of the work from this school, together with other lace of the period, is on display in the

Correr

Museum

in

Venice

.

 

Eleven white-aproned lace makers, with their feet propped on the traditional wooden stools, still work in the Burano school, and their lace can be bought or commissioned directly from them.

 

It takes 6 women, each doing a different stitch, about 20 days to finish a small cloth for a tray or a lace collar, which is justifiably expensive at about $200.  Mary Costantini, one of the lace makers and teachers in the school, demonstrated just how difficult it is to tear Burano lace, which will stand up to being washed by machine.

 

There are basically two kinds of lace making, bobbin lace and needlework lace; the latter is what the women in Burano do.  The design is etched onto a wad of five layers of paper that are ripped away once the work is finished, leaving only the cobweb of lace.  The designs range over several centuries and the nuances of stitching are infinite.  If a rose has five petals, each one will have a different stitch.

 

One can buy anything from an initialed handkerchief with a lace corner ($28) to a tablecloth - about 110 by 63 inches made entirely of lace that took 30 lace makers 3 years to complete - for $100,000.  For everyday use, a round tablecloth with a lace design in the center, and lace trim round the hem together with 12 napkins would cost $3,400.

SFERRA FINE LINENS 115^TH ANNIVERSARY

 

The Burano lace making tradition is carried on by luxury linen company Sferra Fine Linens, who chose their Burano lace-embellished bedding to celebrate the company’s 115^th Anniversary

 

The older we get the more we appreciate our beds and all the bedding that goes with it.  At the end of the day, that one fine moment when we get ready to retire and get comfortable becomes more and more an event that we truly enjoy.  That leads to the fact that we are more aware of all the choices and materials that go in and on a bed. Sferra Fine Linens has created bedding so precious that one might hesitate to lie on it.  The Burano sets - each comprising of one ivory fitted sheet, one ivory flat sheet, and two pillowcases - are made from 1,020-thread-count, Italian-woven Egyptian cotton. They incorporate Point de Venice lace, a centuries-old style of embroidery that the company used in its earliest products, when it was based in

Venice

,

Italy

.  The bedding is named for the island near

Venice

, where women have been making this type of lace since the 16th century.  It takes about four months to make enough lace for one whole bedding ensemble.  Sferra does not really know how many sets they will be able to make.  Hooker and his brother-in-law, George Matouk, bought Sferra in 1977 from the Sferra family, making Point de Venice lace their art.  They went back to Burano and found four elderly women who agreed to make the lace exclusively for Sferra.  That heritage began in 1891 in

Venice

, where Gennaro Sferra created elaborate cuffs and collars, some of which included the Point de Venice lace.  By the early 1900s, Sferra had a factory in

Venice

and, owing to his transatlantic travels, a wealthy clientele in the eastern

United States

.  When his sons, Albert and Enrico, took over the family business in the 1940s, they added table and bed linens to its offerings.  Today Sferra Fine Linens is introducing the Burano bedding as it celebrates its 115th anniversary.  With proper care, including laundering by hand, a Burano set could last as long as the company has.  It is made to be passed down from one generation to the next.  Because this bedding includes the Burano lace, Sferra has priced this set starting at $14,000.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coco Chanel the Woman

Coco

Chanel Written by Jessica Benavides Canepa. Published 2009

Early Days: “A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous”...

Gabrielle “ Coco” Chanel was born to a poor but hardworking family in a small French town called Samur in 1883. At the age of 12, her mother died after a bout with tuberculosis and Gabrielle was sent to an orphanage. As her father needed to support the family and could not afford proper care for his children, this difficult decision was made. This unfortunate early setback proved to serve her well in the future, for it was at this orphanage (a Roman Catholic monastery) that she learned to become a seamstress. By the age of 18, Gabrielle was of age to leave the orphanage and went to work for a local tailor. To further make ends meet, she had a brief stint as a cabaret singer (1905-1908) where she adopted her famous nickname, Coco.

It was while working at a tailor’s shop that she met millionaire playboy Étienne Balsan, who gave

Cocoher first taste of the luxury lifestyle by lavishing her with fine jewelry and clothes. She soon became his mistress and moved in with Balsan in the early 1900’s. Always outspoken and creative, Coco began a new hobby of designing ladies hats, and by 1912 had opened a millinery shop in the heart of Paris, in large part selling to the society ladies in Balsan’s social circle.  This first attempt failed within the first year however, leaving feisty Coco ith more determination than ever to succeed. She left Balsan, but in a move that became part of her legendary persona, she kept his apartment in Paris. Soon after she took up with another wealthy suitor, Arthur Capel, and it wasn’t long before she set up a new shop in Brittany.

Fashion Icon: “In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different”…

During the pre-war era, Coco set up three shops in France, selling to fashionable French actresses and quickly establishing her fashions based on comfort and simple elegance.  Coco was a pioneer in establishing new trends for women, taking them away from the pre-conceived notion that they had to dress up with constricting corsets and many layers in order to entice their men.

Coco taught women that they can be sensual and sophisticated by actually wearing clothes that were smartly tailored in a similar way to menswear. She had, in fact, been inspired for her designs by wearing her lover’s trousers and shirts.

Coco was fortunate enough to present her fashions and philosophies during the age of the “flapper”. This was group of daring young women who challenged the established norms by wearing short skirts, sporting equally short haircuts, while been seen drinking and smoking in public places. These self confident ladies to it even further by deciding to drive their own cars, dancing the energetic “ Charleston”, and actively pursuing sports.

Chanel Empire: “Success is often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable”… 

It was also during this time that Coco developed her signature style and pieces. The instantly recognizable Chanel jacket, featuring the three piece sleeve, the cast metal buttons, and the curved chain, has not changed much since its original introduction in the 1920’s. It was said to be so comfortable that it fit more like a sweater than a constricting jacket, and its straight lines complimented the female form in an entirely new way, by drawing attention to the simple details and away from the curves. In 1921, Coco produced Chanel No.5; the very first designer named fragrance, and immediately set the standard for future generations that followed. The sensational “little black dress” concept was invented by Chanel in 1926.  It was original feats like these that made her the only haute couture designer to be included in Time Magazine’s prestigious100 most influential people of the 20th century list.

In 1925, socialite Vera Bate Lombardi became Coco's muse and the designer’s liaison into the very private world of European royalty. Lombardi was in large part responsible for Chanel’s glorious rise to power in the aristocratic circles, ensuring her creative and financial security.

Times of Trouble: “Fashion fades, only style remains the same”…

Coco closed all of her shops at the start of WWII and moved into the Ritz hotel in Paris for the next 30 years. She even remained there during the Nazis occupation of Paris , by having an affair with a German officer and spy, Hans Gunther von Dincklage, who secured her protected stay. Chanel was eventually arrested for war crimes, but never brought to trial because of her strong ties to the British Royal Family. After the war she moved to Switzerland, finally returning back to Paris in 1954, where her latest collections were ostracized by the French, due to her former relationship with a Nazis. But true to her nature, Coco ignored her critics and continued selling to the English and the Americans, who became her best customers at this time. 

She made up a false story about her childhood, stating that she was 10 years younger, that her mother had died when she was 2 years old, and that her father had abandoned her at the house of two old spinster aunts. All this was in hopes that she would be looked upon as unfortunate rather than poor in her earlier years.

Life after Death: “A woman has the age she deserves”…

Coco Chanel died at her beloved Ritz Hotel suite in Paris in 1971 at the age of 87. At the time of her death, she was still actively working at the helm of her company that has since been directed by designer Karl Lagerfield. She is buried in a beautiful plot in Lucerne, Switzerland, her home during her exile from France, following the war.

Since her death there have been films, theatrical productions, (including the Broadway play “ Coco” starring Katherine Hepburn) and books written about this remarkable woman. Apart from “Coco avant Chanel”, there is another film set to be released at the end of the Cannes film festival about her affair with composer Igor Stravinsky, and two others in the works , one starring Demi Moore. All this in homage to an unforgettable personality, who lived her life with the philosophy that simplicity comfort and non-conformity went hand in hand with luxury.

Wall Street Journal reports the rich are giving to charity Anonymously

By Robert Frank

It is one thing to feel guilty about buying a $5,000 handbag these days. But are the rich also feeling guilty about giving to charity?

Bloomberg News/Landov

He doesn’t feel guilty.

New data compiled by the Chronicle of Philanthropy show a rising number of anonymous donors, perhaps out of a newfound desire to stay out of the wealth spotlight.

In the past 10 months, the proportion of anonymous gifts as a portion of total gifts of $1 million or more surged to 19%. That compares with the 3% to 5% rate more common in the past decade. The Chronicle says 80 gifts valued at $1 million or more were made anonymously from June 2008 to April 2009.

The gifts include the mystery donor(s) that I wrote about last month. But even if you take her $74.5 million out (and I’m guessing it is a she), the proportion of anonymous donations would still be 16%–more than three times the norm.

What gives with the shyness toward giving?

Studies by the Indiana Center on Philanthropy show that most give anonymously to avoid solicitations from other charities and to keep a gift secret from money-seeking friends and family (”You gave away my trust fund?!”).

Robert F. Sharpe Jr., a Memphis, Tenn., fund-raising consultant, says in the article that the wealthy don’t want to appear wealthy as other people suffer in the recession–even when it comes to charity. He said one philanthropist felt that slapping her name on a large gift during times of crisis would seem “unseemly and gauche.”

To me, this seems like wealth shame run amok. Gold toilets on a private jumbo jet is gauche. Giving to the community isn’t. If the rich can’t feel good about giving to charity during a time of national need, what can they feel they feel good about?

On this issue, I am more inclined to agree Sandy Weill, who made this highly conspicuous donation to set an example for others. He said at the time, “we have all felt pain, but we all can do more and doing something in a time like this is much more important.”

Treehouses for adults

Imagine if you could create a world for your children, one that they would never forget. A magical land filled with action, excitement and squeals of delight. A place fuelled by make-believe and the imagination of the young. A place inviting journeys to far off lands, yet still safe to explore.  Imagine that your children could have all of this - that they could run through the air and soar like an eagle. They could cross deep ravines and scale mountainous heights. Scramble over unchartered terrain and swing through the trees. And they could do all of this, without ever leaving their own back garden.

Now, welcome to the world of Treehouse Life. We build the sort of treehouses that every child dreams of and every adult wishes they had had. Beautiful, wooden houses, hideaways, castles and fortresses now being introduced in the USA – buildings that are designed and crafted using only the highest quality wood and materials. But does that mean we think treehouses are just for kids? No, far from it. We believe that to experience the joy of a Treehouse Life you only need to be young at heart.

So perhaps you can image having your own adventure playground, set high in the sky? Or maybe a luxurious garden retreat? A great place to escape, indulge your senses and recharge your soul. Or even a cosy cabin, tucked away amongst the trees? The perfect setting to relax and unwind at the end of the day. At Treehouse Life we can offer all this, and so much more. It is because we believe that life is too short to keep your feet firmly on the ground, we promise that if you can draw on your imagination, we can build you your dream.

 

 

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