by Mark on August 25, 2009
A colleague of mine sent me this and thought of sharing it with you. What a great investment and a beautiful place to just relax and spend best moments by the sea!
Clingstone, an unusual, 103-year-old mansion in Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay, survives through the love and hard work of family and friends. Henry Wood, the owner, runs the house like a camp: all skilled workers welcome.
The Jamestown Boatyard hauls the family’s boats and floating dock and stores them each winter in return for a week’s use of the house in the summer.
Mr. Wood, a 79-year-old Boston architect, bought the house with his ex-wife Joan in 1961 for $3,600. It had been empty for two decades. Clingstone had been built by a distant cousin, J.S. Lovering Wharton. Mr. Wharton worked with an artist, William Trost Richards, to create a house of picture windows with 23 rooms on three stories radiating off a vast central hall. The total cost of the construction, which was completed in 1905, was $36,982.99.
An early sketch of the house. Mr. Wood is as proud as any parent of his house, and keeps a fat scrapbook of photographs and newspaper clippings that document its best moments. Many of the historic photos he has were provided by the company that insured the house for its original owners.
The Newport Bridge is visible from the windows of the Ping-Pong room, to the left of the fireplace.
The house is maintained by an ingenious method: the Clingstone work weekend. Held every year around Memorial Day, it brings 70 or so friends and Clingstone lovers together to tackle jobs like washing all 65 of the windows. Anne Tait, who is married to Mr. Wood’s son Dan, refinished the kitchen floor on one of her first work weekends.
There are 10 bedrooms at Clingstone, all with indecently beautiful views.
The dining room table seats 14. Refinishing the chairs is a task on the list for a future work weekend.
Sign by the ladder that leads to the roof reads: No entry after three drinks or 86 years of age. “It used to say 80 but we had a guy on a work weekend who was 84, so I changed it,” said Mr. Wood, ever the realist. It would have been a shame to curtail the activities of a willing volunteer.
by Mark on August 25, 2009
Lusciously known for their Orange Chicken signature dish, the owner of Panda Express plans to keep expanding the business. Check out the interview here.
by Mark on August 24, 2009
Hawaii’s first LEGO store opened at the Ala Moana Center.
Maybe it’s the modular thinking of those who have grown up playing with building bricks, but Hawaii’s first Lego Store makes the most of every square inch. In the shadow of construction of the massive Victoria’s Secret store at Ala Moana Center, the Lego Store opened with little fanfare on July 23 and celebrated its grand opening last weekend.
For a creation that kids can keep, the store boasts a “Build your own Minifigure” area where keiki choose the hair or hat, face, body, legs and accessory of three Lego people, assemble them and pack them in a box for $9.99. For those with a project in mind, the “Pick a Brick” station lets shoppers fill cups of Lego from a wall of options — $14.99 for a large cup or $7.99 for a small cup.
Read more about it here.
by Mark on August 24, 2009
Foodland in Aina Haina will undergo a major renovation to upscale its current grocery outlet. There were rumors that the store was closing down as Aina Haina Shopping Center was also going to get a major face lift. The new store will focus on getting more organic and specialty items as well as high-quality perishable foods. Hawaii does seem to have the demand in organic market, thus stores starting to expand to this niche.
The renovated Foodland Farms will offer new full-service meat, seafood, deli, bakery and produce departments.
The store also will provide a greater selection of natural, organic and specialty items.
Read more about it here.
by Mark on August 21, 2009
From the U.S. News:
Using data from Green Street Advisors, an investment research firm in Newport Beach, Calif., that specializes in publicly owned real estate companies, U.S. News identified malls in which the retail economy is relatively healthy. While bargain shopping is obviously popular, the nation’s most profitable shopping centers generally don’t rely on discounters.
Instead, they tend to feature chains with a strong brand identity, like Nordstrom, Abercrombie & Fitch, Apple, and Anthropologie. Since it’s all about real estate, location is vital: The best malls tend to be in densely populated areas or tourist hotspots. And it sure helps if local residents are affluent.
Short information about America’s most profitable malls mentioned. Ala Moana Center included.
by Mark on August 21, 2009
According to Colliers Research, Honolulu’s daily parking rate is in the Top 50. 18th to be exact. See the right column of page 3.
by Mark on August 21, 2009
Government is still big business in Hawaii, by a huge margin.
A few industries have grown faster over the past decade, but government is still No. 1 in the amount it contributes to Hawaii’s economy, well ahead of real estate and even tourism.
In fact, the economic footprint of federal, state and local government in Hawaii expanded three times more than in the nation as a whole, according to statistics recently released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Read more about it here.
by Mark on August 21, 2009
While much of Oahu’s rail negativism lies on the financial aspect of the nature, the city of Carrollton in Texas is looking to the rail lines for its economic prosperity.
In April, the Carrollton City Council approved a $38 million mixed-use development next to a commuter rail station being erected downtown. The station is Carrollton’s main gateway to the 28-mile Green Line, a $1.8 billion expansion of Dallas Area Rapid Transit. After the line’s scheduled completion in late 2010, it will link Carrollton with downtown and southern Dallas.
“Rail is the catalyst for this new growth,” said Peter Braster, whose title is transit-oriented development manager for Carrollton. “It’s important for the long-term sustainability of Carrollton.”
I agree that rail will allow more traffic, flexible commuting alternative and economic prosperity. Read more about it here.
by Mark on August 21, 2009
A colleague of mine sent these ultimate wave photos to tease my absence of the ocean and the sleepless nights. =)
These beautiful images of waves were taken by Clark Little who many consider the premier photographer of surf. He has dedicated his life to photographing waves and has published a selection of the best images of his career.
by Mark on August 12, 2009
