Did you know an army base could also be the site of a sprawling mansion? Since it’s around Memorial Day, take a good look at some out-of-the-ordinary American homes that still stand guard over their military pasts. Let’s get started.

Name: Wonderland Compound
Location 1: Hollywood Hills, California
Cost: $6.3 M
Space: 53,000 sq ft

Going by legend, the locale of this huge estate is improbably apt. It’s thought to have been a secret military research facility that was turned into a film studio — still under military command — to process footage of atomic bomb experimentations. A two-story sound stage remains today. The structure was built in 1941 and it’s called Wonderland Compound. No doubt a solid home, buy it to enjoy its10 bedrooms and 13 baths.

Name: Topeka Missile Silo
Location 2: Topeka, Kansas
Cost: Off the market
Space: 18,000 sq ft

For the last 17 years, the Peden family has lived in the 18,000 square feet comprising this missile silo. Although Ed Peden didn’t set about restoring this Cold War relic until 1982, the structure’s original construction dates about twenty years prior — 1961. At that time, the silo accommodated an Atlas E missile equipped with a thermonuclear warhead.

Name: Norman’s Retreat
Location 3: West River, Maryland
Cost: $1.65 M

This home was built in the Plantation style in 1811, but its grounds provided the setting for the Revolutionary War’s only battle between Anne Arundel County’s local militia and British naval forces. The residence has been on the National Register of Historic Homes since 1984.

Name: Liberty Station (formerly: Naval Training Center of San Diego)
Location 3: San Diego, California
Cost: $749,900
Space: 2,290 sq ft

This training center functioned as a military base for 70 years before its gradual turn to the residential. Today it offers an open floor plan and 10-ft ceilings. Such converted spaces are known to attract both civilian and veteran buyers.

Name: Adirondack Cold War Conversion
Location 3: Adirondack Mountains, New York
Cost: $2.3 million (cash)

Two enterprising cousins are responsible for the refurbishing of this Atlas F missile base. It constitutes 20 acres within Adirondack State Park in New York. Lake Placid is in the vicinity and the property also has a private air strip. An entertainment room in the house holds an original pillar that once housed a launch control center tower.

Name: Revolutionary War Inn
Location 4: Killingworth, Connecticut
Cost: $875,000
Space: 3,074 sq ft

This Colonial-style home was built in 1796. Somewhat modest in its dimensions, it has four bedrooms and three baths. During the Revolutionary War, the building was used as an inn called Tower House. Following its conversion into a single residential home, the property gained1,500 square feet. It lies on 7.8 acres.

Actor Charlie Sheen is in the headlines once again. Except this time it’s not because of a scandal or improper behavior, at least we don’t think so. It is reported that former “Two and a Half Men” star Sheen is packing up his things and moving to a new home. After putting up an offer to purchase a new pad, Sheen has listed his current residence in between Beverly Hills and Sherman Oaks, California for $7.2 million.

Dubbed the Sober Valley Lodge, Sheen’s Mediterranean-style mansion in the gated Mulholland Estates boasts five bedrooms, seven bathrooms and about 8,000 square feet of spacious living space. Listing information shows the home includes three fireplaces and a three-car garage. It is also touted as having a private screening room and an impressive outdoor kitchen with dining area, pool and spa.

Sheen purchased the mansion in May of 1997 for $2.5 million. According to several media outlets, YouPorn.com approached Sheen’s realtor with a cash offer to purchase the mansion.

Although everyone knows that he is currently unemployed (Sheen was fired from “Two and a Half Men” in March and replaced by Ashton Kutcher, former star of “That 70s Show”), the actor does not seem to be selling his mansion because he can’t pay the mortgage. According to a Forbes report, Sheen made nearly $40 million over the past year. In fact, in March, Sheen purchased another mansion in the same gated community. The second property is also on the market.

It is reported that Sheen initially purchased both homes to give one to ex-wife Denise Richards and another to soon-to-be ex-wife Brooke Mueller. However, it seems Sheen has changed his mind and decided to list both properties.

So where will the infamous actor call home? Although he has not yet purchased a new home, Sheen made a deal to buy a new Beverly Hills mansion in the same neighborhood, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The A-list neighborhood is also home to other celebrities, including model and “Project Runway” host Heidi Klum and her singer-husband Seal. They have listed their Beverly Hills mansion for $6.9 million. Their listing agent told the Los Angeles Times that the couple is selling because their family has outgrown the mansion.

Donald Trump continues to get his name in the headlines. He started out in the 1960s by taking it upon himself to turn a profit on an apartment complex in Cincinnati that had been foreclosed. He succeeded and left Ohio for the soon-to-be shinier glories of Manhattan. At the time, the financial crisis of the ‘70s had bestowed neglect and cheerlessness on much of the island’s real estate. But these dire circumstances would prove advantageous and immensely lucrative to The Donald, as he is more-or-less affectionately called. Trump would come to special public prominence a decade later thanks to his 1987 revitalization of Central Park fixture, Wollman Rink.

The properties he subsequently purchased through his company magnified his public profile, but his personal real estate deals have also garnered public praise and abuse. That’s something Trump seems to relish, especially because it benefits his business. Multi-million dollar licensing fees, anyone?

725 Fifth Avenue, or Trump Tower, is probably the first place Donald Trump calls home. The Tower’s three uppermost floors (or highest 30,000 square feet) comprise his apartment. He shares his building with one Saudi prince — with a correspondingly single floor allotted to him — and each year’s reigning beauty queen from the Miss USA, Miss Teen USA, and Miss Universe contests. Less prominent figures, of course, are also free to snap up a room or two of the building for themselves. Forbes magazine offers a $300 million value estimate of the property which has a Gucci store on location.

Other Trump properties of note:

• Maison de L’Amitié in Palm Beach, Florida: Purchased by Trump in 2004 for $41 million; renovated with $25 million (at Trump’s behest) by “The Apprentice” Season Three winner Kendra Todd; and sold for $95 million in 2010.

 

• Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida: A $10 million, 1985 Trump purchase that would host Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley’s wedding celebration.

• Seven Springs Estate in Bedford, New York: Bought in 1995 for $7.5 million and site of one of Trump’s planned golf courses; residents objected and Trump turned it instead into a luxury homes development project — currently on hold.

 

• Trump National Golf Course in Rancho Palos Verdes, California: This Trump estate is selling for $12 million.

There you have it folks — just another diverse investment portfolio of the rich and famous. And long-form or short-form birth certificates, even if Trump doesn’t make it into the Oval Office, he’s likely to continue making headlines and excellent profits on personal and company-owned real estate deals.

While the worst of the economic crisis is over, many individuals still find that their homes are underwater, or have had their houses on the market for years with no buyers bidding. This catastrophe has affected all forms of housing from condos to luxury homes. However, the good news is that the housing market is making a slow, but steady comeback, and it is beginning first with the buying and selling of luxury homes.

In fact one of the most expensive luxury homes located in the heart of the Silicon Valley was just recently sold for one hundred million dollars. Russian billionaire, Yuri Milner, purchased this French-style chateau with no plans to yet settle in, according to the Associated Press. This could possibly mean that this house might instead become a new summer home for him as opposed to a permanent residence, but he was unwilling to provide any further comment according to one of his spokesmen.

The luxury home he purchased took about six years to complete and consists of eighteen acres of land that overlooks the San Francisco Bay area. Within the mansion are gyms, spas, pools, both in and outdoor, screening rooms, wine cellars, ballrooms, and even a motor court to help ensure security and privacy. This one hundred million dollar home is easily affordable for someone like Milner who is the current chairman of Mail.ru and founder of an Internet investment firm known as Digital Sky Technologies. He has major investments in other Internet based groups like Groupon and Facebook, and Facebook’s popular game of Farmville by Zynga to keep the money flowing inward.

According to Betty Graham, who listed the property, the sale of this mansion dwarfed the fifty million paid for the forty-eight hundred acre Belvedere Mansion in Bel Air last year. She went on to state that the smart money was in real estate, and that the number of homes over twenty million dollars sold triple this year than they did back in 2009.

With this increase in sold luxury homes it is easy to see that the housing market is slowly recovering. It might be for the well to do at first, but as the economy gets better with the progress of time more and more houses will continue to be purchased and sold well under the twenty million dollar mark returning the housing market back to its original strength. Home owning might be tough now, but the future for all looks like it might be getting a little bit brighter.

An anonymous landowner’s decision to build an 85,000-square foot family compound has upset more than a hundred Benedict Canyon neighbors, the Los Angeles Times reports.

If approved, the “megamansion” on Tower Lane will feature a 42,681-square-foot house, a double-winged villa of more than 27,000 square feet, a 4,400-square foot guest house, luxury staff quarters and a gatehouse. The entire property with its many structures would take up an area larger than Griffith Observatory, according to the Times.

Megamansions are nothing new in the canyons above Sunset Boulevard. Although the popular 90210 ZIP code is home to many mansions with luxury amenities such as swimming pools and tennis courts, the proposed size of the compound “pushes the bounds of common sense and decency” residents told the Times. The neighborhood, which is currently home to residents Bruce Springsteen, David Beckham, and Jay Leno, includes over 150 neighbors who have banned together through e-mails, house gatherings and phone calls to stop the construction.  The group’s next step is to launch a website and a door-to-door campaign.

Although the owner has not been disclosed, he or she has created a business, Tower Lane Properties Inc., to buy three plots of land for $12 million. The owner has also hired a team of layers, architects, intermediaries and sales brokers to manage the project. According to the Times, city planning papers list Mansour Fustok of London as the president of Tower Lane Properties.

Mansour Fustok of London is King Abdullah’s former brother-in-law and the uncle of one of the king’s sons, according to the Times. However, when he was contacted in his home in London, Fustok told the Times he was prohibited from giving out the name of the owner and said the proposed construction will be a regular “Mediterranean-style house,” and that a “very nice family is going to live there.”

The group of neighborhood protestors says that the city has ignored many omissions in the property owner’s application. They contend that the owner has tried to avoid regulations limiting retaining walls in an area with steep hillsides. In addition, they say that the owner has tried to “piecemeal” the project to void a review under the California Environmental Quality Act. 

Whether or not the mystery owners get to build his megamansion, even wealthy Benedict Canyon residents don’t understand “why anyone needs an 80,000-square-foot compound."

Santa Cruz is one of the most popular tourist destinations in California. However, it’s also a great place to consider raising a family and buy affordable luxury homes. The Santa Cruz real estate market has been one of the most desirable in the state for several years, as people from around the country move to the area each year. Even with the recent economic downturn, housing prices in Santa Cruz have remained firm, a testament to the high demand for homes in the area.

So what is it that makes Santa Cruz County and the surrounding area such a popular place to live? And should you consider moving as well? If you are thinking about relocating to Santa Cruz, now is the perfect time to do it. Real estate prices are starting to rise again, making this the ideal time to find a great deal on amazing Santa Cruz homes for sale. Here are a few reasons that people make the decision to move to Santa Cruz:

Natural Beauty: Santa Cruz is set on the scenic Pacific Ocean. This not only provides one of the most beautiful places to live in all of the country, but it also helps to keep temperatures cool year-round. This lets residents take advantage of a wide range of recreational activities in Santa Cruz. Families can enjoy a day at the beach, a hike in the nearby Santa Cruz Mountains or a fun day at one of the many well-maintained public parks.

Location: Santa Cruz has a small-town feel, yet it is close to major cities such as San Jose and San Francisco. A short drive brings residents access to world-class entertainment, sporting events, dining and nightlife.

Charm: The Santa Cruz Boardwalk is one of California’s most enduring symbols, but it only tells part of the story of Santa Cruz. The city’s downtown features a range of eclectic shops, restaurants and art galleries. In addition, the residents are friendly and outgoing, helping to create a community vibe that few places in California can match.