Real LI

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This house in Smithtown is for sale.

Bill Thomas, executive director of Chanticleer, a 37-acre estate garden in Pennsylvania, will lead an illustrated talk on Chanticleer "A Pleasure Garden in the Making," discussing its start in 1913 as private garden for a families suburban retreat to its eventual transformation to a public garden in 1993, at The Horticultural Alliance of the Hamptons' monthly meeting at 2 p.m. Sunday in the main auditorium of the Bridgehampton Community House on Montauk Highway. Fee is $10 for non-members, free for members. For more information, call 631-537-2223.

- M. BOZENA SYSKA

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This house in Sound Beach is for sale.

The "Fall Dahlia Show," sponsored by the Long Island Dahlia Society, happens from 1 to 5 p.m. tomorrow and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m Sunday in the Carriage House at Bayard Cutting Arboretum on Montauk Highway in East Islip. Then at 7 p.m. on Thursday, come to the Arboretum for the Society's Dahlias 101 class to learn how to properly dig and store dahlia tubers through the winter. For more information, call 631-754-1002 in the evening or 516-832-3652 during the day, or click here.

- M. BOZENA SYSKA

So, does The Donald know furniture? Don't know, but he thinks he does, evidenced by the three new lines he's introducing this fall in North Carolina, the furniture capital of the world.

The online furniture magazine, Furniture World, had this to say about the line: "The Trump Home collection includes furniture, lighting, floor fashion, room décor and home fragrance. Each piece has been designed to reflect the sophisticated elegance of the Trump lifestyle, and now retailers and consumers can buy into a complete design program of affordable luxury."

See home accessories, gifts and American crafts along with craft demonstrations, booths with exotic and natural foods and continuous entertainment at the "Craft As Art Festival" presented by American Concern for Art and Craftsmanship from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. tomorrow and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday and Monday at Nassau County Museum of Art, 1 Museum Dr. in Roslyn Harbor. Admission is $7; children under 12 are admitted free. For more information, call 973-746-0091 or click here

- M. BOZENA SYSKA

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This house in Centereach is for sale.

Only the Realtor knows.

That's according to a new Forbes list, which includes 10 Long Island communities in the magazine's list of the country's most expensive ZIP codes. Other communities chosed based on median home sales prices from July 2007 to June 2008 include Old Westbury, Water Mill, Wainscott and Bridgehampton, all in the top 25, as well as Amagansett (32), Manhasset and Glen Head (71), Shelter Island Heights (84) and Cold Spring Harbor (91). Read on here.

It seems all the recent bad economic news has not dimmed the expectations of those in the Hamptons real estate game. A 4.08-acre property on Meadow Lane in Southampton is set to hit the market soon with a pricetag of $38 million, sources tell Newsday.

According to public records, the oceanfront mansion was owned by Virginia Salomon, who died last month. She was married to Citigroup’s honorary chairman William R. Salomon for more than 70 years. He was former managing partner at Salomon Brothers, Inc. before it became part of Citigroup. The couple has a department named after them at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan.

Records show the 6,000 square foot house, built in 1992, has six bedrooms and eight baths, with a gunite pool. Annual taxes are $43,595. The mortgage on the property was with Citibank, naturally. The property is just west of designer Calvin Klein's home.

Listing agents Jack Hangen and Robert Lohman of Century 21 Agawam Albertson Realty could not be reached for comment.

Oceanfront property on Meadow Lane commands hefty prices. In 2007 alone, 7.5 acres of vacant land sold for $35 million. That same summer, media executive Robert F.X. Sillerman reportedly paid $30.5 million -- $1 million more than the asking price -- for a Meadow Lane home next to the one he already owns. Radio personality Howard Stern and then-fiancee Beth Ostrosky reportedly paid $1 million to rent a Meadow Lane home for the year. This past summer, Harald Grant of Sotheby’s International Realty listed a Memorial Day-through-Labor Day rental there for $1 million.

Dougall Fraser, the Garden City real estate company seen above with the tidy Web site marketing houses in southwest Nassau County, has joined forces with Daniel Gale Southeby’s International Realty.

The partnership, announced Wednesday by Daniel Gale chief executive Patricia Petersen, took effect nearly a week ago.

In a prepared statement, Petersen called Garden City and its surrounds the “crown jewel in Long Island’s real estate market.” Dougall Fraser, of 102 Seventh St., markets single-family homes, condominiums and cooperatives in Garden City, Rockville Centre, Floral Park, Franklin Square, Mineola, Stewart Manor and West Hempstead.

Dougall Fraser himself is now senior vice president and sales manager in the Garden City office of Daniel Gale Sotheby’s International, Dougall Fraser.

Fraser brings to the partnership about 40 years of real estate experience in southwest Nassau and the North Fork, where his family has summered for about 50 years. Customers and clients, the Daniel Gale Sotheby’s release says, will continue to work with the same agents, but will benefit from Daniel Gale Sotheby's marketing programs, expertise, agent training programs, and global reach.

The company expects no job loss among about 20 Fraser Dougall employees or among about 650 staff members in the Daniel Gale Sotheby’s Long Island offices.

Acquiring in a down market is a tactic Daniel Gale has used in the past. In 1993, it purchased small local realties, establishing footholds in northwestern Nassau, including Greenvale, Sea Cliff, Glen Cove, Port Washington and Manhasset. It also acquired Deirdre O’Connell Real Estate in March 2007, adding offices in Manhasset and Cutchogue. O’Connell became a vice president.

In late September, Daniel Gale Sotheby’s acquired the Setauket office of real estate broker Anthony Vitale. He became a senior vice president of acquisitions and expansion and will manage the Setauket office.

A Daniel Gale Sotheby’s statement says Vitale has more than 20 years as a top producer in the real estate business, including ownership in Setauket Harbor Realty, and extensive sales management experience. Well known in the Setauket community, he is on the board of the Athletic Director Advisory Council at the Stony Brook University and serves on the board of directors of the Setauket Yacht Club. He settled in the Three Village area in 1984, and has two grown daughters who attended school in the Three Village School District and at the private Knox School in Nissequogue.

Discover how you can save money and energy during the winter by caulking windows, sealing gaps in wall and weatherizing doors at Home Depot's free Do-It-Herself clinic "Saving Money On Your Energy Bills" 7 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 23. Register early, space is limited, by clicking here or by calling your neighborhood store.

- M. BOZENA SYSKA

First, there's news that landlord Wilson Milord was indicted yesterday on three counts of criminally negligent homicide in connection with the death of three tenants from carbon monoxide poisoning at a West Babylon home he owned. Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota told Newsday that Milord "refused to provide electricity to tenants living in the house ... and instead placed a gasoline-powered generator inside the building."

Now comes news that a man posing as a real estate agent, police say, took $2,000 from a family to rent out a Roosevelt home he had no authority to rent. Baldwin resident Gregory Garvin was charged today with grand larceny and fraud in the real estate scam, according to Newsday.

Learn about real estate and purchase an affordable home at the "New York Foreclosure Showcase," Sunday at the Marriott Long Island Hotel & Conference Center in Uniondale, adjacent to the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Registration for auction begins at 9 a.m., exhibits are open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., break-out sessions will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and the live auction from 2 to 5 p.m. Tickets are $12 per person at the door, children under 12 enter free. For more information, call 516-368-8599.

- M. BOZENA SYSKA

Here's a tool that will either make your furniture-moving tasking quicker, and easier on your back, or just frustrate the heck out of you -- the "Home Quick Planner." It runs $23 to $25 and is available through Edmund Scientific (scientificsonline.com; 800 728.6999) and Fat Brain Toys (fatbraintoys.com; 800 590.5987). It takes probably a good hour to get used to, but then it is kind of fun. It would make a cool gift for someone who likes moving the furniture around all the time. The strange thing about it is that it is touted as both a useful tool for an adult and a fun toy for a child. And they're right. It does work for multiple age groups and multiple functions.

The graph paper is simple enough to use and there are 700 little pieces of stick-on paper furniture. The nice thing is that the squares are bigger than a lot of graph paper I've used, and the page folds out so it can go from 8.5-inch by 11-inch to 17-inch by 22-inch -- a lot easier on the eyes and the fingers. So, if you're preparing to move furniture for the holidays or want an unusual gift for the holidays, take a gander at the Quick Home Planner kit.

There also is available a 3D Home Planner Kit ($25-$30) that is a little more time consuming. It helps with design of the exterior of your home, including some landscaping.

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This house in Smithtown is for sale.

It's a curious question.

Despite the recent economic downturn, there's already a 2009 summer rental listed in the Hamptons for more than a million dollars.

Sources tell REAL LI a 12-bedroom mansion on 42 acres in Water Mill is being listed with The Corcoran Group for $500,000 for July 2009 and $600,000 for August 2009. The property, called Fordune, was once part of Henry Ford 2nd's estate.

Fordune once comprised over 200 acres and according to published reports was awarded to Ford's first wife, Anne McDonnell after the pair divorced. She reportedly sold the property in 1975 and it has since been subdivided.

Rick and Kathy Hilton, parents of Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton, own property in the area.

Listing agent Tim Davis could not be reached for comment.

Susan Lucci's favorite place in her Hamptons house is her sitting room, she tells In Touch magazine. The "Dancing With the Stars" contestant's oceanfront home is in Quogue. She also owns a home in Garden City.

AP photo

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This house in Floral Park is for sale.

Interesting plumbing.

LA has nothing on LI — at least according to big, bodacious actress Nikki Blonsky. The "Hairspray" movie star, who lives in Great Neck with her parents and brother in a single-family home with a two-car garage, loves the neighborhood, neighbors say. When her career first took off, she “was considering moving to Los Angeles,” says Cassandra Formas-Espadas, who used to live on the same street. But she said “she likes it here.” Here, is a quiet tree-lined street with homes that have roomy two or three bedrooms and are valued at about $650,000, like the Blonskys’ home.

Schools and stores are nearby and Blonsky told Newsday recently that she “loves shopping at Roosevelt Field mall,” which is about 20 minutes away.

Still, the Long Island lark might very well be leaving the neighborhood. Her family’s home was recently seen on the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island for $649,000.

Despite what the National Enquirer might say, Ali Lohan is staying put in North Merrick.

The Enquirer recently claimed that Ali’s big sister, Lindsay Lohan, has been lobbying for the 14-year-old to move in with her and girlfriend Samantha Ronson. Lindsay Lohan is said to have her eye on an apartment in The Dakota building on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, where Beatle John Lennon lived with wife, Yoko Ono.

Ali’s reps now tell In Touch magazine that the aspiring singer is definitely not moving anywhere. “Ali is in school in Long Island,” and that’s the way it’s going to stay for now, apparently.

For more on the Lohan home, click here.

Newsday photo / Michael E. Ach

Jennifer Lopez didn't like the interview she gave to a fashion magazine, so Tina Brown decided to run it on her Daily Beast site. In it, Lopez says she once had a nervous breakdown, might send Max and Emme to Scientology school and doesn't want to get into her reasons for not breastfeeding.

But the really juicy stuff is about her Brookville estate and what goes inside there.

" 'Don't blow the horn,' I tell my driver as we approach the gates. 'I'm sure we're being watched. A guard will appear,' " writes Kevin Sessums. "Sure enough, the ornate iron gates swing open and a large Latin guard speeds toward us on a Segway Human Transporter, his ear glued to a walkie-talkie."

Sessums continues, "I'm here to see Miss Lopez," I inform him as glares at me through the window. We are led through a canopy of beech trees and oaks on the immaculately manicured grounds of the Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez estate on the North Shore of Long Island­."

The driver parks "behind a $300,000 Audie Spyker sports car" from which Anthony "emerges from the driver's side and stares back at me. In a T-shirt and a pair of clam diggers that reveal a tattoo on his right calf, he strides into the house through a side door without a word."

Sessums meets Lopez "in a dimly lit pine study filled with gold records and Grammy awards." She feels sick, her "unwashed hair is pulled severely back and there's a halo of frizz around the crown of her head. She wears no make-up, her eyes are glassy, and her feverish cheeks are aglow."

At one point, Max begins to cry. Lopez runs up and grabs both twins and sits with them through the interview.

"Emme's ears are already pierced with tiny gold hoops in them. Max is wearing a black onesie with an array of sequins on its back."

Read the full interview here, and what New Yorker magazine had to say about it here.

And click here to read more about the house -- and see photos.

AP photo

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This house in Calverton is for sale.

Will Hilary Duff be spending more time on Long Island?

Possibly, if rumors are correct that Duff’s longtime boyfriend, New York Islanders center Mike Comrie has purchased a condo in Garden City.

The gossip blog I’m Not Obsessed reports that the hockey player has purchased a new pad “steps away” from Walk Street Café, the Seventh Street restaurant where the pair have recently been seen dining.

Duff and Comrie’s yearlong romance has made headlines recently. In August, engagement rumors swirled when Duff was seen sporting a ring on THAT finger. Sources quickly denied that the pair are planning marriage.

Learn how to create an individual square-foot stained-glass panel at the Southampton Historical Museums and Research Center's adult workshop "Introduction to Stained Glass," taught by stained-glass artist Hallie Monroe, from 6 to 8 p.m. tomorrow and every Tuesday through Dec. 2 at the Rogers Mansion, 17 Meeting House Lane in Southampton. Fee: $325 for the series, plus $50 materials fee. For more information, call 631-283-2494 or click here.

-- M. BOZENA SYSKA

Home buyers and sellers can learn to ready their home for sale in a buyer's market at the "How To Be A Seller In A Buyer's Market" seminar taught by Lita Smith-Mines, real estate attorney, lecturer and author, through the Smithtown Adult Continuing Education Program from 7 to 9 p.m. todat at Smithtown High School East, 10 School St. in St. James. Cost is $15. To register, call 631-382-2090 or click here.

- M. BOZENA SYSKA

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This house in Babylon is for sale.

No, someone did not slip something in your drink.

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This house in Mastic Beach is for sale.

Don't trip!

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This house in Wyandanch is for sale.

What color is this house exactly?

In Touch magazine recently named Jerry Seinfeld as the celebrity who owns the "priciest collectibles." "The comedian once spent $1.4 million just to build a garage to house his enormous car collection, which includes 46 Porsches," the magazine wrote. "His prized possession is a $700,000 Porsche 959, one of only 337 built." Seinfeld houses his autos in Santa Monica, Calif., the Upper West Side and in East Hampton, where he has a 22-space garage at his home.

Getty Images photo

Where are Long Island's hottest downtowns? Huntington, Great Neck, Long Beach, East Hampton, Rockville Centre and Babylon, according to a report in today's Newsday. Read why real estate agents say each of these communities is worth buying into by clicking here.

Newsday photo / Bil Davis

Queens is the epicenter of the foreclosure temblor rattling New York City.

According to a current report on PropertyShark.com, the 254 imploding mortgages in Queens pushed the overall city total in August to 383, the highest since the online real estate site started keeping records in 2005.

More disturbing is the added report that 73 percent of Queen’s foreclosure auctions between July 2007 and this past July were unsuccessful, and the properties went back to the lender.

Out of the 73 percent, about three-quarters are still in the lender’s possession, the report says.

To put the numbers in perspective, the report specifies that its definition of foreclosure is “a property scheduled for auction for the first time during the period.”

That means just the new foreclosures, forgetaboud the houses that have been in foreclosure longer, these numbers are just the most recent layer.

Compared to Queens the other four boroughs are in pretty good shape. For now.

The state is giving almost $1.6 million in grants to Long Island area nonprofits for homeownership education and foreclosure prevention services.

The Nassau Suffolk Law Services Committee got $705,000 to expand financial counseling and education and will partner with other nonprofits, including the Long Island Housing Partnership, Community Development Corp. of Long Island, Nassau County Housing and Homeless Services, and Long Island Housing Services.

With its own grant of $516,000, the Community Development Corp. of Long Island will work with the Central Islip Civic Council and Nassau Suffolk Law Services Committee to expand foreclosure prevention programs.

Covering both Long Island and New York City, the New York ACORN Housing Company will receive $365,000 to boost its foreclosure prevention services.

This money is the latest in millions of dollars the state has given to nonprofits to combat the subprime crisis, which has been leaving many homeowners unable to pay for homes they could not afford in the first place, either because they did not do their mortgage homework or were victims of fraud. The state, which has allocated $9 million to nonprofits this summer, had set up $25 million Subprime Foreclosure Prevention Program.

Some of the money comes from settlements with the state Banking Department over enforcement of laws, and other dollars come from the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal.

Find out who has grown the largest Long Island pumpkin at Hicks Nurseries' sixth annual Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off at noon Sunday at Hicks Nurseries, 100 Jericho Tpke. in Westbury. For more information, call 516-334-0066 or click here.

- M. BOZENA SYSKA

Fall in love with orchids and learn how to take care of them at Hicks Nurseries' free seminar "Orchids for Beginners" from 2 to 3 p.m. tomorrow at Henry Hicks