Whatever you think of him, James Bond persists as a force in our culture. In honor of this iconic fictional character, Christie’s presents 50 Years of James Bond—The Auction.

Since our focus here on Longitude is watches, I’m pleased to announce that two models, actually worn by actor Daniel Craig as Agent 007 in the movies, will be included among the lots offered. And one of those definitively answers the question, “What will James Bond wear in Skyfall?”

Lot 45 (Traditional Sale): Daniel Craig wore this exact Omega Seamaster Professional Planet Ocean wristwatch in Skyfall, a unique piece made in 42mm titanium for Craig’s action scenes. It features a circular black dial with Arabic quarters, luminous tapered baton, dot hour markers and luminous hands, with a date indication. The co-axial escapement is on view through the glazed caseback.

Craig’s Bond seem to be establishing a preference for watches with this profile. Last time out, in Quantum of Solace, he wore the Omega reference 2201.50 Seamaster Planet Ocean in stainless steel.

Lot 37 (Online Sale): Daniel Craig wore this Omega Seamaster Professional Planet Ocean in the movie Quantum of Solace. In a 42mm stainless steel case with bracelet, it features a black dial with Arabic quarters, luminous baton hour markers and luminous hands. It also has a date indication, helium escape valve and engraved case back. Inside ticks the George Daniels’ invention, the co-axial escapement.

“Christie’s Presents 50 Years of James Bond – The Auction,” will be conducted in 2 phases, totaling 50 lots. Both will feature memorabilia from EON Productions, the Bond movies’ producer. Thus, authenticity is, as 007 might say, “bullet-proof.” Provenance adds to inherent commercial value – based on both overall popularity of the James Bond character and Daniel Craig’s portrayal of the world’s most famous gentleman agent.

The first 40 lots will be offered by online-only auction, without reserve. You read that right: No reserve!

An additional 10 lots will by invitation-only in a traditional auction at Christie’s South Kensington, celebrating Global James Bond Day. These are numbered lots 41-50.

Since his debut in Ian Fleming’s book Casino Royale in 1953, the not-so-secret, secret agent James Bond has had an impact on everything from cars, clothing and bon mots, to watches.

So it’s likely no surprise that the star of this auction is a 2008 Aston Martin 6 Litre 12 DBDS 2-Door Coupe driven by Daniel Craig in Quantum of Solace.

Other items included are a first edition book of Fleming’s Dr. No, a belt with gold buckle worn by Christopher Lee as Scaramanga in The Man with the Golden Gun and a La Perla bathing suit worn by Daniel Craig in Casino Royale. Yep, the auction includes swimwear.

All proceeds from the auctions will benefit 12 charities including UNICEF (Roger Moore is an ambassador), Art Fund, ORBIS (Omega and Daniel Craig are ambassadors), and ChildLine. If you’re near Christie’s South Kensington from September 29^th-October 4^th, all the lots will be on view. Admittance is free.

Online auction: Friday, September 28th—Monday, October 8th. Traditional Auction: Friday, October 5th at 8:30pm.

Now discover 11 facts about the world's changing appetite for luxury watches >

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Meet the Wiggle Side Chair created by Frank Gehry in 1972. Frank Gehry is well known for his use of unusual materials. With his “Easy Edges” furniture series for Vitra, he succeeded in giving a new aesthetic dimension to cardboard, an unassuming everyday material. Although they look surprisingly simple, the “Easy Edges” pieces have been constructed with an architect’s skill and are exceedingly robust and stable. Materials: corrugated cardboard, edges made of hardboard, natural or lacquered. Costs $985.00 – official site.

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As the average price of a gallon of regular gas varies between $3.50 and $4 nationwide, fuel efficiency remains prized among the new cars most people buy.

But some drivers are too rich to care about gas costs, or need or choose to drive cars or trucks that are big and heavy.

As a result, the least fuel-efficient cars fall into two categories—ultra high-end luxury cars and large vans and SUVs.

Read The Rest At 24/7 Wall St. >

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Today’s Pursuitist Daily Dream Home isn’t a home, it’s an island. Sir Richard Branson’s Australian island, to be exact. Branson purchased Makepease Island, on Noosa River, Australia, in 2003. During that time, he built the Buddha worthy compound. Surrounded in an elegant and relaxing Bali-style environment, Makepease Island is a true dream destination. Even better, anyone can rent Branson’s heart heartshaped luxury island. Prices range from only $7,900 a night for one to eight guests and up to $14,990 a night for 20 to 22 guests.

Designed to reflect Balinese style, the property boasts of a main house with a giant bar, a four bedroom guest house, a few villas, a boat house and a 15-person spa. Learn more at makepeaceisland.com

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Late summer and early autumn, when most wine producers begin harvesting the season’s vintage, are some of the most exciting weeks of the year for oenophiles.

It is a crucial time—grape ripeness and quality are determined and wineries are at their busiest.

See the world's best wine resorts >

For vino enthusiasts eager to witness the action, vineyard estates offer luxury accommodations that allow guests to soak up the sights and smells of a vineyard running at full speed. (And, blissfully, a glass of wine is never far away.)

The styles are varied. L’And Vineyards, located in Portugal’s Alentejo region, opened last spring right around the time its very first vintage (a 2009 Reserve) hit the market. Situated just 15 minutes from the ancient Roman city of Évora (and less than an hour from Lisbon), the vineyard’s stylish digs and simple, warmly appointed suites capitalize on the area’s serenity.

Retractable over-the-bed roofs offer stunning nighttime views of star-lit skies, and outdoor fireplace-equipped patios look out over greenery and patches of farmland. “Wine is our anchor, but it works best when paired with everything else on the property,” says Duarte Cunha, L’And’s general manager.

In Temecula, California, longtime small producer Ponte Winery takes a similar approach. It utilizes the vineyard´s natural surroundings to create a scenic, wine-driven space for guests to take advantage of wine tastings and see firsthand how the winemaking process works. The folks behind Ponte realized that their most ardent clients—the same people who pushed for the opening of the hotel—would appreciate a place to unwind from their busy city lives and indulge in their passion for wine right at the source.

For the uninitiated, staying at a wine-focused resort can be the perfect opportunity to learn more. The months-old Loisium Wine & Spa Resort in Suedsteiermark, Austria, offers traveling revelers a glimpse into a burgeoning vino destination that is just beginning to gain international repute.

The property doesn’t make its own wine, but its proximity to some of the country’s most exciting, undiscovered producers makes it an invaluable resource for those seeking future industry stars.

Cheers to that.

More From Departures:

World's Most Bikeable Wine Regions

The Top Villas In Tuscany

Secret European Summer Getaways

Great Golf Courses In California Wine Country

Argos in Cappadocia, Uçhisar, Turkey

With its dramatic, cave-like architecture and hillside location, Argos in Cappadocia is the perfect perch from which to discover the country’s central region, which teems with tales of centuries-old civilizations (the hotel itself is built into an ancient monastery).

Guests here can also learn about Turkey’s lesser-known winemaking efforts. In its nearby vineyard, Argos harvests Syrah and Kalecik Karasi (a local Pinot Noir–like varietal) grapes, and small Muscat grape patches on terraces around the property are visible from public spaces like the lounge balcony. Rooms, from $200; Uçhisar; 90-384/219-3130; argosincappadocia.com.

L’And Vineyards, Évora, Portugal

At L’And Vineyards, it is nearly impossible to have anything but an all-wine-all-the-time experience. The vineyard is home to one of Portugal’s two Caudalie Vinothérapie spas, navigating the property requires walking past planted grapevines (even the infinity pool is surrounded by them), wine classes are held in the cellar and guests can choose their own grapes to eat or use for spa treatments.

The staff is also happy to arrange other non-wine activities, such as a trip to Alqueva Lake—the largest in Europe—or a guided tour of historic Évora, so the only time contact is made with the nectar of the gods is when drinking it. Rooms, from $245; Estrada Nacional 4, Herdade das Valadas; 351-266/242-400; l-andvineyards.com.

Babylonstoren, Stellenbosch, South Africa

If you are craving New World wines from the southern hemisphere, remember that the growing season is the opposite of up north: You will need to wait until March to experience a harvest in wine capitals like Argentina or Australia. The same goes for Babylonstoren in South Africa’s Drakenstein Valley.

The well-preserved 320-year-old werf, or farmyard, is ideal for all-encompassing rural adventures, including walks amid chickens, scenic hikes or canoe trips across the farm’s dam. The year-old property harvested its first grapes last year and is now in the process of bottling its first wines, so guests here are able to taste what is not yet available anywhere else, like winemaker Charl Coetzee’s Chenin Blanc, Viognier and Chardonnay. Rooms, from $350; Drakenstein Valley; 27-21/863-3852; babylonstoren.com.

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Here’s the first look at the newly built Redwoods Treehouse Restaurant on a site 45 minutes north of Auckland, New Zealand. The Redwoods Treehouse Restaurant was designed by architects Peter Eising and Lucy Gauntlett from Pacific Environments Architects. Fine dining, corporate entertaining or simply a private party, this is one of the most striking, memorable and exclusive venues in all of New Zealand.

The Redwoods Treehouse was commissioned as part of a marketing campaign by Yellow in 2008. The result is a striking pod-shaped structure built ten metres high in a Redwood tree near Warkworth. Access to the Treehouse is provided by an elevated tree – top walkway which was built using Redwood milled on site. Redwoods Treehouse is a versatile space as a corporate venue for private functions and events. The pod itself holds 30 guests either at seated tables or casual stand up. Experience Group Travel has a dedicated 32 seat coach available to facilitate transfers to and from the venue.

From canapés to petit fours, the catering at the Redwood’s Treehouse is provided exclusively by Gatting’s. The team at Gatting’s has a passion for food and a total commitment to excellence. They have a very loyal, dynamic and longstanding team with a wide breadth of experience, qualifications and skills who are dedicated to the Gatting’s ethos of providing great food and fantastic service. The Redwood’s Treehouse menus are fresh and seasonal, and allow the ability for clients to tailor the offering to suit any style of event.

Photos by Lucy Gauntlett.

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The 76-story skyscraper is rising a few blocks from Ground Zero, and near important historic structures such as City Hall (1811), the Brooklyn Bridge (1883), and the Woolworth Building (1913). While speaking at the construction site in late May, Gehry told reporters architectural pluralism is “chaotic, but should be treated as a virtue instead of a negative.” In that spirit, he has designed an exuberant skyscraper that will add flair to the respected downtown landscape. – read more via

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“If you ask freshmen why they chose their colleges, they usually say one of two things,” says Baltimore architect Adam Gross, who’s worked on projects at the University of Virginia and Swarthmore. “Either they got a good financial aid package or they thought the campus was beautiful.”

Check out the college campuses >

America’s most beautiful college campuses have the power not only to sway indecisive high school students, of course, but also to attract tourists. Their appeal comes through varying combinations of awe-inspiring architecture, landscaping, and surroundings. To choose among more than 2,600 four-year American colleges, we considered these three key factors as well as architects’ expert opinions.

“The most important thing to realize is that how landscaping and buildings interconnect is as important as the buildings themselves,” explains Boston-based architect Mark deShong. At Princeton University, for example, “It’s really about landscape,” he says. The campus connects its ivy-covered gray stone buildings with footpaths, idyllic small greens, and courtyards that create an intimate village-like scale.

Architectural coherence also plays a role in making a campus beautiful. Take the University of San Diego, which sticks to one architectural style: the Spanish Renaissance, with its elaborate façades, delicate ironwork, and carved wood. Ocean views and palm-tree-lined courtyards are extra selling points.

Yale can’t compete when it comes to location, but it has embraced one architectural movement after another. As Robert A. M. Stern, dean of Yale’s School of Architecture, puts it: “Our campus is a living history of the architecture and urbanism of its three centuries in New Haven.” Whatever your taste, you’ll find a structure to your liking on a campus stroll, perhaps dorms designed by 1960s starchitect Eero Saarinen or James Gamble Rogers’s imposing Gothic bell tower.

But no assessment of America’s campuses would be complete without the University of Virginia. “You might think it looks like all these other campuses, but it’s the first to look like that,” says deShong. He cites founder and architect Thomas Jefferson’s then-novel concept of flanking a lawn with pavilions linked by colonnades and a grand library at its head. New York-based architect Alexander Cooper concurs: “UVA remains the masterpiece of American campus planning.”

So plan your own trip to check out these campus masterpieces. Think we missed a beautiful campus? Tell us why it should make the grade by posting a comment below. —Ratha Tep

More from Travel + Leisure:

America's Top College Hotels

World's Most Beautiful Buildings

America's Coolest College Towns

Scenic Views From Airplane Windows

Bard College: Annandale-on-Hudson, NY

Stanford University: Palo Alto, CA

The entryway to Stanford’s 8,180-acre campus is arguably the grandest of any college campus: a mile-long, tree-lined Palm Drive, which leads up to the expansive green Oval, red-clay-roof-tiled Main Quad, and the campus’s crown architectural jewel, Memorial Church, with its striking mosaic façade.

Photo-op: The view of campus—and all the way to San Francisco on a clear day—from the Hoover Tower observation platform.

To-Do List: The Cantor Arts Center’s collection of 170 bronzes by Auguste Rodin, among the largest outside Paris, includes the Gates of Hell and Burghers of Calais. —Ratha Tep

University of Notre Dame: South Bend, IN

It’s hard to miss the glistening golden dome of the university’s Main Building, not to mention the neo-Gothic Basilica of the Sacred Heart that defines this 150-year-old Catholic school. Besides gorgeous architecture, the campus is chock-full of lush quads, where students congregate to kick back when they’re not in class—or at the football stadium. —Joshua Pramis

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No matter the destination, and no matter the reason for being there, the allure of a hotel suite knows no bounds.

A suite is a hotel’s first-class seat, often the most desired room and the epitome of hospitality done right.

Be it palatial or cozy, high-design or low-key, it offers a place to eat, sleep, dress, entertain, observe or just plain lounge. The overall effect can be irresistible.

Click here to see the hotel suites >

Many hotels have taken their suite offerings to (literally) new heights. London’s Corinthia Hotel, for instance, houses the 5,000-square-foot Royal Penthouse, which contains its own spa-treatment pod and a striking spiral staircase (among other luxe touches) and is the largest two-bedroom hotel residence in that city. The chic Arts Suite at the design-driven Hotel Arts Barcelona offers guests special extras, such as helicopter transport to lunch at one of Spain’s Michelin-starred restaurants, or electric Smart cars to drive around town.

While size is often a major selling point, it isn’t the only measure of success. Taking cues from the outside environment can turn an already spectacular setting into something extraordinary. The Girijaala Suite at Amangiri in Canyon Point, Utah, takes full advantage of its superb desert locale, incorporating natural elements into its design and maximizing views of the Entrada Sandstone mesas. And in Marrakech, the Atlas Deluxe Suite at Selman is perched on 15 acres of parkland and offers unprecedented views of the Atlas Mountains, as well as the hotel’s 16 Arabian horses.

Award-winning actress Vivien Leigh once said, “I need something truly beautiful to look at in hotel rooms.” These suites have beautiful views of all kinds covered, but they also create an experience that conforms to every need, making for a truly unforgettable stay.

More articles from Departures:

• 10 Stunning Hotel Penthouses
• Top Fashion Designer Hotels and Suites
• The Perfect New York Hotel Rooms
• Stunning Hotel Dining Room Views
• Spectacular Hotel Rooftop Pools

This story was originally published by Departures.

The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong: The Ritz Carlton Suite

This 4,460-square-foot escape has all the necessities: butler service, access to the hotel’s Club Lounge, a dreamy bathroom with Acqua di Parma bath amenities, a sizable dining and living area, monogrammed robes, pillowcases, and towels. But its location on the 117th floor of the Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong—which makes it the hotel’s loftiest room—really seals the deal. Spectacular views of Victoria Harbour and the island of Hong Kong itself are thrilling. They are in fact so breathtaking, you might not even notice other in-room highlights, such as the sauna and the shower, which is big enough for eight people.

From $15,472

International Commerce Centre, 1 Austin Rd. W., Kowloon

852-2263-2263

ritzcarlton.com

Amangiri, Canyon Point, Utah: Girijaala Suite

Natural wonders highlight this suite in the desert. Amangiri, which opened in 2009, positions it to take full advantage of the gorgeous landscape, the nearby Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and the Entrada Sandstone mesas. (“Girijaala” means “mountain ridge”; the resort is located on 600 acres in a valley.) Guests enter the suite via a private courtyard that continues up to a sky lounge with an outdoor bed. There is a 46-by-12-foot pool and terrace. Stone floors and concrete walls add to the natural feel, and a bench carved out of one of the outer concrete walls emphasizes the oneness with the surrounding land. Whether marveling at the constellation-filled night sky, watching the sunset amid the mountains or contemplating a visit to the spa (just steps away), it is difficult to make a bad choice here.

From $3,300

1 Kayenta Rd.

435-675-3999

amanresorts.com

Hotel Arts Barcelona: Arts Suite

This 1,600-square-foot, one-bedroom suite at this design-forward hotel in Barcelona offers special touches and singular experiences in equal measure. Minimalist and furnished with pieces by the likes of designer Antonio Citterio and B&B Italia, the suite features wide views of the Mediterranean Sea and famed La Sagrada Família church. For a real treat, the hotel’s helicopter will transport guests to one of three Michelin-starred restaurants, including El Celler de Can Roca in Girona (a 45-minute flight away). Electric Smart cars are also available, and a fragrance concierge can help formulate a custom scent to mark the visit.

From $8,775; helicopter lunch, additional $5,014 a couple

Marina 19–21

34-93/221-1000

hotelartsbarcelona.com

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Let’s face it. It’s mostly wine people who stress out over wine ratings. Wine geeks can spend hours discussing why Chateau Whatchamacallit didn’t get the same score as Domaine Whosis.

All the while being perfectly serious about the whole thing. Everyone else would be satisfied with an easy way to figure out what wine might be good with dinner Saturday night.

Actually, current wine rating systems are more confusing for the casual wine drinker. The problem is they don’t know it. Most geeks know the system is messed up.

When I was learning about wine some years ago, a 20 point wine scoring system was prevalent. The University of California at Davis (big wine curriculum there) still uses its own 20 point scale. What we mostly see now in various wine publications is the 100 point scale. The 100 point scale was pioneered by famous (infamous?) wine reviewer and critic Robert Parker. Back in the day, a publication called Connoisseur’s Guide To California Wine began using a “puff” system. Wines were scored with 1, 2, or 3 “puffs”. A puff looked like a drawing of a circular cloud. Not sure what that has to do with wine, but it worked pretty well.

So now that the 100 point wine rating scale is more common, what’s the problem? The problem is that there are different 100 point scales used by different people and publications. And they don’t seem to really be 100 point scales. One system rates wines from 80 to 100. Hold on. Isn’t that a 20 point scale? Another rates wines from 70 to 100. When I went to school that was a 30 point scale. I have attended tastings that used a score sheet that had 5 categories. Each category scored a different aspect of the wine (taste, aroma, etc.). A perfect score in all categories added up to 50. Then an additional 50 was arbitrarily added to make it a 100 point scale. See what I mean about wine ratings being messed up?

Someone decided—maybe Parker—that we would all understand everything better as a percentage. Maybe. But the effect has been to squeeze everything into about a 30 point range. Nowadays, people will turn up their noses at a 79 point wine, but on a true 100 point scale, that would be a decent wine. Really a pretty good wine; not great, but certainly drinkable. I know people who won’t look at anything under 85. That should be a damn fine wine, but for many people it is little better than average.

Of course the other issue is different people have different palates, and your ability to taste can vary from day to day. I have read accounts of professional reviewers rating the same wine 3-4 points differently in two separate tastings. There really is no way to standardize wine tasting because it is subjective. It is one person’s opinion. Nothing more. Some wine writers have mentioned the possibility of the 100 point scale going the way of the dinosaur. Don’t hold your breath, in my opinion. I would like to see a standard wine rating scale used by tasting professionals. I’m not holding my breath for that either.

What to do? Develop a relationship with a wine retailer. Find one who will take the time to find out what you are looking for. Most wine drinkers aren’t going to spend the time or money to do the research to figure out which publication and wine rating system they most agree with. Rely on a good retailer. The only wine ratings that really matter are your own. And try some of those 85 point wines. They can be pretty good.

Now discover the trick to pairing the perfect wine with your food >

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BMW is headed to the Paris Motor Show to unveil the latest version of the Mini John Cooper Works, a GP model boasting 218 hp. The special edition will be limited to 2,000 models.

The new Mini packs in all the features of a high-end sports car, including a 218hp engine, individually adjustable coilover suspension, a braking system designed for speedsters and 17 inch wheels made of a light alloy. The diminutive vehicle can turn into a rocket on the track, with a 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) acceleration time of just 6.3 seconds and a top speed of 242 km/h (150 mph).

Its 4 cylinder 1.6l engine is coupled with a 6-gear manual transmission, and the average EU test cycle consumption of the MINI John Cooper Works GP was brought down to 7.1 liters/100 km (39.8 mpg imp), corresponding to CO2 emissions of 165 grams per kilometer.

The sports car’s standard specifications include xenon headlights in black shells, foglamps, sun protection glazing, air conditioning, and DSC with special GP mode, according to the press release. The body is painted in the “Thunder Grey metallic” color, with John Cooper Works insignia appearing on the lower air intake and the tailgate.

In the wake of the Paris Motor Show (Mondial de l’Automobile de Paris) from September 29 to October 14, BMW will launch the production of the Mini John Cooper Works GP, which will be limited to 2,000 units.
The original Mini John Cooper Works is available since the summer in the Countryman, Clubman, Cabrio, Coupé and Roadster versions.

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Apple’s Senior Vice President of Design, Sir Jonathan Ive, has just purchased a 7,274-square-foot dream home on San Francisco’s “Gold Coast”. He paid $17 million for the home on 2808 Broadway Street that is said to be located on “one of the city’s most exclusive blocks.”

The house, which was built in 1927 and has six bedrooms and eight bathrooms, went on the market back in February for $25 million, people familiar with the deal told the Wall Street Journal. Apple’s vice president of industrial design will be able to enjoy sweeping views across the San Francisco Bay from the back of his 7,274-square-foot property.

Located close to Alta Plaza Park, the house also has an oak-paneled library and six wood-burning fireplaces. According to the WSJ, one of its upstairs bedrooms has “cathedral ceilings with exposed beams.”

See pictures here of Jony Ive’s $17M house on San Francisco’s ‘Gold Coast.’

Listing details from the realtor:

This stunning home in the sought-after Gold Coast neighborhood of Pacific Heights was designed by the renowned architectural firm, Willis Polk & Co., noted for the design of the Palace of Fine Arts as well as many historically significant properties in The City. Exuding elegance and warmth on one of the most desirable streets in The City, the residence catches the eye with its timeless brick façade, signature slate roof, and deep portico entry. Completed in 1927, the home has been well maintained throughout its history. The five-level floor plan is comprised of a series of formal rooms on the main level, a lower level with an expansive gourmet kitchen, a bottom-level apartment, plus two levels of bedrooms above. Adding to the appeal is a fabulous garden courtyard plus a top-level deck with spa.

A Walk Through the Home
Inside, the foyer introduces the home’s original and period-authentic architectural details found throughout, including gleaming peg-in-board hardwood flooring, high ceilings with plaster moldings, windows with stone surround, antique door fixtures, deep baseboards and custom wall sconce lights. Operable steel frame windows and a transom look out to the garden courtyard, where moss-covered bricks are shaded by four mature ferns. An oak paneled elevator and a two-part powder room adjoins the area.

Double oak doors in the entry lead into the main-level library, which boasts beautiful oak wall paneling, a focal-point wood-burning fireplace with stone mantelpiece and a polished copper chandelier. Five tall front-facing windows with custom blinds offer natural illumination, and abundant built-in library shelves.

The main gallery hallway is lined with steel-frame French doors to the courtyard and illuminated by light fixtures. A grand-scale dining room at the end of the hallway has spacious dimensions that are expanded by large wall mirrors and features four wall sconces with crystal drops, windows with arched transoms and Bay views.

A door adjoins the dining room to the catering kitchen and a back staircase descends to the main kitchen for convenience.

The living room continues the hardwood floors and is anchored by a geometric pattern embossed into the tall ceiling. There are sweeping views of the San Francisco Bay that stretch from the Golden Gate Bridge, across Alcatraz Island and to Russian Hill. A sitting alcove with bay window to the courtyard adds to the ambiance, and the space is anchored by a wood-burning fireplace with travertine surround.

One level down is the main kitchen with granite slab countertops, a tall box-beam ceiling, and a large center island with butcher-block prep space and secondary sink. A full wall of divided light windows frame beautiful Bay vistas and a large casual dining area invites everyday meals.

Beyond the kitchen is a fitness room, which could be used as a separate bedroom suite if needed. The main living space includes windows with views, a kitchenette with sink and cooktop, plus a bathroom. This level also includes a second tiled bathroom.

The lower-most level of the home is comprised of a view 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom staff apartment with large kitchen and additional storage rooms.
The second level begins with the master bedroom suite, which is located at the front of the home for maximum sunlight. The master suite features a wood-burning fireplace with marble surround, front-facing windows with custom blinds with a walk-in closet and ample wardrobe storage space.

A study on this level has built-in library shelving, a wood-burning fireplace, bay windows that overlook the courtyard and a unique concealed oak paneled wet bar with pewter sink. One bedroom suite adjoins the study and features a walk-in closet with connecting bath and has Bay views.

One additional bedroom suite on this level features a wood-burning fireplace and a bay window sitting alcove with views of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The upper-most level of the home includes a light-filled bedroom suite with a charming wood-burning corner fireplace, a wood-paneled cathedral ceiling with exposed beams, and windows with neighborhood views as well as an en suite bathroom.

Highlighting the top level is a pent room with stunning Bay views, a concealed wet bar with sink, a full bath and French doors to a sundeck with spa.

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Can London handle another 300-cover steak restaurant? The Danish restaurant group Copenhagen Concepts - which will open a branch of its steakhouse MASH in Soho this November - clearly thinks so. The company is convinced that the capital's current bloodlust, its almost insatiable desire for steak, is no flash in the grill pan.

Tim Hayward seems to agree. Writing in Olive Magazine recently, he identified the Steakationers (a group of moneyed, macho suits who, when they aren't studying Meat, frequent Square Mile steak restaurants), as one of Britain's most significant new "food tribes". Not that it's solely City slickers who fill the tables at Hawskmoor and Goodman.

Nor is the phenomenon confined to London. In Belfast, you can eat steaks from the obligatory charcoal-fired Josper at James Street South Bar & Grill. In Manchester, you could visit Malmaison's Smoak. Variations on the theme are also emerging, such as Cattle Grid (budget), Bull Steak Expert (Argentinian) and Cau (budget and Argentinian). MASH, patronisingly, claims that one of its USPs is its female-friendly decor.

This rebirth of steak as a popular gourmet product is one of the most remarkable episodes in recent restaurant history. Five years ago, foodists did not get excited about steak: the only people who ordered it were people who didn't really like food. It was a boring menu staple for risk-averse diners. It was what your dad liked, well-done, and preferably topped with a little rosette of garlic butter, as he had first eaten it at a Berni Inn decades ago.

Beef has also taken a pounding in the media. Beef, particularly that from intensively-reared, grain-fed animals is now considered to be one of the least sustainable foods that you can eat. It doesn't come cheap, either. At Hawksmoor, where they use grass-fed British beef, a 10½ oz (300g) steak with chips and a side starts at £23. Head over to Mayfair, to Cut and a 10oz, 35 day aged New York sirloin will set you back £38 (pdf), before fries or onion rings (crazily, £7 each).

Yet, even in the midst of this grisly recession, steak is back, back, back. Why? The quality has improved enormously: steak got a reputation for being bland and conservative at a time when, generally, we were being served rubbish steak. In these pages just eight years ago Jay Rayner described a good steak as an, "appallingly rare joy", and sure, you can still eat bad steak. But, more tellingly, I have recently eaten sensational steak in the midst of otherwise mediocre meals.

Even at home, armed with a solid-fuel grill or a blisteringly hot ridged grill pan any reasonably competent cook can produce great steaks. As Hawksmoor's Huw Gott told us last year, buy properly aged, British, rare-breed beef, and most of the work has already been done for you.

These days, from the silky, sinewy, highly-flavoursome flat steaks (a flash-fried hanger or a piece of frilly, soy-marinated skirt), to a bone-in sirloin, edged with perfectly seared fat, steak offers all sorts of variety in different cuts, breeds, even mouthful by mouthful from one end of a steak to the other. Be it sweet, grassy, richly buttery, invigoratingly bloody, highly mineral, livery and gamy, tinged with a ripe and cheesy or long-hung farmyardy tang, steaks offer a full spectrum of interesting flavours. All of that wrapped up in one of life's primary savoury pleasure: a densely-charred exterior.

Plus, this might be our last chance. Fast forward 30 years and - even if we haven't all embraced vegetarianism - beef will probably be prohibitively expensive. The only people still eating it will be Cut's super-wealthy regulars.

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Marc Jacobs is not your average fashion designer. Other designers want to sell you a dress; Jacobs wants to mess with your head.

The Marc Jacobs catwalk show is the gravitational centre of New York fashion week. This collection is the one which, more than any other, points to the direction ahead. Over six months, a team of hundreds and a budget of millions go into producing a collection of, in this instance, 45 outfits.

The show began on the stroke of 8pm. Although the industry has mostly adjusted to Jacobs' latter-day obsession with punctuality, this still forced more than a few Hollywood names to break into a run to claim their front row seats. By 8.05pm, the show was over, such was the breakneck speed at which 45 models stomped down the runway, and Jacobs had taken his bow.

Anna Wintour, a keen tennis fan, was out of the building by 8.06pm, no doubt to get back to the final of the US Open, then in its final set. The rest of the audience were left on their padded benches, gawping at the now empty catwalk and trying to make sense of what they had just seen.

Putting the catwalk on fast-forward is a psychological trick invented by Christian Dior 65 years ago. One of Dior's many innovations was to have catwalk models change walking style, swapping the traditional stately parade for a brisker stride. The effect was to make an audience who were used to taking notes at a languid pace sit up and concentrate: there is nothing like making people feel they might miss something, for getting their attention.

If Dior changed the walking pace from stately to brisk in the 40s, Jacobs is now experimenting with putting it on fast-forward. And it is an experiment of which we may not yet have seen the conclusion. Backstage after the show he commented cheerfully that "every season, I try and beat my speed record. My ideal is to have the show over before you've even sat down."

Jacobs' approach is both twisted, and perfectly logical. The scale of the fashion industry is such that any catwalk show for a major brand is a taster of what the collection as sold on the shopfloor will be, rather than an exhaustive menu. What matters is to convey a message, an image strong enough to sear into the retinas of the industry and ensure that brand has a voice in the fashion conversation for the season. And this show, for all the tripped-out energy, did just that.

"It's brutal. Just sex appeal and strength, with no romance and no emotion," was how Marc Jacobs described the collection. Thick deckchair stripes and all-over giraffe prints were stamped on to boxy dresses, coats and a new concept in skirt suits, aimed squarely at the brave: a cropped sweater with a matching A-line pleated skirt. Pointed-toe shoes and winged eyeliner added a Mod twist.

The collection began, Jacobs said, with a T-shirt dress to the floor, and a flat shoe. "We wanted a look that would accommodate a long, quick stride." After last season's eccentric, maximal, nostalgic show Jacobs and his team felt that the only way forward was to strip the aesthetic right back.

The first model wore a black-and-white striped T-shirt, with plain knickers, her hair powdered white and sprayed in a sweep over one eye. It was a look which seemed to reference both Edie Sedgwick and Andy Warhol. Jacobs denied any 60s influence and claimed Sedgwick had been a reference only for make-up. This may or may not be the truth. Like I say, for Jacobs, fashion is a way to mess with your head.

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Susie Hodge’s guide tells us that to appreciate modern art you need to understand it.

For anyone who has ever demonstrated indefatigable wit in a gallery of modern art by quipping that the canvas with the pretentious label in front would sooner serve to line the cat litter than the walls of even Elton John’s stairwell, the book Why Your Five Year Old Could Not Have Done That is a saving grace.

In its admirable lack of pretentious description, it is equally good reading for those seeking to understand how it is that in the world of modern art, the provocative can conquer the aesthetic.

The basic premise of Susie Hodge’s guide is that to appreciate modern art you need to understand it.

Hodge is impressively impartial. She doesn’t imply, for example, that the viewer who shrugs his shoulders at Piero Manzoni’s 90 tins filled with his own excrement has mistaken a masterpiece. She focuses, instead, on contextualisng the work in the history of ideas so one can appreciate what motivated it.

And so Manzoni, she explains, intended to parody the heady valuations attached to art and put a spin on 1960’s consumerism. How nice for him, though, that no one yet has dared open a single tin of his Artist’s Sh-t to verify its contents for fear of denting its own heady valuation. Few children, indeed, could appreciate, let alone execute that.

Hodge’s explanations as to why a five-year-old could not have made each of the hundred selected artworks in this book always go beyond the standard daddy come-backs ‘could have done it, but didn’t’, or ‘it’s all in the idea, not the execution’.

Occasionally, they’re slightly over literal. ‘It is possible that a young child could make a squirrel, perhaps out of felt’ Hodge says of Maurizio Cattelan’s staged representation of a stuffed squirrel post suicide (Bidibidobidiboo), but no child could so ridicule the art world or contemplate mortality.

But, contrary to what the book’s title implies, these explanations are relegated merely to side boxes; the greater part of the book comprises more general introductions to the world of Conceptual and Abstract Expressionist art.

The trouble is, there are five different boxes on each page spread, and while there’s a key to explain what each means, there's no consistency in the colour used, making this far less accessible than the standard museum guide it seeks to resemble.

Seeing as it’s often the provocation of modern art that makes it so alienating, it would also have been interesting to hear a little more about what distinguishes, say, Cy Twombly’s often indiscernible (yet inspired) scribbles from the output of other artists, especially in terms of contemporary response. Hasn’t art always sought to shock?

No criticism of the selections, however. Every artist who should be in a book like this is – Mark Rothko with his colour block canvases, Marcel Duchamp with his cast of a urinal, Claes Oldenburg with his fast food fantasies, and Grayson Perry’s nouveau-antique vase paintings. This is deceptively wide-ranging and inquisitive coffee-table reading.

Why Your Five Year Old Could Not Have Done That, by Susie Hodge (Random House)

Daisy Dunn is an art academic and writer

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If you are considering studying at the best university in the world, you'd better be prepared to work your socks off. The pace of learning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been likened to "drinking from a fire-hose".

The science and technology university, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has just been named number one university in the world in the latest QS league table.

It has a stellar reputation. In fact, if you added up the revenues of companies founded by MIT alumni, it would make the 11th largest economy on earth.

But what do students think of it? The first thing they tell you about is the workload.

"So, MIT is a lot of work. I'm four days into the semester, and I've already handed in two p-sets [problem sets] and a writing assignment, I have two other p-sets and a 20-minute presentation to do, and I have to read All The President's Men by the end of the week," says Amy Guyomard, a third-year maths major.

The institute has become a movie byword for a technical intelligence. Engineering prodigy and billionaire inventor Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, is an MIT graduate. Good Will Hunting, starring a super-brainy Matt Damon, was set on the campus.

Of course, it's very tough to get in. In 2012, just 9% of 18,109 applicants received an offer. Exceptional students are drawn to the institute.

Take Michael Plasmeier. He built GridView, a Facebook app that let users make a photo mosaic using their friends' pictures, when he was 15. The app had 1.3 million installs and made about $16,000 in revenue.

But even he admits that when he first came to MIT, he did "very poorly": "MIT is like bootcamp for your brain. You are given all these hard problems and you need to figure out how to solve them.

Plasmeier, now 21 and a management and computer science student, adds: "Information is not spoon-fed, you need to find your own personal style of learning."

How does the institute pick from the thousands of students that apply? "MIT does not admit purely on test scores," says Michael Colao, who helps co-ordinate admissions to the school from the UK.

He looks for initiative and intellectual curiosity when he interviews potential students. "We look at certain characteristics. Especially how well you collaborate: evidence of being good at working as part of a team. So much of science and technology is now focused on working together."

Colao says there has been a 45% increase in successful applicants from the UK over the past three years. This is in line with other Ivy League colleges such as Harvard and Yale, who have also seen strong increases in applications.

MIT does a lot to minimise competition between students. There is no class of degree, a degree from MIT is just a degree.

Plasmeier stresses that there is huge variety in the student population: "We do have some Good Will Hunting-style people. But we have all types of people. People who like to party. People who like to build roller coasters in front of their dorm.

"MIT is as hard as you want to make it. Just like bootcamp, every day might not be fun, but you come out a lot better than you went in."

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A 45-bedroom mansion overlooking London's Hyde Park has been placed on the market at a record £300m ($483.5 million US).

The 60,000 square feet home once belonged to Lebanon's late Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and was passed as a gift after his 2005 assassination to Sultan bin Abdulaziz.

It was originally built as four separate family homes, from number 2 to 8a Rutland Gardens, but has been converted into one of the capital's largest houses. The imposing building is believed to include a swimming pool, millions of pounds worth of gold leaf decoration and underground parking. It is also thought that the windows are bulletproof.

If the £300m asking price is achieved it will have more than doubled the previous record for a residential sale in the UK, set when a penthouse flat at One Hyde Park sold for £140m in 2010. Agents Knight Frank are offering the house to select international buyers, reports the Financial Times, but it is not being advertised publicly.

Charles McDowell, a London property consultant, told the newspaper: "It is a truly rarefied property on the market and whoever buys it is going to pay a lot of premium for the unusual size in that location. You are going to have to wait a long, long time for something like this to come on the market again."

At £300m the home is almost 800 times the £388,000 average property price in London, a figure which is already out of reach for many of the city's residents. Research this week showed that almost half of prospective first-time buyers thought it would take them 10 years to save for a deposit .

London's prime property market soared in recent years as nervous investors from debt-laden European nations sought to invest cash in dependable assets. Think-tank IPPR estimates that in 2011 foreign buyers poured £5.2bn into central London property.

But George Osborne's increase in stamp duty on the most expensive homes to 7pc could have a braking effect on inward investment. A £300m residential sale would require the buyer to pay stamp duty of £21m.

Now tour a London home that's on sale for $158 million >

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They want you to sleep with them. And they’ll do almost anything to make sure that you do. They are…hoteliers trying to win your business.

It used to be that a hotel could secure travelers’ loyalty by providing the cornerstones of comfortable lodging: a great location, well-appointed rooms, dining and entertainment options, and doting service. But those days are long gone.

See the trends >

Today’s savvy 21st-century travelers routinely check out beach conditions via webcam, are accustomed to interiors decorated by celebrity designers, and expect concierges to be quicker than Google and more discerning than Yelp. Nabbing their allegiance is no easy feat.

As a result, hotels have been steadily upping the ante in trying to entice guests. Some pile on extra high-tech gadgetry to lure the geek-minded to their properties. Others rely on showy design elements (peekaboo bathrooms), luxury amenities (1,500-thread-count linens), retro appliances (record players with a selection of vinyl), customized services (on-call butlers), and personal touches (nightly poems left on your pillow) to woo you. Oh—and your little dog too: some hotels have started to offer weekends of “pet pampering.”

French designer Philippe Starck more or less started the boutique hotel boom when he fashioned New York City’s Royalton hotel in 1988. The midtown property drew jet-setters with its über-designed rooms and common spaces; its sleekly modern lobby—complete with a carpeted runway down the center, flanked by seating areas—was one of the first to become a see-and-be-seen hot spot for locals.

Since then, hotels all over the world have made design a calling card, ushering in over-the-top interior trends as disparate as high-glam Hollywood Regency (seen at Viceroy hotels) and industrial modern (Ace is the place). But it’s no longer enough to create lobbies that, at W Hotels, simulate “living rooms.” Now hotels are competing with nightclubs, opening exclusive rooftop bars with bottle service and VIP swimming pools. Meanwhile, the rooms that guests retire to have become ever-plusher oases of tranquility, with robes and slippers to be worn in marble spa bathrooms, pillow menus, and bath butlers.

Now, we love imaginative indulgences as much as the next traveler, but some of these offerings are much more head-scratchers than head-turners. We’ve scoured hotel offerings and discovered some hip trends you might like and some that are pure hype.

Check out our slideshow before your next check-in.

Cabanas

At beach clubs throughout the world, cabanas provided a place to stay by the water but get out of the sun. You could relax in the shade, have a drink, and maybe play a game of gin rummy. Now these little canvas enclosures have been upgraded to mini nightclub VIP rooms that offer full bar and restaurant service day and night. Renting for premium prices, they even boast Wi-Fi and widescreen TVs—because really, why should you have to watch a $12 in-room movie in your room?

Underwater Speakers

Call us purists, but here’s how we see it: pools are for swimming. Nightclubs are for dancing. Isn’t it bad enough that most hotels have piped-in music that can’t quite drown out the sound of kids splashing and screaming? Is anyone other than a synchronized swim team going to choose a hotel because it offers underwater surround-sound?

Super High Thread-Count Linens

Thread count, the biggest hype in the bedding industry, is like SPF: when you reach a certain number, you should be covered. In terms of weaving, the best bedsheets are made from single-ply yarns and max out at a count of 400 threads per square inch. Anything over that is probably made from two-ply yarns and is no more comfortable or luxurious—in fact, these high-thread-count sheets are likely made from inferior fibers that feel heavier. If you want real luxury, choose a hotel that makes its beds with freshly ironed linens that are actually made from linen.

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Dr No wannabes are finding that medium-priced islets were no great investment after all.

Cave Cay in the Bahamas, complete with beach huts, airstrips and breathtaking views, is going for $110m.

Eilean an Seamraig, an uninhabitable Scottish isle featuring drizzle and rocks, costs a mere £45,000 ($71,000). The market for private islands has never been so unsteady, says Farhad Vladi, a Hamburg-based island broker with more than 120 isles from 22 countries on his books.

At the top end, the market is still firm. Luxury islands, which make up about a tenth of the market, have good access to food and water, few irksome bugs and a hospitable climate. Owners past and present include stars such as Johnny Depp, Celine Dion and Diana Ross. Demand for these islands is holding up, even in harsh economic times.

Elsewhere the story is different. Owners of so-called "adventure islands"--cheap, with fewer amenities--are ditching their retreats. Before the bust, prices soared as these places were seen as good investments. Mr Vladi says a Panamanian resort he sold for $100,000 in 2003 was given a price tag of $3m five years later. Now prices are declining. A densely wooded isle in Florida reckoned to be worth $1.6m before the crash sold for $260,000 in June.

Many islanders have wearied of the upkeep. Owning an island requires a lot of commitment, says Frits Hannenberg, who manages small island resorts for absent owners. Installing and running a water supply is tricky and costly. A desalination system costs up to $50,000 (you can buy an islet for that). Then the plants need looking after too. Locals can help, says Mr Hannenberg; in the Fiji archipelago, they are zealous at keeping the flora in order. But isle-buyers like solitude: Mel Gibson, an actor, gave up his after a row with tribesmen.

Other uncertainties include building rules and environmental hassles: islands (except when owned by villains in adventure films) are still subject to somebody else's laws and taxes. Nicolas Cage, a film star, found he could not add developments to his refuge in the Bahamas, because an endangered iguana lived there; he has since sold up. A seller feared he would be unable to dispose of two Pennsylvanian islands, after one got flooded by a river. He gave them to charity. Climate change could mean sea-levels rising. That would put many island investments underwater.

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SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Many millionaires got poorer in the last year, but billionaires did just fine, using their heavyweight money management teams to ride out market and economic turmoil that hit the lesser rich, research company Wealth-X said on Monday.

The ranks of people with at least $30 million edged up to 187,380 but their total wealth fell 1.8 percent to $25.8 trillion -- still a sum bigger than the combined size of the U.S. and Chinese economies, Wealth-X said in a report.

Hardest hit globally were those in the $200 million to $499 million range, whose numbers dropped 9.9 percent and whose fortunes shrank 11.4 percent, the World Ultra Wealth Report said, using data for the year through July 31.

But the really, really rich got even richer as the number of billionaires rose 9.4 percent to 2,160 people and their wealth grew 14 percent to $6.2 trillion.

"Even at a billion or two billion, they have a much larger entourage, they have much more in the way of investment advice. They certainly get the attention of every major bank," Mykolas Rambus, Wealth-X's chief executive officer, told Reuters.

"This was the issue about that mid tier, the $100- to $500-million risk land. I don't think it appears these guys employ enough talent to help their own portfolios plus their holding companies to be successful."

As Europe struggles and the U.S. economy recovers fitfully, the affluent are shifting away from speculative investments into private companies, commodities and property, said Wealth-X, a Singapore-based firm that provides intelligence on the ultra-rich to banks, fundraisers and luxury retailers.

Asia suffered the worst regional loss of wealth, with a fall of 6.8 percent to $6.25 trillion due to weaker equity markets and lower export demand from the West, it said.

While wealth also shrank in Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, the rich saw their fortunes grow in North America (up 2.8 percent to $8.88 trillion) and Oceania (up 4.4 percent to $475 billion) -- much of that in Australia.

But Asia's rich cannot be discounted, Wealth-X said, as the fall in wealth in Japan, China and India -- home to 75 percent of ultra high net worth (UHNW) Asians -- will reverse, based on the strength of the region's financial systems and economies.

"Total Asian UHNW wealth is forecast to surpass the U.S. combined wealth by 2020," it said.

The full report is available at www.wealthx.com/wealthreport

(Editing by Ron Popeski)

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