All good things come at a price, and when they're as meticulous, wonderful and small as the Astolat Dollhouse Castle, they should. The astonishing vision, meticulous preparation and incredible items (over 10,000) of the 29-room, 800-pound dollhouse justify the hefty $8.5 million price tag. The seven-level masterpiece was created by artist Elaine Diehl around 1980 and unveiled in 2015. It took no less than 13 years to complete and was estimated at the time to be worth over $2,000 per square inch.

Image – Astolat Dollhouse Castle
That makes this 9-foot-tall dollhouse castle more expensive than a fully furnished 4-bedroom, 6-bathroom, 4,000-square-foot home in San Francisco, and that's just how much money you'd have left over to buy a Tesla even after buying the house, according to the Zillow listing.

Image – Astolat Dollhouse Castle
It may not be a livable space, but it's certainly stunning. The tiny objects and rooms of the world's most expensive dollhouse will make you feel like Alice in Wonderland. What first catches the eye is the historic exterior of a residence named after the castle in “The Lady of Shalott,” a 19th-century ballad by Alfred Lord Tennyson, according to Bloomberg.

The rooms are illuminated by working chandeliers. Image – Astolat Dollhouse Castle
One can't help but marvel at details such as fountains, topiary and a grand arched entrance with ornate columns. And that's just the exterior. What lies beneath is truly astonishing. Details such as suits of armor, a $5,000 silver flatware set, artwork, paintings and gemstone collections in the extravagant rooms showcase the talent of the carpenters, goldsmiths, glassblowers and silversmiths.

Experienced carpenters and artists have crafted the incredible miniatures. Image – Astolat Dollhouse Castle
Although all rooms are luxuriously appointed with features such as real parquet floors, hand-stitched tapestries, marble bathrooms and gold trim, it is the library that captured my heart.

Image – Astolat Dollhouse Castle
This outstanding section contains tiny books whose actual printed pages are readable under a magnifying glass. In the library, one can find (if one really tries hard) a Bible that is said to be one of the smallest in the world. Some notable items kept here include a folding secretary bookcase valued at $2,500 and a miniature Hebrew Torah valued at up to $2,500.

Image – Astolat Dollhouse Castle
Expensive items include a miniature grand piano valued at $7,000, a midget Jeep 949 station wagon valued at over $3,300, and a miniature portrait valued at nearly $2,000. It was apparently so small that it had to be painted with a single bristle brush.

Image – Astolat Dollhouse Castle
Of the seven floors containing regular rooms like the main parlor, dining room, bedrooms and butler's quarters etc, the sixth floor was the most exciting as it contained the grand ballroom, musician's alcove, bar area and living rooms. At the very top of this multi-million dollar miniature home was a wizard's tower with fascinating details like astronomical displays and zodiac signs, a telescope and an observatory.

Image – Astolat Dollhouse Castle
These are just a few examples of the effort and excellence of the 29-room house, which was presented to the public in 2015 to benefit the nonprofit organization Autism Speaks and a selection of other children's charities. The exhibition was hosted by the Nassau County Museum of Art. “The castle is worth so much just for its structure,” said Paula Gilhooley, the museum's curator. She added, “Astolat is one of the most beautiful miniature structures in the world and has a rare combination of sculpture, art, engineering and attention to detail that sets it apart from anything that has existed before. Astolat is a tremendous feat of construction and when you see it, you will be absolutely speechless.” The museum-quality dollhouse was acquired by collector L. Freeman in 1996 and brought to the Nassau County Museum of Art.

The living area of ​​the house for sale in Francisco. Image – Zillow.

The post 13 years within the making, this extremely detailed miniature dollhouse is price greater than a totally furnished 4-bedroom residence in San Francisco. The home has 27 absolutely wired rooms embellished with chandeliers, gold plated chairs, books, oil portray even the loos have purposeful plumbing. appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Hello, it’s Tuesday, Dec. 13, and here are the stories you shouldn’t miss today:

TOP STORIES

The Cecil Hotel rooms for LA unhoused are still mostly empty

The historic Cecil Hotel, with its haunted reputation and 600 rooms, reopened in December 2021 as a privately funded permanent supportive housing project. It’s open to any of the thousands of unhoused Los Angelenos with a government-funded voucher. Many viewed the project as a promising new model in LA because of its size and flexibility.

And yet, a year later, two-thirds of the Cecil remains unoccupied. Even with solid funding and the best of intentions, the Cecil project has struggled to overcome a system beset with a slow-moving bureaucracy and multiple failure points, and to offer a housing stock that serves a population with myriad needs.

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Mayor’s new emergency order meets chaos at City Hall

It was the first major policy announcement from the new administration of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass — a declaration of a state of emergency aimed at providing immediate relief to thousands of unhoused residents.

That declaration needs a City Council vote today before going into effect, a simple enough task in a quieter political moment. Except the council has left one meeting until mid-January, and has been struggling to conduct its business amid a scandal surrounding Councilmember Kevin de León.

De León faces a furor over his participation in a conversation featuring racist remarks and, more recently, a violent incident involving protesters at an Eastside toy giveaway, which only intensified the tinder keg atmosphere at City Hall.

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The P-22 mountain lion was captured in an LA backyard

P-22, celebrity mountain lion and Griffith Park’s most wanted big cat, was captured in a Los Feliz backyard, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced.

The department confirmed P-22 was captured after they received an anonymous tip that he’d been struck by a car in the area. Officials could not confirm if the mountain lion had been hit but said he was “in stable condition.”

P-22 had been sought for evaluation by the National Park Service and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife after “exhibiting some signs of distress” in recent weeks, including killing a leashed Chihuahua and attacking another dog.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried arrested in the Bahamas

Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced co-founder and former head of digital-asset exchange FTX, was arrested in the Bahamas.

Bankman-Fried’s detention followed a notification from the US that it had filed criminal charges against him, the Bahamas attorney general said in a statement. Authorities in both countries had been probing his involvement in the company’s collapse last month.

In a statement, US Atty. for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said the arrest was made at the request of the American government.

Can California’s electric-vehicle push overcome the red-state backlash?

Environmentalists, along with industry and government leaders, see a transformation afoot in the electric vehicle industry after decades of false starts. They have acknowledged, however, that they can’t complete the shift if electric cars are viewed as something only for rich liberals in California and New York. They need everyone.

But in places like Indiana, it can be tough to own an electric car. Major cities are located far apart, with few charging stations in between. And the most popular EVs remain out of reach for many consumers in places where incomes tend to be lower.

The state is also deep red. And Republicans are much less likely than Democrats to consider buying an EV, according to a poll conducted for The Times by Leger, a Canadian-based polling firm with extensive experience in US surveys.

Edgar Sargsyan’s journey through LA’s criminal underworld

Edgar Sargsyan’s journey to bankruptcy court began with a one-way ticket from Armenia. It descended into the underworld of Los Angeles, where he learned at the elbow of a crime figure how deals are made and dirty money can underwrite a glittering facade of legitimacy.

Sargsyan shook hands with governors and presidents at a Beverly Hills cigar club and conferred with gangsters in jail. He made a fortune through fraud and drug dealing while surrounding himself with an entourage of corrupt lawmen.

But by 2018, the fun was over, the money was drying up and Sargsyan found himself in bankruptcy court, where what remained of his companies’ assets were to be sold off.

Check out “The Times” podcast for essential news and more.

These days, waking up to current events can be, well, daunting. If you’re seeking a more balanced news diet, “The Times” podcast is for you. Gustavo Arellano, along with a diverse set of reporters from the award-winning LA Times newsroom, delivers the most interesting stories from the Los Angeles Times every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

CALIFORNIA

Drought-ravaged LA seeks out a contaminated Superfund site. As drought and climate change ravage California’s once-reliable supply of drinking water, officials in Los Angeles are setting their sights on a relatively new, almost untapped resource for the city’s 4 million residents: the Superfund site in their own backyard.

Supreme Court upholds California ban on the sale of flavored tobacco products. The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a last-minute plea from the tobacco industry and cleared the way for California to enforce a statewide ban on the sale of most flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes.

Tory Lanez will stand trial in Megan Thee Stallion’s shooting case this week. Prosecutors allege the shooting happened shortly after both hip-hop artists left a party in the Hollywood Hills in July 2020. The case has reinvigorated discussions about misogyny in a hip-hop industry and it comes after a series of violent attacks on hip-hop artists in Los Angeles in recent years.

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NATION WORLD

On same-sex marriage, “the country has caught up with California.” More than 18 years after Gavin Newsom defied federal law by issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples as San Francisco mayor, President Biden is on the cusp of signing legislation that ensures gay marriages are recognized by the federal government and in every state in the nation .

Immigrants sue ICE for spying on their financial records. Immigrants who say their remittances to family abroad were caught up in what they described as a massive warrantless dragnet are suing the government and the wire-transfer behemoth Western Union, which gave money transfer records to law enforcement.

What’s next for Brittney Griner? Experts discuss a road to recovery. After 294 days in Russian custody, Griner was slated to undergo evaluation at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. Those assessments regarding Griner’s physical, mental and emotional state were just the first step in an uncertain path for the two-time Olympic gold medalist.

In Ukraine, a mayor who surrendered his town becomes a symbol of treason. In the small town of Kupiansk, there was no sudden bombardment, no violent mayhem — the city’s mayor, politically friendly with Russia, spoke to a Russian commander over the phone and then simply surrendered. Misery arrived anyway.

HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS

The Golden Globes return after turmoil. The nominations for the 2023 Golden Globes were announced, with the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. showing particular affection for films “The Banshees of Inisherin” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and TV series “Abbott Elementary” and “The White Lotus,” among others.

Elon Musk booed for nearly five minutes straight at Dave Chappelle show in San Francisco. Before welcoming Elon Musk on Sunday stage in San Francisco, Dave Chappelle encouraged his fans to “make some noise for the richest man in the world.” And they did — by loudly booing the billionaire tech mogul.

Angelo Badalamenti, “Twin Peaks” composer and David Lynch collaborator, dead at 85. Badalamenti and Lynch were longtime collaborators, with the composer once calling their relationship “my second-best marriage in the world.”

The rise and fall of canceling culture in comedy. Comedy historian Kliph Nesteroff and comics Donnell Rawlings and Tiffany Haddish explain the origins of modern-day culture and its historical equivalents.

BUSINESS

Elon Musk should prepare for “hundreds or even thousands” of arbitration cases, labor lawyer says. As questions continue to swirl around Musk’s next move, ex-employees through their attorneys are seeking every possible avenue to obtain the benefits they feel entitled to in the aftermath of the tumultuous takeover of Twitter.

Will a legal fight over a $70 million Malibu mansion derail a reality star? A saga of power, corruption and allegations of deception involving multiple lawsuits and parties has played out from the courts of Los Angeles and the halls of Congress to as far away as the shores of Central Africa.

OPINION

How did we let the Golden Globes back in? Columnist and culture critic Mary McNamara writes, “Last year, a Times investigation revealed the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.’s gift-expecting, early-access-demanding, pay-to-play approach to its awards and lack of any Black members. Everyone was outraged. Publicists threatened a massive boycott, Tom Cruise said he would return his statuary. NBC dumped the 2022 telecast. Now, a year later, the Globes are back, announcing their nominations on live TV.”

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SPORTS

How ultimate underdog Morocco became “the Rocky of this World Cup.” In the first World Cup held in the Middle East and the first played in a majority-Muslim country, Morocco has made history by becoming the first African and first Arabic-speaking nation to reach the semifinals.

There was something Bourdain-like about the big, soccer life Grant Wahl led. Wahl died early Friday morning after collapsing in the press center at the men’s World Cup in Qatar. He lifted, popularized and pioneered soccer coverage in the US Above all, he shared that giant, adventurous life with colleagues and strangers alike.

ONLY IN LA

(Michael DeForge / For The Times)

How to find the best tamales from around the world in Los Angeles. Tamales are delicious year-round but are particularly popular during the holiday and New Year’s seasons, often accompanied by a steaming mug of atole, champurrado or other hot beverage.

This year, The Times’ food team is highlighting their love for all the tamales — not just from Mexico, but also from Guatemala, El Salvador, Colombia and Cuba, just to name a few places. And they’re even extending the strict definition of tamal to include Chinese sticky rice packets wrapped in lotus or bamboo leaves.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Mary Tyler Moore, Dick Van Dyke, and Sheldon Leonard hold their awards backstage at Emmy Awards in 1964.

(Los Angeles Times)

Dick Van Dyke was born 97 years ago. The versatile comedic actor became a beloved television icon as the ottoman-tripping — or sidestepping — star of the classic 1960s situation comedy “The Dick Van Dyke Show.”

Van Dyke displayed his versatility in a variety of roles, including Bert the cheerful Cockney chimney sweep in the Oscar-winning 1964 Disney musical “Mary Poppins” and an alcoholic public relations man in the 1974 TV movie “The Morning After.” Van Dyke also had an eight-season run as the white-haired and mustachioed crime-solving doctor in “Diagnosis Murder,” from 1993 to 2001.

We appreciate that you took the time to read Today’s Headlines! Comments or ideas? Feel free to drop us a note at headlines@latimes.com.

The post At this time’s Headlines: Why 600 rooms on the Cecil Lodge for L.A.’s unhoused are principally empty appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Here is a partial list of hotels in the Bay Area that offer discounted rates to evacuees. The rooms fill up quickly, but some were still available for Friday night as of Friday morning. All hotels are in San Francisco unless otherwise noted.

$ 50; Price includes parking space; no pets allowed. Tel (415) 621-8212

Berkeley City Club, Berkeley

30% reduced; no pets; Parking fee not included; Breakfast included in the price. Tel (510) 848-7800

Best Western Plus Bayside Hotel, Oakland

$ 135; free breakfast and parking; Price code HELP. Tel (510) 356-2450

BREATHING MASKS: Where to Buy Respirators in San Francisco and Oakland

Clift Hotel

$ 99; free parking and breakfast. Tel (415) 775-4700

Courtyard by Marriott San Francisco

$ 99; only for Sunday, October 15th Tel (415) 947-0700

Executive Inn & Suites, Oakland

$ 135; free breakfast and parking; Price code HELP. Tel (510) 536-6633

Galleria Park Hotel

30% reduced; Action code fire relief; Housing eligibility certificate required. Tel (415) 781-3060

HI USA Marin Headlands Hostel, Sausalito

50% discount on dorm beds; no private rooms available – dorm beds only. Tel (415) 331-2777

SAFE RE-ENTRY: This is how you can safely re-enter your home after a fire

HI USA SF City Center Hostel

$ 36 dorm beds, $ 90 private room. Tel (415) 474-7721

Hotel Fusion

$ 99; must call the hotel directly to book. Tel (415) 568-2524

Hotel Whitcomb

$ 99; Parking fee is not included; no pets; Housing eligibility certificate required. Tel (415) 487-4460

Kimpton Buchanan

30% reduced; Price code CARE; Pets allowed at no extra charge. Tel (415) 921-4000

Kimpton Sir Francis Drake

30% reduced; Price code CARE; Pets allowed at no extra charge. Tel (415) 392-7755

King George Hotel

$ 99; see price code Sonoma Valley Fire Victims; Pets up to 50 kg. for free; Residence permit required. Tel (415) 781-5050

MAJOR FIRE RESOURCES: California’s Wine Country Fires: Updated Facts and Resources

Omni San Francisco

$ 149; Pets allowed free of charge; free parking. Tel (415) 677-9494

San Francisco Marriott Marquis

$ 89; Rooms available for Saturday (10/14) and Sunday (10/15); no pets; valet parking only. Tel (415) 896-1600

San Francisco real hotel

$ 149- $ 199; Price code NORCAL. Tel (415) 735.7777

Sawyer Hotel, Sacramento

30% reduced; Price code CARE; Pets allowed at no extra charge. Tel (916) 545-7100

Westin St. Francis

50% discount on the best available rate; Parking fee is separate; Dogs under 40 kg. to be allowed to. Tel (415) 397-7000

Monterey Tides Hotel, Monterey

Room for Sunday-Thursday only, $ 119. Tel (831) 394-3321

Hotel Nikko

15 percent discount; Pets allowed at no extra charge; free parking. Tel (415) 394-1111

Tilden Hotel

$ 99; Price code SRF.2017 (bookable online). Tel (415) 673-2332

Sources: Somona Valley Visitors Bureau, Chronicle Research

Maxine Marshall is the editorial assistant of the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: mmarshall@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MaxineNMarshall

The post Record of accommodations with discounted rooms for North Bay fireplace evacuees appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Roger and his five relatives live in this small one-room apartment in San Francisco.

SAN FRANCISCO – – Martin, a 40-year-old day laborer in San Francisco, has barely worked in the past two months. He hasn’t worked at all for the past two weeks.

He was asked to leave the shelter he was staying in as there is only room for people infected with COVID-19.

So he took to the streets to sleep and to ask for work.

His usual routine is to wake up at 6:30 a.m., talk to previous employers over wifi and ask if they need his manual skills, and wait for hours on the corner with others like him in the hope that someone will meet him for painting walls. Moving furniture or working on a construction project. In his spare time, he walks around the neighborhood helping people learn best practices for preventing the virus from spreading and educating the community about eviction rights.

In addition, Martin has just learned that he has diabetes.

“I’m feeling very bad mentally,” said Martin, who asked that his full name not be used in Spanish through an interpreter. “I’m not doing well. I am not fulfilling my obligations to support my family.”

Hoping at least to get a good night’s sleep, Martin recently applied in San Francisco for a new program called the High Risk Community Housing Program.

The program is temporarily offering free hotel rooms to key San Francisco employees who live in neighborhoods with higher COVID-19 rates.

Last week, 10 people moved into the 1,000 available rooms, said supervisor Hillary Ronen, who urged the city to open more hotel rooms to the homeless and the needy.

Those rooms opened, she said, when the city realized they weren’t filled with first responders as originally planned. Instead of leaving them empty, the program for people at high risk was launched shortly after a UCSF study that indicated that Latinos in the mission district were disproportionately affected by coronavirus.

The study said tight living spaces were a factor in higher levels of the coronavirus. Many Latinos also have jobs that tend to put them in direct contact with others, which increases the chances of exposure to the virus.

Roger, who also asked that his full name not be used, lives in such close quarters.

In an interview, the 49-year-old artisan said he lived in a tiny room with five relatives: his grandmother, son, daughter-in-law, sister-in-law and 9-year-old grandson on Church Street.

“I have severe depression,” he said in Spanish through an interpreter. “Economically, I am terribly. And overall it is very stressful to live.”

His family has always lived in this small apartment. But before the coronavirus, they would all leave home for the day and only come back at night.

Now everyone is together and on top of each other around the clock.

To alleviate what he called “tortuous days”, he and his relatives decided to stay up until 2:00 am so that they can sleep as late as possible and the days don’t seem so endless. As for sleep, the family sleeps on couches and air mattresses packed in their room.

He and his family members have all looked for work with no luck. Your $ 2,200 per month rent is due on Monday.

He would very much like to apply for a hotel room, not only to get some distance and space from his relatives, but to avoid the possible spread of the deadly disease.

“I feel stuck,” he said. “I would love to get out of this room.”

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED: The application to request HRCH hotel accommodation is now available online.

San Francisco residents who work outside the home can apply themselves or a vulnerable household member for whom they want to reduce exposure to COVID-19 because the person is 60 years or older or already has an illness. Ask? Email HRCH@sfgov.org

If you are interested in hiring a member of the San Francisco Day Labor Program and Women’s Collective, call 415-252-5375. Further information on the programs can be found here. You can also donate to Fighting for our Workers. You can also email the dispatcher Louis Legowsky to the program at sfdlp @ 3358 @ gmail.com if you want to hire a worker.

Lisa Fernandez is a reporter for KTVU. Email Lisa at lisa.fernandez@foxtv.com or call her at 510-874-0139. Or follow her on Twitter @ljfernandez

The post San Francisco program provides 1,000 lodge rooms to important employees appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.

Photograph: Shutterstock

Restaurants in San Francisco were given a go-ahead yesterday to reopen their dining rooms immediately at 25% of pre-pandemic capacities, up to a limit of 100 customers at any given time, with the advisory that they follow new safety protocols from local health officials.  

With New York City restarting dine-in service yesterday at 25% of indoor capacities, most of the nation’s major urban restaurant markets are now offering interior table service again, with the notable exception of Los Angeles.  

San Francisco’s new safety rules include a ban on selling alcohol without the accompaniment of “bona fide food,” or fare prepared by the operation. “Serving prepackaged food like sandwiches or salads, or simply heating frozen or prepared meals, do not qualify as bona fide meals,” the guidelines state.

Several new safety recommendations are aimed at combating the spread of COVID-19 via aerosol transmission, a method of contamination not yet flagged as a serious danger by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention but recognized as one by other health authorities. The San Francisco safety guidelines assume that a microscopic mist of particles carrying coronavirus can linger in the air for an extended period and pose a danger even if individuals remain six feet apart.

The National Restaurant Association is currently studying the issue to update its guidelines for safe restaurant operation.

San Francisco’s guidelines call on restaurants to run their HVAC systems even while the operations are closed, or to turn on the equipment at least an hour before the places open and at least two hours after they close.

Guest visits are limited to two hours, and service is required to cease at midnight, with places directed to shut down by 12:30 a.m.

Tables need to be rearranged or taken out of service to maintain six feet of space between parties. Typical self-service areas such as buffets, salad bars and condiment stations are prohibited.

The San Francisco Department of Health began its updated list of safety protocols with a heads-up that the reopening of dining rooms could be temporary. “It is possible–and even likely–that case numbers and other indicators will surge during the fall,” the guidelines state.

As in other markets that had yet to permit the resumption of dine-in service, local operators had been clamoring for the go-ahead to reopen dining rooms, or at least a plan as to when they could expect a go-ahead. Yesterday’s green light was applauded by the Golden Gate Restaurant Association (GGRA), the local trade group for the foodservice industry.

“We appreciate their willingness to work with the industry to provide guidelines designed to keep our cases down and reduce the spread in our community of this virus,” Laurie Thomas, executive director of the GGRA, said in a statement. “We do realize that indoor dining is not for everyone–be it diners or restaurants. Everyone will need to make their own decisions as to their comfort level. But this is an important step forward in the reopening process.”

The post San Francisco reopens restaurant eating rooms at 25% of capacities appeared first on Los Gatos News And Events.