Living Large: On the Market
Photograph by Chelsea Kyle
On the Market: For years we’ve stood on the sidewalk, gazing longingly up at this South End penthouse duplex seven stories above Mistral. What was it like to live that high, we wondered, separated from all humanity? Did the owner walk his multiple terraced gardens — featuring full-grown trees — all alone, like the emperor of China in the Forbidden City? Or was her soaking tub with a skyline view the scene of wild parties and Brian De Palma–esque debauchery? No one invited us, so we’ve had to guess. But now, for the first time since it was built, we can actually get inside for a closer look.
>> Address: 221 Columbus Ave., #800, Boston; Listing price: $7,200,000; Listing agent: Amy Jacobs, Otis & Ahearn Real Estate, 617-645-6902, otisahearn.com; Stats: Three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, two parking spaces.
Solitary Confinement: Local writer Molly Jane Quinn (you’ve seen her byline in this magazine) and designer Jenna Talbott used their popular Tumblr blog, Unhappy Hipsters (unhappyhipsters.com), to create a new book: It’s Lonely in the Modern World, a tongue-in-cheek primer on contemporary architecture and décor.
>> Out 10/12, Chronicle Books, $20.
Feeling Flush: They say you can avoid the vagaries of the stock market by investing in precious metals. But why buy useless bullion? Instead, put your money to work with a solid-gold toilet handle. Your treasure will stay close to the throne and, like all good bathware, it won’t corrode or rust.
>> Kiel Mead gold flush handle, $5,500, kielmead.com.