Trump bought the home in 2004 in Abe Gosman’s bankruptcy.  With the help of Kendra Todd, winner of The Apprentice, he performed a $25 million dollar renovation on the home that included manicured gardens on the outside, 24-carat gold fixtures in the bathrooms, and a marble-coated kitchen.  The house has 15 bedrooms, a guest cottage, 15 full baths, 8.5 half baths, and a 30.4 meter swimming pool.

Donald Trump paid $40 million for the property originally, and put about $25 million in renovations.  When he sold the property for $95 million he made a profit of $30 million dollars.  Not too shabby.

Rybolovlev has had his share of media attention in Russia.  In 1996, he was suspected of murder, though he was found not guilty.  In 2010, after being spotted in the company of young models aboard yachts, and his wife decided to take action.  They divorced in 2009.  In addition to Elena’s interest in Rybolovlev’s business holdings, she also filed an action in the City Court of Palm Beach to protect the Maison de l’Amitie from sale or destruction.  As of September, 2010, the fight was still on.  As of a 2011 GeoEye view shows, the house is still standing.

Related articles

• Best Blogs About Living in Key West (verybestsites.com)
• Bizarre Online Purchases (bizarrebytes.com)
• Celebrities With Mental Disorders [Infographic] (thisblogrules.com)

From the people that brought you ball in a cup comes house on a stick! If you loved trying to get the ball in the cup, then you’ll love trying to not fall in the water walking up and down to your front door. This was actually inspired by billboards as you can easily see. I just can’t seem to get in my head how that box on a pole is stable in the ocean. Of course,  I wouldn’t mind going to work everyday in a speedboat and you’d definitely have plenty of privacy.  One thing’s for sure, you’re not going for a quick jog any time soon.

Related articles

• Top 10 Apartments in Dallas – Fort Worth for Golfers (makethelist.net)
• 5 Ways to Protect Your Home While You Travel (makethelist.net)
• Home Improvement Trends in 2011 (infographicsshowcase.com)

Ok, so maybe they’re not actual full size houses, but they’re still weird. In fact, from the looks of it, they’re probably part of some shorefront hotel. The main problem with these one-room huts for me is just that. If there are two rooms in those buildings, I don’t want to be in either one of them. There is basically no sunlight and the only ventilation comes in a couple slits at the top. Of course, living next to the beach means you’re not going to be spending much time in your house anyway. This is further proof of the old adage “Location, location, location,” because when you’re surrounded by palm trees and the ocean breeze, who can complain about the house?

Related articles

• Top 10 Craziest Marketing Campaigns (makethelist.net)
• The Virginia State Capitol Building – the Most Visible Richmond Landmark (richmondvapresents.com)
• Bali Huts (balihut.wordpress.com)
• Lucky Bamboo: Houseplants You Can’t Kill (frommyexperience.com)

The water’s depth at the North Pole has been measured at 13,980 feet. The Soviet Union and later Russia have manned drifting stations. They study what is basically global warming and predict that the North Pole could become ice free (seasonally) due to ice shrinkage or ice melting in as few a fifty years. Kaffeklubben Island is the closest land mass, off Greenland some 430 miles away.

From the 16^th Century, most people believed that the North Pole was in the sea. They sent expeditions to study the area using ships that were accustomed to sailing in cold, Northern climates. Lots of those expeditions ended badly, with few returning to tell the tale.

The Stella Polare set forth from Norway in 1899 and in March, 1900, Captain Umberto Cagni headed a party over the ice until they reached latitude of 86 degree, 34’ in April. They set a new record and returned home safely in August of 1900.

American engineer Robert Peary is credited with reaching the North Pole on April 6, 1909. In 1989 Wally Herbert, originally a supporter of Peary researched and found what he thought were tampered records. Then in 2005, a British explorer named Tom Avery made a trip to the North Pole similar to Peary’s overland trip and found the North Pole in 36 days, 22 hours. This was 3 hours faster that Peary had made it. Avery was quoted as saying that he was more convinced than ever that Peary did indeed discover the North Pole.

Currently, journeys to the North Pole are much more common and even open to tourists during the Christmas season. Usually those trips are by helicopter or ice breaking boats.

At this time of the year, doesn’t it make you wonder, since it has gotten so much easier to get to the North Pole, do Santa Claus and the elves ever think about relocating?  Why do we think that Santa lives at the North Pole?  An interesting website presents their evidence, saying that OBVIOUSLY Santa lives at the North Pole because:

1.  He wears really warm clothes

The website claims that it does not get as cold in Sweden or Finland, so Santa obviously needs such warm clothes because he lives in the North Pole.  The website also claims that Walt Disney said that Santa lived in the North Pole, so it must be true.  Another page on the website says that Santa lives in Finland, and that Walt Disney was paid a great deal of money by Northpolian whalers to say that.  The Swedes maintain that reindeer live in Sweden, so it logically follows that Santa does too.  For a full synopsis of each country’s argument, check out Santasnationality.com.  Then tell us what you think.

Related articles

• Ask Santa for an Air Purifier this Christmas (allaboutallergy.com)
• 2012 Predictions (infographicsshowcase.com)
• Concession Obsession: Chocolate Con Churros (drivinganddining.com)
• 5 Tips To Keep Squirrels out of Your Birdfeeders (makethelist.net)
• North Pole Complaints Department (olhs.wordpress.com)