The most recent newsletter published by Boston College’s Center on Wealth and Philanthropy reports on the Center’s groundbreaking study, The Joys and Dilemmas of Wealth, which is the first large scale survey to focus exclusively on households with at least $25 million in net worth. The goal is to learn more about the attitudes, practices and personal philosophies of ultra high net worth households regarding wealth and philanthropy.

“This study is significant,” said Paul Schervish, Director of the Center, “because its findings will provide a window into the cultural horizons of wealth and can directly help wealth holders use their resources as a tool for nobler purposes into the 21st century.” Underwritten by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Calibre, a division of Wachovia Wealth Management, the study is still ongoing. To learn more about the Center or to participate in the study click here.

—Camilla McLaughlin

Kaira Sturdivant Rouda, president of one of the fastest-growing real-estate franchises in the United States, Real Living Inc., will share her inspirational successes in a presentation at the 6th Annual Luxury Real Estate Spring Retreat, which will be hosted in San Diego from Tuesday, April 15 to Friday, April 18, 2008.

This conference is expected to bring hundreds of the top names in the luxury real estate industry to network and share key insights. Ben Stein, the famous actor, author, lawyer and economist, will also speak at this event, and his topic will be The Psychology of Buying Luxury Property. The title of Rouda’s address is Real Marketing for Today’s Consumer.

“Real Marketing for Today’s Consumer refers to the title of my new book, ‘Real You Incorporated,’ and the principles it contains,” she said. “In today’s marketplace, business people need to learn how to find it within themselves to put their unique competitive brand into the marketplace. The message was inspired by real-estate agents and is particularly important for us in this marketplace.”

Rouda’s book, “Real You Incorporated: 8 Essentials for Women Entrepreneurs,” is now available for purchase. As an accomplished business owner, published author and nationally recognized public speaker, Rouda will have a great deal to share with luxury brokers on the keys to her success at the LuxuryRealEstate.com event.

“I hope the speech will inspire folks to take the steps to begin to tell their story and put themselves into their business with authenticity and relevance,” she said. “The keys to our company’s rapid growth are many, but I’d sum it up this way: family, innovation and results. We are a new company built on 50-year-old real-estate businesses.”

Rouda is a member of the Women Presidents’ Organization, the Google Real Estate Advisory Board, and a WebAward Judge for the Web Marketing Association. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Vanderbilt University and the author of a newspaper column and fiction books.

“Real Living, launched in 2002, provided the first agent business center in the business and launched the first interactive agent/consumer portal in 2005,” Rouda said. “Our brand is recognized as the first consumer-facing, women-focused brand in the real-estate industry. Results is where the franchise growth comes in. Our franchisees benefit from a proven business system that’s differentiated in the marketplace.”

For more information on Rouda and her new book, visit www.RealYouIncorporated.com. For more information on the 6th Annual Luxury Real Estate Spring Retreat and other upcoming events, visit www.luxuryrealestate.com/conference.

A British mansion sold for $94 million last month, setting a record for a new-built home. With a kitchen for each bedroom, a 35-seat cinema and a Turkish bath for 20, this Bishop’s Avenue estate broke a British sales record of $68 million set just two weeks earlier. And what’s even more amazing than the price tag—the owner intends to spend almost $60 million to renovate the home. Click here for the BBC story.

Celebrity spokesperson for the American Society of Interior Designers, Matt Lorenz, will lead several events during INTERIORS 08: The ASID Conference on Design, March 13 - 16 in New Orleans. The Chicago native and winner of the Bravo television show “Top Design” will participate in a resume and portfolio review for design students, serve as honorary chair of the ASID Foundation evening auction event, Jubilation, and be on hand to talk about the Society’s new mentorship program, RealWorld DesignWeek.

As a spokesperson for ASID, Lorenz is the voice of RealWorld DesignWeek, the first cohesive, national program to connect aspiring designers with the professionals in the design community and provide them with the support and resources to succeed in the industry. The week-long shadowing experiences will take place October 19 - 25, 2008 and will include online instructional seminars leading up to and following the event.

ASID has 12,000 student members nationwide and a good portion of the conference is geared toward the student. In addition to the general sessions and events that apply to the entire attendance, students can take advantage of:

o    Student Panel-Live Design, presented by the ASID South Central Chapter, Louisiana
o    Joining the Real World: Getting from College to Career
o    Networking lunches
o    ASID resume and portfolio review
o    Off-site experiential learning at historic New Orleans locations
For more information, click here.

ORLANDO, Fla. – In bringing together crosstown rivals in the ultimate showdown to determine the World Golf and Country Club Champion, the 2008 Tavistock Cup presented by Citi Private Bank welcomes Annika Sorenstam and Paula Creamer to this unique team competition. Creamer joins Team Isleworth and returning captain Mark O’Meara as they stand ready to defend their home turf against Sorenstam and returning captain Ernie Els of Team Lake Nona.

The fifth annual tournament between the touring golf professional members of Isleworth and Lake Nona Golf & Country Clubs will be the first for Creamer, a new resident of Isleworth, and the third for Sorenstam of Lake Nona. Complete team rosters will be released in March, with many of last year’s players expected to return for the 2008 Tavistock Cup.

Team Isleworth claimed the inaugural Tavistock Cup in 2004 and again in 2006, with the 2005 matches resulting in a tie following a sudden death playoff. With home course advantage last year, Team Lake Nona clinched its first Tavistock Cup victory. The Payne Stewart Salver Award for low medalist on Day 2 went to Stuart Appleby in 2004 and Tiger Woods in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

The professional golfers of Isleworth and Lake Nona have won a combined total of 48 major championships and more than 680 career worldwide victories.

“For these players, the Tavistock Cup provides a relaxed atmosphere where they can compete with their friends in their own backyard. But when all is said and done, the competitive drive is truly evident in their desire to claim the Cup for their club,” said Andy Odenbach, vice president of sports ventures for Tavistock Group, the private investment company that owns both clubs. “The addition of Annika and Paula to this year’s tournament adds yet another element of excitement to this unique competition.”

The Tavistock Cup, an officially sanctioned PGA Tour event, will be held Monday and Tuesday, March 24 and 25. Players will vie for a purse of $3.88 million, with $1 million donated on behalf of the winning team to the charities of their choice. In addition, players will compete for team hole-in-one prizes including Cadillac Escalades, Correct Craft Air Nautique boats, Full Swing Golf simulators and more.

TavistockCup.com will feature real-time scoring of the tournament, which will also be broadcast live on the Golf Channel in the U.S., Canada and Japan and to over 40 countries around the world through international affiliates.

For more on the Tavostock Group, click here.

St. Patrick’s Day might be a month away but home builders gathered in Orlando for the International Builders Show are definitely thinking green. On Thursday, the National Association of Home Buyers held green day to celebrate the launch of their new Green Building Program, which initiates voluntary standards for the construction of residential properties. Rather than a single national mandate, the requirements of NAHB’s standard are geared toward the climate requirements of various regions. The program also includes a point system that rates various green features in a home and includes a third party verification system.
Additionally, homeowners will be able to access the rating system and evaluate the energy efficiency of their home or to access any renovations or improvements. More information can be found at www.nahbgreen.org. —Camilla McLaughlin

Longtime Unique Homes advertiser June Rosenthal was named Citizen of the Year for her committment to her hometown community of Stamford, Conn. To check out the article in The Stamford Times, click here. June can be seen here with the mayor of Stamford, Dan Malloy.

The Stamford Citizen of the Year and Scholarship Presentation Award Dinner honoring June Rosenthal, sponsored on behalf of the City of Stamford by the Jewish War Veterans of The United States, Fred Robbins Post 142, will take place on Wednesday, May 14, 2008, at the Italian center of Stamford.

They learned. They laughed. They networked.

The reviews are in. The 2008 Luxury Conclave was a success. The interactive event for some of the nation’s most successful high-end professionals was held Jan. 16-18 at The Phoenician, a top-rated resort destination in Scottsdale, Ariz.

In its fourth year, The Luxury Conclave is designed to provide attendees with a way to meet and build relationships with their true peers in the luxury space; share constructive ideas with each other; learn from each other’s experiences, successful and challenging; and gain new insight into all aspects of marketing estate properties in the 21st century.

Returning hosts Unique Homes, The Wall Street Journal and Unique Global Estates welcomed a new host for this year’s event with the addition of CKG International.

For more, visit www.theluxuryconclave.com.

Who’s Who In Luxury Real Estate, or LuxuryRealEstate.com, recently completed its third annual Luxury Real Estate European Conference in Salzburg, Austria. With awards given to members from Spain, Switzerland and Italy, topics focused on the global real estate market. One of the more interesting points involves the suggestion that the Eastern European market is catching up the market in the West. For more, click here.

In other big news for LuxuryRealEstate.com, the membership organization announced Ben Stein will be the keynote speaker at the 6th Annual Luxury Real Estate Spring Retreat in April. According to the release, Mr. Stein indicated that he plans to speak, in large part, about the psychology of buying luxury properties. Read more here.

Ruth Ryon reported in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times that Eddie Murphy and his ex-wife, model Nicole Mitchell Murphy, have sold their vacation home near Sacramento for $6.1 million. Ryon’s column includes a mention of a new $85 million listing on the Westside.
http://www.latimes.com/classified/realestate/hotprop/la-re-hotprop3feb03,0,210832.story