The Gingerbread House of Bay Ridge

It's in showing guests the stately homes of Bay Ridge, just west of Third Avenue, that's an adventure for me as well. And so, with cousins Walter and Susan, we took the tour to the waterfront (with its own view of the river running into the briny bay, the Verazzano Bridge sparkling to one side and, to the other, the isle of Manhattan, both glistening in the sun amidst the stretch of barges, docked cruise boats and the tour boats up and down the waters).

The river breezes cooled us off, but it was a hot, sunny New York city day in any event. En route, however, we stopped to marvel at Bay Ridge's Gingerbread House. This home is perfect for any hobbit. Albeit, one with a pot'o'gold. That would exclude yours truly. I'd love to nibble nibble on this house, but alas and alack!

The landscaping of lawn and garden around the home, alone, must command a hefty upkeep. When the house went up for sale in 2009, the asking fee was $12 million. That's a lot of gingerbread, sweeties! A real estate source was quoted as saying that the estate “has a bowling alley in the basement and a revolving garage door. All they have to do is push a button, and the entire garage floor shifts so they never have to back out.” Outside, it also has an impressive faux-thatched roof that's both wavy and surreal.

Officially known as the Howard E. and Jesse Jones House, this incredible place looks like something directly out of a Grimm brothers' fairy tale. Hence, its nickname. It is an official New York City landmark, to boot.

The grand, ultra-bourgeoise, Mediterranean-styled mansions of exclusive Shore Road, with their ornate decks and pools, private marble entrance ways and driveways, large pillars and hanging gardens in the summer, take a back seat to the uniqueness of the Gingerbread House.

The Gingerbread House sits at 8220 Narrows Avenue in an exclusively residential area of this Brooklyn neighborhood. It would appear the home, built in 1917, has a new owner, but he or she remains unannounced. "The current owners may just want to keep it that way, never answering the door no matter how many times we knocked," reported The Brooklyn Paper.

Hansel and Gretel, please note.

Meanwhile, in Manhattan, Katie Holmes found new digs away from Tom Cruise, pronto, for Suri and self this Independence Day weekend.  It's in Chelsea (which, actually, is where Tom might consider relocating, frankly, to better suit his lifestyle). A neighbor at the Chelsea Mercantile building told E! News, "This building knows celebrities from the day it has been opened.... The list is long. It is like Hollywood in the east, the Dakota of Chelsea."

It's reportedly a two-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath apartment for about $12,500. A month, that is. That's a lot of gingerbread, too. Maybe she'll visit Dj Buddy Beaverhausen's favorite Chelsea boutique, Rainbows & Triangles, where she'll discover the best in dance-music cds.