This has got to be one of the most stunning residences that Stuart Tanner Architects has created: a breathtaking modern retreat house that sits on a cliff between the Tasman National Park and the Pirate’s Bay Beach.

This beautiful home offers unhindered view of its natural surroundings but also protects that environment by minimizing its physical and environmental footprints.

What’s so great about this house is its eco-friendly theme. The passive heating and cooling through cross-ventilation, on site waste water management, rainwater harvesting, and exterior sun screens all testify to that fact. These are truly some of the most impressive architectural components that make this project green.

This is a great example of a residential project that blends together the subtle, elegant lines of modern architecture with environmentally sustainable goals.

Take a look at this grand staircase. Isn’t it amazing?. This staircase is in a mansion that was named after the famous Soong Sisters who came Singapore from China. This is just of course urban legend. Nobody is certain if the sisters did in fact live there.

There are those who claim that the mansion is house is haunted.

This is a pretty although somewhat gloomy picture of the mansion. It certainly doesn’t look haunted in the daytime.

The mansion’s exterior looks really great. The trees framing it even give the mansion a classic look, and help set the mood.

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Photos courtesy of DanielKHC

Photo credit: w.marsh

The Ouerbacker mansion at 1633 W. Jefferson St. Built in the Richardsonian Romanesque style in the 1860s by coffee merchant, Samuel Ouerbacker (1841-1922). For part of the 1920s and 1930s, it also served as the home of an African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church bishop, the Rev. George C. Clement.

Built in the 1860s, the grand but deteriorating Ouerbacker mansion, is one of the finest residences ever built in the Russell neighborhood.  For about 70 years the mansion was used for a tax business, starting in the 1930s. Because of unpaid taxes, the city took over it and has been for the last couple of years entered on the Louisville Historical Leagues list of most endangered properties.

Photo credit: w.marsh

The mansion is named after Samuel Ouerbacker (1841-1922), a prominent coffee merchant who lived there. Ouerbacker was the son-in-law of Alexander Gilmore (1826-1891), a steamboat captain who also lived there.

During the 1920s and 1930s, it also served as the home of the Rev. George C. Clement, a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.

The Louisville & Jefferson County Landbank Authority’s request for proposals says that it is “one of the relatively few remaining examples of the Richardsonian Romanesque style of architecture” in the region and that the “distinguished Louisville architectural firm of Clarke and Loomis designed the buildings facade.” The wrap-around facade of the Ouerbacker Mansion is thought to have been added later.

Photo credit Express Monorail

Located at the Magic Kingdom of Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, as seen from the Liberty Belle Riverboat. The Haunted Mansion is a beautiful structure, which is one of the most popular buildings in Disney World.

As you walk through the creepy doors of the mansion, you feel a chill run down your spine, past the gravestones and into the awaiting chamber. Beware as the sudden darkness envelops you.

Watchful eyes follow your every move. The poor heart-broken and lonely bride. The dancing ghosts and those behind closed doors waiting for you. There are 999 ghosts haunting the mansion.

Actually, there are only a little more than 300 ghosts in the mansion. The only time you are in the haunted mansion is when you are in the elevator room. When you leave this room you go into a large warehouse which is where the ride is. When you’re passing by the poor soul trying to get out of the coffin smell the air because there are fans blowing the scents of flowers toward you.

The doors which someone or some bodies are trying to escape are made of an elastic material and are the most replaced part in the haunted mansion. Years of planning went into this ride. At first it was to be a walk thru but to accommodate the thousands of people who come daily the brains at Disney World decided to make it a ride in your Doombuggie.

Villa Berenice is a magnificent Italian villa that can accommodate fourteen people. With its private swimming pool, terraces, a garden, and a wonderful view of the seascape and both the Sorrento and Amalfi Coasts, the villa is like paradise on earth.

Villa Berenice, located at the heart of the Sorrento Peninsula, is a two-story house with 7 bedrooms, 8 bathrooms, two large living-rooms, a room with a fireplace and two computers, a dining-room, and a large kitchen.

At Villa Berenice, you can enjoy the 10 x 4 meter (about 33 x 13 feet) swimming-pool where you also get a good view of the seascape and the coast. Next to the swimming-pool there is a whirlpool bathtub — a perfect spot to relax.

Villa Berenice sits on an isolated, prominent and panoramic area in the mountainous peninsula, separating the Gulf of Naples from the Gulf of Salerno. The villa is located right where the promontory starts to narrow, and from its terraces, you can enjoy a stunning panoramic view of the beautiful scenery, which during your stay here, you will never get tired of admiring.

The villa is surrounded by a large garden distributed on several levels and by a hilly and woody land which is part of a protected area. The house is about 20 meters (about 66 feet) away from the road which connects Sorrento and the hamlet called Sant’Agata sui due Golfi.

Villa Virginia is a splendid Italian villa that’s about 300 square meters with a splendid view of the sea. This luxury villa can accommodate 14 guests and boasts of a private swimming pool, large terraces as well as a garden.

With seven bedrooms with their own private bathrooms, Villa Virginia also offers a large living room with a fireplace, a kitchen and terraces. The swimming pool is one of the attractions of this villa, as it boasts of a whirlpool corner plus a changing room with a toilet, external showers with hot and cold water.

This lovely Villa is located about 1 kilometer (0.8 miles) from the village of Santa Maria di Castellabate, and about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) from the sea, in a lofty position on a pine-tree covered hill that offers a stunning view of the bay of Santa Maria di Castellabate.

The two-story building is surrounded by private fenced grounds of 1000 square meters (10000 square feet). Both stories have large terraces. Here at Villa Virginia you will enjoy every moment of your stay and will cherish this feeling for a long time when you are back home.