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Drew Barrymore Lists Historic 280-Year-Old Westchester Estate For $5 Million 

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Actress Drew Barrymore has put her 280-year-old historical Westchester retreat estate on the market for $5 million after owning it for two years. The six-bedroom, nine-bathroom property has spent the past year being extensively renovated by Barrymore, and now it’s ready to become someone new’s beautiful home.

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Mona Lisa To Be Moved To Private Room As Louvre Undergoes Renovation

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The Mona Lisa is set to get its own private room in the Louvre. As the world’s most visited museum, the Louvre has decided to undergo a major renovation to deal with the “physical ordeal” of the overcrowded building.

Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, delivered a speech in front of the 16th century work of art to announce the move of the Mona Lisa to its own “special space,” claiming he was “humbled” to be in the historic location in front of such an iconic painting. 

In his speech Macron also announced that as of January 1st 2026, museum visitors who are from countries outside of the European Union would have to pay a higher entrance fee. 

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“[The Mona Lisa’s new spot] will be independently accessible compared to the rest of the museum, with its own access pass.”

As it currently stands, the Mona Lisa hangs behind a protective glass in the largest room of the museum. The room also features other 16th century works, and despite its large size, overcrowding has become a major issue due to the historic significance and popularity of the Mona Lisa. 

In 2024 the Louvre had 8.7 million visitors, and more than 75% of those visitors were people from outside of France. Once the renovation is completed, Macron stated that he hopes the museum sees up to 12 million visitors a year. 

The renovation will feature a new grand entrance that will be opened in 2031 as well as new underground rooms to expand the amount of space for various exhibitions. The renovations will be paid for by the museum’s patrons and other resources and not by taxpayers. 

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The last time the Louvre had a major renovation was in the 1980s when its now iconic glass pyramid was first introduced. At the time, the renovation was designed for 4 million annual visitors, which the museum has now doubled. 

The Louvre’s director, Laurence des Cars, said in a note to the cultural ministry “the space below the pyramid was not properly insulated from the cold or heat, tended to amplify noise, and was uncomfortable for both the public and the staff. She also raised the alarm over water leaks, failing infrastructure and temperature swings which endanger the conservation of works of art. Visitors faced overcrowding and substandard facilities.”

 “Today, 9 million visitors a year is obviously a treasure, but the access, flow and security do not allow people to visit the establishment in the best conditions,” he said. 

French media outlets are estimating that the ambitious renovation plan will likely cost hundreds of millions of euros. 

“The Louvre is more than a museum, it’s part of our French identity,” Des Cars said.

Chicago

How Chicago Is Changing The Way You Sell Your Home

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When you think of a top tier real estate agent, you think of someone honest, compassionate, and driven to give you the best deal on a new home while getting you the most money by selling your own. The process of selling your property can definitely be tricky, especially if certain areas of your home are run down, outdated, or just generally not what the current market is looking for. Many well-rounded and established agents will help you budget your money for the best and easiest renovations that can make your property more appealing for buyers. However, there are plenty of sellers who can barely afford their move, and adding in extra space in their budgets for renovations on a property they’re leaving is just not realistic.  Three major agencies in Chicago are testing a way to challenge this issue that’s been affecting so many sellers, and fronting the money to their clients to pay for the renovations.  

Coldwell Banker and a partner, HomeAdvisor, are launching RealVitalize, while Baird & Warner and Berkshire Hathaway Home Services both have deals to hook its clients up with renovation firm Curbio, according to Crain’s Chicago Business Magazine. The different groups have different roles and means of providing these amazing service for its clients, but all essentially have the same goal of providing money for renovations. When they say “renovations” they also mean more cosmetic updates, nothing that’s structural, their main focus is making the homes visually appealing for buyers. Basically it’s an extreme way of “staging” a home for sale. 

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“Buyers typically don’t want to do a lot of work. They want turnkey, move-in ready. But sellers sometimes haven’t redone the home in a decade or more. Maybe it has outdated brown carpeting, or wallpaper on the walls, the sorts of finishes that may turn off shoppers as they click through online listings. Our brokerage’s new offer is a bridge for seller between what the house looks like and what it should look like to get it sold,” said Laura Ellis, president of residential sales at Baird & Warner to Crain’s Magazine. 

Separating from the cost, so many sellers are unaware of what renovations actually need to get done to make their property more attractive to potential buyers. The process of selling a home also already takes up so much time, that scheduling three different contractors to come in and give you estimates just isn’t ideal, however, the process of rehabilitating your old home is often necessary if you want to sell. Just like you would want to move into an already furnished newly renovated home, so will the buyer of your property. So these agencies are using their contractor connections, and expertise to help their clients not only financially, but advice wise as well. They offer all the necessary changes they believe will help sell the house faster, and you know they’re going to offer the bare minimum because they’re the ones initially paying for it!

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“The program removes those obstacles to getting the maximum price and shortening the selling time. While some sellers might enjoy doing the design and material selection themselves and others might use a firm, the brokerages’ programs offer one stop for value and convenience. The key to all the brokerages’ rehab programs is that the seller gets what amounts to an interest-free loan. The cost of the upgrades is paid out of the seller’s proceeds from the eventual sale,” said Ayoub Rabah, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage to Crain’s Magazine. 

Clients aren’t paying any hidden interest, additional fees, or extreme labor rates, and rehabbers make their money from the process by selling their materials to clients in bulk. You’re not only paying the bare minimum for a home face-lift, but you’re also being guaranteed the expertise of these agencies to sell your house for the most amount of money, while costing you the least, making the process nearly impossible to pass up. This type of process is gaining a lot of media attention for its potentially positive impact on the housing market. If these agencies prove over time that this interest-free renovation “loan” type system works, the US is likely to see a large expansion of this method of real estate marketing.