Blog Posts by Jennifer Karmon

The exterior walls (shown held up by iron beams) were not replaced. Click either photo to go to an extensive slideshow with many before-and-after shots.Photos of the renovation give sometimes-intimate glimpses of the White House. Here, workmen dismantle a bathtub in room B-17 on the second floor in February 1950.[Click here or on either photo to go to our slideshow of almost three dozen shots.]

It's a story that just about anyone who's ever lived in an old house can relate to:

Soon after moving in, the new occupant started noticing drafts. And noises, too -- popping and creaking.

Workers were called in to take a look, and sure enough, they found some ... issues. Pretty major ones. The house was 150 years old, after all. It had withstood some major remodels already, including modernization of its electrical, heating and plumbing decades earlier. Not to mention it had endured an early fire that burned it right to its outer walls.

One ceiling was sagging 6 inches. The bricks supporting the staircase -- which were bought secondhand decades earlier -- were disintegrating. The nursery was "an outstanding example of a firetrap," the pros said.

But this was no ordinary repair job, as the New York Times wrote at the time (note: link goes to a PDF). The home was the White House, the occupant President

Food coloring in water, elevated. If the liquid scares you, line the tubes in colorful paper. (All photos from Pani Jurek.)Off, a flower-filled chandelier looks ethereal; on, it throws dramatic shadows and sets petals aglow.Designers' ingenuity never fails to inspire us, particularly when it's as simple and elegant as these test-tube chandeliers by Polish designer Pani Jurek.

Both whimsical and endlessly customizable, the chandeliers are available through Etsy in single-tiered and double-tiered versions ($175 and $245 respectively, plus $50 shipping to the United States; click here or on any of the photos to go to the Etsy shop). They're named "Maria S.C.," after Polish scientist and Nobel winner Marie Curie's Polish name.

The chandeliers' possibilities lie not only in what you put into the test tubes but how many of the test tubes you choose to hang and in what configuration, since the tubes are removable.

The single version has 60 test tubes, the double version 96. Both are 18.5 inches across, with about a 43-inch drop from the ceiling, though Pani Jurek can change the length for you. The light bulb, an E27 up to 100 watts, isn't included, but the ceramic bulb socket and ceiling rose are, as are the

Click on the photo to go to a slideshow of the estate. (Photo via Sotheby's International Realty)Here's one of the more unusual home sale restrictions we've come across -- and we aren't referring to the estate's whopping $100 million price tag, although that does indeed put the home among the top five or so most expensive properties in the nation. (The most expensive is the Crespi-Hicks estate, in Dallas of all places, offered at $135 million.)

No, here's the real catch: You can't move in right away.

In fact, who knows when you'll be able to move in.

The property has been in the De Guigné family for 150 years. It's currently owned and occupied by Christian de Guigné IV (pronounced de-GEEN-yay), who was born there 76 years ago, the Contra Costa Times reports, and doesn't plan to leave the estate before he leaves this vale of tears. So it's being offered with the stipulation that the new owner can only move in after De Guigné dies. Quite a contingency, that "life estate" arrangement.

[See also: Why the super-wealthy are buying and selling in secret]

But here's what the farsighted

The Samsung RF31FMESBSR Four-Door Refrigerator is due out in April.Fountain drink aficionados, prepare to fizz.

Samsung announced today that it's collaborating with SodaStream -- manufacturers of the make-your-own-soda machine -- on a refrigerator that will dispense cold soda water, aka sparkling water, right from the door. For those of you who are picky about your bubble density, you'll be able to select from three levels of carbonation, too, just by pushing a button. The fridge uses the same mechanism that dispenses noncarbonated water and ice.

Mix in your syrup and you're ready to go. No more 2-liter bottles to wrangle, no more late-night trips to 7-Eleven to quench your addiction -- you've basically got a soda fountain right there in your refrigerator door. (What, am I alone in my addiction? I can detail for you a hierarchy of my carbonation preferences: fountain first, then glass bottle, plastic bottle, can. And don't get me started on which fast-food joints have the optimum bubble-to-syrup ratio, which are the most consistent, which have the

The buzziest -- or perhaps we should say guzzliest -- moment surrounding Tuesday night's State of the Union address was the slurp heard 'round the world: As Sen. Marco Rubio delivered Republicans' response, he was afflicted with a dry mouth and streeeeeetched to reach his water bottle off-camera.

The Curbed real estate blog has since uncovered evidence that Rubio has long been inclined to give his water a starring role. His West Miami home has been on the market for some time now, and take a look at this property photo:

Care to take a crack at a caption in the comments below?

(Supply your own caption in the comments below.)

P.S. You can click the photo to go to the Rubio home listing, where the bottle makes two more cameos.

From Yahoo! Homes' ever-busy What the ... Department (of which I am executive director, treasurer and receptionist), here is perhaps the most bizarre property listing you'll ever come across:

Barbie's Dreamhouse is listed on Trulia for $25 million.

That's right. The pink plastic one. The one that isn't real*.

Stories like this are always tricky to report. It's a naked gambit by Mattel for publicity, of course, which probably ought to make it an automatic "ignore." (And darn it, the listing isn't on the Yahoo!-Zillow Real Estate Network, either. Boooo.) But at the same time it's a little, well, irresistible ... right? We're assuming some part of you must agree if you're reading this.

So we're succumbing to temptation.

The story goes that Barbie has lived in Malibu, Calif., for more than 40 years, but she's ready for a change. She says she's open to "all seven continents" and is eager to try out her skills with "over 37 languages" she's picked up in her lifetime. And she doesn't require

Well, who knew: Turns out there's quite the cottage industry in real estate infographics based on "The Simpsons." Just last week, we published one that put a price tag on Homer and Marge's house in Springfield, Ore.; today, we received an email from Dimespring pointing out its equally fun graphic taking a look at values for "Simpsons"-like houses in various Springfields across the U.S.

We debated briefly about whether this was too much Simpsons fun for one blog, then collapsed in laughter at what a dumb question that was. You can never have too much "Simpsons"!

You'll see evidence that the graphic is a little dated. Still, we think it's a nice bit of whimsy to share during a workweek that has all too many business days left before the weekend. Hope you agree:

(Credit: Ryan Smith, Dimespring)

More infographics on Yahoo! Homes:

• How much is the "Simpsons" house worth?
• Decorating your home on a budget
• Rental costs, city vs. suburbs
• What color to paint your rooms, and why

It's not often we get to write about home listings that break the nine-figure barrier. Oh, sure, maybe there's a $90 million Woolworth Mansion or a twin mansion package or Yuri Milner's $100 million boondoggle of a house (which the county assessor said was worth half the price). Gianni Versace's Miami villa was listed at $125 million, but it's languishing on the market after a price cut to $100 million. The Spelling Manor was asking for $150 million, but ultimately sold for $85 million.

Now there's a new contender in the neighborhood -- and the neighborhood isn't California, or New York, or any coast at all.

The Crespi-Hicks estate, on 25 bucolic acres just five minutes from downtown Dallas, recently became the most expensive single-family home for sale in the nation, at $135 million. It has more than 40,000 square feet of living space, including a five-story main house, two guesthouses and a pool house, according to Forbes, and was built for the magnificently named Italian Count Pio