Inside Taylor Swift's $20 million New York penthouse: Plant lover spends four years GROWING his own chapel from shrubs

Inside Taylor Swift's $20 million New York penthouse where beamed ceilings, wooden panel staircases and velvet sofas give it a countryside feel in the HEART of the city  Normally only the singer's inner circle of models and fellow musicians get a chance to see the way she lives. But new pictures found by E! Online have revealed the private - and very expensive - haven of Taylor Swift. The 25-year-old purchased the Tribeca, New York, loft in March last year off Lord of the Rings director, Peter Jackson. Scroll down for video +7 Through the keyhole: New pictures reveal inside Taylor Swift's stunning New York loft +7 Welcome feel: Despite the expansive space, Taylor's maintains a cosy feel despite all the space thanks to stunning wood floors and exposed natural wood beamed ceilings +7 Settled in: The 25-year-old purchased the Tribeca penhouse in March last year off Lord Of The Rings director, Peter Jackson Despite splashing $19.95 million on the penthouse, the deal was done so privately and quickly no one really got too see what the impressive pad had to offer. Now in new pictures taken as part of the initial sale, just what almost $20 million buys you in New York is now available for all too see. While Manhattan may be known for its micro apartments, New York's new ambassador would not know anything about that considering her home is made up of two penthouse apartments combined. +7 Twice as nice: While Manhattan may be known for its micro apartments, New York's new ambassador would not know anything about that considering her home is made up of two penthouse apartments combined +7 Cook up a storm: Best of all, for the Blank Space singer - who likes cupcakes more than clubs - the home has a huge kitchen As the photos show this means the star has plenty of space to entertain with expansive living and dining area plus the loft also boasts nine bedrooms and nine baths. However, Taylor's spot somehow maintains a cosy feel despite all the space thanks to stunning wood floors and exposed natural wood beamed ceilings. Best of all, for the Blank Space singer - who likes cupcakes more than clubs - the home has a huge kitchen with a double chef's quality stove, plentiful counter tops and a big island where the star and her friends can sit around and chat as they cook up a storm. Taylor Swift, Gigi Hadid and Martha Hunt head out in NYC   Taylor is known for throwing girly get together with her friend especially her favourite model pals Karlie Kloss, Martha Hunt and Gigi Hadid. Up until now the snapshots with her pals the singer out up on Instagram have been the only sneak peeks of the property. From those it is clear Taylor has put a lot of effort in making the blank space her own with rustic yet homely furniture and fixtures to match the wood and exposed brick unit. There is so much room that Taylor has even put in a full snooker table which she and her friends regularly have a few games of pool on. Soon the space may not be as girly however, with Taylor's relationship getting very serious with boyfriend Calvin Harris - fortunately there is plenty of room for the DJ to move in if their romance heats up any more than it already is. +7 Girls' nights: Taylor is known for throwing girly get together with her friend especially her favourite pals Ashley Avignone, Karlie Kloss, Martha Hunt and Gigi Hadid (pictured January) +7 Game on: There is so much room that Taylor has even put in a full snooker table which she and her friends regularly have a few games of pool on A Worrisome Pileup of $100 Million Homes  e weet Email More Sa Photo An apartment at the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan is on the market for $125 million. Credit Jennifer S. Altman for The New York Times One of the latest symbols of the overinflated luxury housing market is a pink mansion perched above the Mediterranean on the French Riviera. The 13,000-square-foot property, built and owned by the fashion magnate Pierre Cardin, is composed of giant terra cotta orbs arranged in a sprawling hive. The home’s name befits its price. “Le Palais Bulles,” or “the Bubble Palace,” is being offered for sale at approximately $450 million. Photo A room on the 41st floor of an apartment for sale at the Pierre Hotel.  Credit Jennifer S. Altman for The New York Times The listing is part of a global pileup of homes listed for $100 million or more. A record 27 properties with nine-figure prices are officially for sale, according to Christie’s International Real Estate. That is up from 19 last year and about a dozen in 2014. If you add in high-priced “whisper listings” that are offered privately, brokers say the actual number of nine-figure listings worldwide could easily top 40 or 50. Photo A hallway on the 41st floor of an apartment for sale at the Pierre Hotel.  Credit Jennifer S. Altman for The New York Times “It’s a bumper crop,” said Dan Conn, chief executive of Christie’s International Real Estate. “It’s just a new world in terms of what people are building and offering for sale.” The rise in nine-figure real estate listings comes just as sales of luxury real estate have cooled. Many say the sudden surge in hyperprice homes — often built and sold by speculative investors — is the ultimate bubble signal. Photo A 38,000-square-foot mansion on Carolwood Drive in Los Angeles is listed for $150 million. “When you have a record number of homes for sale at a price point of $100 million or more, that tells you these homes aren’t selling,” said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel Inc., a real estate appraisal and research firm. “It’s not as deep a market as some might hope.” Last year, only two homes in the world sold for over $100 million, according to Christie’s. One was a 9,455-square-foot house in Hong Kong purchased for $193 million by Jack Ma, the chief of Alibaba. The other was a townhouse in London that sold for $132 million. This year, a ranch in Texas went on the market for $700 million and a home in Dallas listed for $100 million. Both sold, but the actual sale prices have not been disclosed. Photo The Playboy mansion in Los Angeles.  Credit Hilton & Hyland/Christie’s International Real Estate, via Associated Press The last time a sudden pop in $100 million-plus listings occurred was in 2007 and 2008, just before the housing crash. In 2008, at least four homes in the world listed for nine figures. Only one ended up selling for close to that. A mansion in Palm Beach owned by Donald Trump and listed for $100 million sold for $95 million. (Mr. Trump says it sold for $100 million.) A 103-room mansion in Surrey, England, called Updown Court, was listed for $138 million, but sold in 2011 for about $50 million. A log mansion planned for the Yellowstone Club in Montana, with a promised price of $155 million, was never built, and the land sold for $10 million. Of course, anyone can slap a $100 million price tag on a home to get attention. Yet actual sales of nine-figure homes are rare, even in good times. Between 2011 and 2016, only 15 homes in the world have sold for $100 million or more, according to Christies, and five of those were in 2014. Photo Sycamore Valley Ranch, once Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch, near Santa Barbara, Calif., is going for $100 million.  Credit Hilton & Hyland/Christie’s International Real Estate “The era of aspirational pricing is over, and I’m not sure it ever really worked,” Mr. Miller said. “These prices get headlines, but the properties just don’t sell.” Brokers promoting the listings say their properties are one-of-a-kind masterpieces — like Picassos or Modiglianis — that rarely come on the market. They add that the more than 1,800 billionaires in the world see property as a safer store of wealth than stocks or art. Mr. Conn estimates that of the 27 nine-figure listings, a third will sell for under $100 million, a third will sell for around $100 million and a third for far more. Photo Rancho San Carlos in Montecito, Calif., was built in 1929. Credit Jim Bartsch “I don’t think it’s a sign of a bubble,” Mr. Conn said. “It’s a sign of growing wealth in the world and the quality of some of the new construction.” Yet the market for megamansions and penthouses has cooled significantly in the last year. Prices for homes in the top 5 percent of the real estate market fell 1.1 percent in the first quarter of 2016, according to Redfin. Prices for the rest of the housing market increased 4.7 percent. Brokers say the very top of the market — consisting of eight- and nine-figure homes — is faring the worst as slowing economies overseas and volatile stock markets have spooked buyers. The supply of homes for the rich exploded as builders aimed at the high end after the financial crisis. Of the 10 most expensive listings in the world, seven are in the United States and four of these are in Los Angeles. The most expensive listing in the world is the $500 million compound being built in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles by Nile Niami, a film producer and speculative builder. The property will have a 74,000-square-foot main house, a 30-car garage and a “Monaco-style casino.” In nearby Holmby Hills, a more modest 38,000-square-foot mansion, built by the investor and developer Gala Asher, came on the market in April for $150 million. The ultramodern house, on the prestigious Carolwood Drive, has a 5,300-square-foot master suite and a club level with bar, dance floor, wine room, lap pool, theater complex, beauty parlor and massage rooms. The property also includes several guesthouses and staff housing. The broker, Ginger Glass, said the price of the property was justified. “Buyers today want new construction,” she said. “And there isn’t anything that’s new like this in such a great location.” Still more nine-figure homes are on the way. Real estate agents and developers say a home under construction in Bel Air is likely to have more than 50,000 square feet of living space, with finishes rivaling a superyacht’s. The price will be yacht-like, too, at around $300 million. Among the home’s amenities: the world’s largest safe.

What a View! Whoopi Goldberg's idyllic Victorian barn where she spent 30 years with late brother and mother sells for $2 million ($750,000 over the asking price!) Sister Act actor and The View host bought the 1890 property in Berkeley, California, in 1985 Her brother Clyde Johnson lived there full-time while Whoopi jet-setted for acting jobs Since his unexpected death of a brain aneurysm in May, Whoopi has decided to move on The property, with a three-bed main house and three-bed cottage, went for $750,000 above asking price This is Whoopi Goldberg's idyllic Victorian barn which has been snapped for $2 million just 10 days after hitting the market. The estate in Berkeley, California, features a three-bed main house, a detached three-bed cottage, and a tree-lined patio. And though it may look quaint, it has five garages fit for an A-list homeowner. So perhaps it is no wonder the place went for $750,000 higher than the asking price just over a week after it was listed. +20 Quaint but extravagant: From the outside, Whoopi Goldberg's Victorian home looks low-key, but it has been snapped up for $2 million +20 Complete with barn: The estate consists of a main house and a barn/cottage, which was erected ten years later +20 Both buildings sit on a plot of land that measures about a third of an acre with stretches of grass and delicate green trees +20 Earthy: This is the astonishing master bedroom in the barn, with vast eaved ceilings and a wood fireplace +20 Outside: The new homeowner, who paid $750,000 above the asking price, can enjoy Sunday mornings on this shrouded porch +20 More than your average barn! The skylight hallway leads to a tiled bathrooms with floor-to-ceiling glass sliding doors, and a fireplace +20 Modern take on a classic: Though the barn was built as a community center, it has been renovated into an idyllic home +20 Roll up, roll up! The home has five garages for cars. Originally it houses horse-drawn ambulances for the local community +20 Aerial view: This shot of the property, which was snapped up within 10 days of it hitting the market, shows the luxurious plot of land +20 +20 Whoopi Goldberg bought the home in 1985. Her mother Emma Johnson (pictured together, left) lived there until she died in 2010 Whoopi, 59, bought the property in 1985 for a mere $335,000, according to Yahoo! Homes. While the Sister Act actor's career took her all over the world, her brother Clyde Johnson lived there full-time. According to Yahoo!, their mother spent her last years in the renovated barn with Clyde and Whoopi until she passed away in 2010. Now, after Clyde's unexpected death following a brain aneurysm in May, Whoopi has decided to move on. The new homeowner will enjoy 1,500 square feet in the main house, which was built in 1890. Ten years later, the barn was built to house ambulances, it is said, before being turned into a community hall. A century on, it is a three-bedroom outhouse with beamed ceilings, French windows and modern lighting. +20 Bright and modern: In the main house, guests can luxuriate on these pop color chairs among wooden beams +20 High quality: There is plenty of space between stone-lined fireplaces and marble-topped kitchen bars +20 A family home: Whoopi's mother spent the last years of her life in this high-end but low-key home +20 Practical: The new homeowner can look forward to the multiple kitchen spaces for daily life or hosting +20 Bright lights: Gaping windows allow California sunlight to pour into the bedrooms +20 Traditional: Each of the six bedrooms are lined with traditional wood and simple furniture +20 A space for children? A family moving in here could use this heart-engraved room with light colors for a child's space +20 Study: This simple space would work perfectly for a study or office space +20 Smile! The new owners have been left with a small symbol of joy as they take the home where Whoopi has spent 30 years   Plant lover spends four years GROWING his own chapel from shrubs – and eight hours primping the structure each time he hosts a wedding Barry Cox dedicated four years of his life to constructing an enchanting church made completely from living trees Using a tree spade that can uproot matured trees, Mr Cox relocated a variety of trees to create the complex structure While he initially built the space for his own enjoyment, Mr Cox has now opened the grounds up to the public Sprawling across 1.2 hectares, it takes around eight hours of 'primping' before the space is ready for an event A man from New Zealand has dedicated four years of his life to carefully training tree branches so he could construct an enchanting church made completely from living trees. Using his trademark Tree Spade, Barry Cox, who once aspired to be the Pope, was able to relocate a variety of mature trees to create a unique and structurally complex church on his 1.2 hectare property near Cambridge, located on New Zealand's north island.  After spending several years of his youth on the back of a motorcycle, exploring Europe and America, Mr Cox developed a deep appreciation for church architecture, according to Stuff.co.nz. Drawing on that passion, the tree specialist decided that he would try his hand at creating a structure with 'distinctly different' plants that would highlight the vast proportions of his unorthodox church, echoing a style common in masonry churches. Scroll down for video  +10 Using his trademark Tree Spade, Barry Cox was able to relocate a variety of mature trees to create a unique and structurally complex church on his 1.2 hectare property Saturated in natural light, the dappled rays shine on a floor of bright green grass which is offset by a noteworthy marble alter that was taken from Mr Cox's own family church. The roof is made from Cut Leaf Alder, chosen for its sparse foliage which allows an abundance of light to shine into the church, even on the coldest winter's day. The walls are made from an Australian tree that boasts thick and textured greenery called Copper Sheen.  The space seats around 100 people and is currently supported by a temporary iron frame, which in a few yeas will be replaced by branches from the roof.   +10 The roof is made from Cut Leaf Alder, chosen for its sparse foliage which allows an abundance of light to shine into the church, even on the coldest winter's day +10 The walls are made from an Australian tree that boasts thick and textured greenery called Copper Sheen +10 Saturated in natural light, the dappled rays shine on a floor of bright green grass which is offset by a noteworthy marble alter that was taken from Mr Cox's own family church +10 A Labyrinth walk is a single circuitous path that winds its way into the center often used during meditation  While Mr Cox orignially designed the unique space for his own enjoyment, he bowed to pressure from friends and relatives in January, finally opening the magical property's wrought iron gates to the public.  As couples line up to say their vows in the one-of-a-kind venue, Mr Cox revealed he spends around eight hours 'primping' the grounds before it is ready for an event.  'It takes me five hours to mow the lawns and at least three hours of final primping to get the gardens and Tree Church to the standard I need to be happy for an event,' he told Stuff.co.nz. +10 While Mr Cox orignially designed the unique space for his own enjoyment, he bowed to pressure from friends and relatives in January, finally opening the magical property's wrought iron gates to the public +10 As couples line up to say their vows in the one-of-a-kind venue, Mr Cox revealed he spends around eight hours 'primping' the grounds before it is ready for an event +10 The space seats around 100 people and is currently supported by a temporary iron frame, which in a few yeas will be replaced by branches from the growing roof Devoted to giving condemned tree's a second life, much of the greenery that now stands on Mr Cox's property was liberated from surrounding areas.  'People know how much I love trees so they call me when there are trees that would otherwise be cut-down or removed. I go and kind of rescue them.' Relocating trees that have already been given the chance to mature means that Mr Cox's garden does not look four years old, it appears to have been established decades before. The expansive grounds, which hosts events twice a week, also features a calming Labyrinth walk and a large canopy constructed from a Military cargo parachute.  +10 Devoted to giving condemned tree's a second life, much of the greenery that now stands on Mr Cox's property was liberated from surrounding areas +10 Relocating trees that have already been given the chance to mature means that Mr Cox's garden does not look four years old, it appears to have been established decades before