With 500 feet of privately owned river frontage (with a dock) this stunning home in Minnesota overlooks the St. Croix River and is set on 17 acres. “The setting is spectacular,” says listing agent Sharon O’Flannigan of Coldwell Banker Realty. “It is completely private and secluded.”
Architecturally designed and built by Vujovich Design, the home features exceptional use of quality materials and details, creating a warm, inviting environment. “The great room, dominated by a stone fireplace, provides intimate spaces for conversation and relaxing,” says O’Flannigan.
Listed for $2.236 million, the home features a pool, pool house, pond and fire pits. “This home would be ideal for a family or couple who enjoy the outdoors, wildlife and the joy of navigating the magnificent St. Croix River,” says O’Flannigan. “It is a home to create memories in a naturally beautiful setting.”
For more details and a full tour of this property, go to www.oflannigan.com.
The world’s most respected boutique luxury cruise line — Aqua Expeditions — is set to enter the coastal cruise market in the fall of 2019, after operating as an Amazon and Mekong River cruise line for the past 12 years. A month ago, Aqua Expeditions finalized the purchase of a long-range, 200-foot explorer yacht originally built for Britain’s Royal Navy. The vessel is now undergoing a complete refurbishment designed, transforming into an ultra-modern luxury expedition cruise ship catering to affluent explorers.
Scheduled to begin full operations in November 2019, the explorer class vessel will serve three new destinations with year-round departures. The full announcement on vessel name, facts, destinations and itinerary details will be released globally on May 8.
The May 8th announcement will also unveil a brand-new, state-of-the-art, luxury river cruise vessel to consolidate Aqua Expeditions’ position as one of the leaders in the river-cruise market. Once this and the recently purchased expedition vessel are in operation, Aqua Expeditions will have doubled its fleet from two to four vessels by mid-2020.
“Even as we grow, as an owner, I remain deeply involved in every aspect of the new vessels – from the minutiae of the design details to the intricacies of the itineraries — just as we did when we started out in 2007,” says CEO Francesco Galli Zugaro. “As with all Aqua Expeditions vessels, we are partnering both with renowned designers and critically acclaimed chefs to provide a world-class experience.”
The fleet expansion and geographic diversification underscore Aqua Expeditions’ long-time dedication to providing highly personalized luxury travel experiences, immersive excursions into the wildlife and culture of each region. Guests will enjoy world-class cuisine and dining experiences by renowned chefs. Highly tailored guest services and itineraries on the designer ships with elegant and contemporary aesthetics demonstrate Aqua Expeditions’ commitment to community, sustainability and preservation. “The new ships and destinations we will reveal next month are certain to intrigue the sophisticated traveler,” Galli Zugaro adds.
Photos courtesy of Aqua Expeditions.
Visually representing a river ecosystem, the Kasparo I table merges interactivity with interior furniture as it magically comes to life when someone enters the room.
By Samantha Myers
Produced from three basic materials — wood, glass and resin — and coupled with cutting-edge LED technology, the Kasparo I table evokes the sense of observing a small creek flowing into a larger river, eventually cascading into a glass waterfall. Created by a team of six in Bystrzyca Kłodzka, Poland, the Kasparo I took over a year to design and each individual table requires 200 hours of hand labor and fifteen intricate stages of execution.
“I think that the table has many connections to nature. But I think the main one is the simple idea that when you go into a forest, you find a river and a tree,” says Rafal Kasprzak, founder of Kasparo. Each table is made from a single tree and after it is finished, a tree is planted in return. Customers receive a certificate of the planting with details of the location.
“We are showing the problems with the forest and the environment and, of course, with the concept of one tree, one table. It’s not a lot, but it helps in a small way and establishes a good point of view to think about the environment,” says Kasprzak.“The idea was also to speak with friends and family around the table and having an interesting story for it.”
Each table is embedded with proximity sensors that begin an animation when someone approaches the table, using simulation of light to suggest water movement. While the animations tend to be 25 seconds long, it can be programmed to meet the customers’ desires — just one of the many customizations Kasparo offers. “The customer can make changes, bigger or smaller, and we have 20 colors of transparent resin,” he says. Although the typical wood used is oak, the client also can choose the type of wood or tree they’d prefer.
Only a year old, the company aims to make no more than 100 Kasparo I tables — providing each one with a certificate of authenticity and a number — and to venture into other designer furniture that will also take inspiration from nature. While not yet in showrooms, the company accepts personalized requests — a complete rarity when it comes to this type of technological innovation in furniture design.
www.kasparo.pl | 5,000 to 12,500
