Hot Home News: Katy Perry, Jon Bon Jovi & Playboy Bunny House

Online, April 21, 2013 (Newswire.com) - This week's Top 10 homes spotlight at TopTenRealEstateDeals.com includes a look at one of Chicago's most important and historic mansions. Mayflower Place was a wedding present in 1917 from John G. Shedd, chairman of Marshall Field & Co, to his daughter Laura who married Charles H. Schweppe, from the Schweppe beverage company family. The home was host to many of the world's most notable members of American and European society including the Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson. Unfortunately, Laura died of a heart attack in 1937 and Charles committed suicide at the home in 1941. The house stood empty for almost 50 years until the late 1980s when new owners did a two-year restoration by 70 craftsmen, including Italian artisans and Bavarian stonecrafters. The 24,500 square foot Schweppe Mansion on Lake Michigan is for sale at $12 million.

In other home news:

Whenever a famous American property goes up for sale, lots of people get excited. In the case of this house, it's mostly men! This is the house, sometimes referred to as the Bunny Hutch, where Hugh Hefner housed a bevy of Bunnies and was the setting for The Girls Next Door TV hit. Across the street from Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion, the Bunny Hutch with 5 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, wine cellar, aviary, grotto pool, sauna and pool house is priced at $11 million.

And speaking of Playboy Bunnies, did anyone know Jon Bon Jovi's mother was one too? Jon married his high school sweetheart, Dorothea almost 25 years ago. They have four children and have been very active in numerous charities including Special Olympics, the American Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity. Now up for sale is the Bon Jovi's 7,452 square foot Soho duplex. It is one of the most expensive homes in New York at $42 million; price includes the furniture.

Katy Perry's 1925 home in the Hollywood Hills is for sale at $6.925 million. Purchased eight months into her marriage to British actor, Russell Brand, apparently things were already getting rocky since they never moved in. Russell filed for divorce six months after the purchase. The home's previous owner was Daniel Laikin who was the CEO of National Lampoon before being convicted of securities fraud and sentenced to prison in 2010. FBI agents, guns drawn, arrested him at this home. Yes, the new owner of this home will get a bonus of hours of cocktail party gossip.

And in Dallas, imagine a choice of horseback riding, fishing, swimming, game room with poker tables, a movie screen, antique gaming machines, a train and arcade, professional zip line and a tree house. Dizzy yet? Add to that, a cigar closet, huge bar and wine room with space for 4,000 bottles, and a table for twelve for your most intimate wine tasting, cheese-nibbling friends. Plus, two barns, a 120-by-160-foot Kiser arena, 20-acre hay pasture, 3-bedroom guesthouse and a manager's home. Asking $11 million.

Real estate is never boring at TopTenRealEstateDeals. Check out today's most entertaining and unusual real estate news stories of the week. News such as weird celebrity homes, haunted homes you can actually buy, and dirty real estate tricks.

TopTenRealEstateDeals.com also features Top 10 Condo Developer Deals, Top 10 upcoming home and condo auctions, and regional real estate agents' choices for the best deals in their areas.

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