Are you looking to live a life of mystery and intrigue? In Carmel, California, a picturesque 12,000-square-foot oceanfront property called The Lodge at Spindrift is now on the market for $29.6 million. If the cliffside residence looks familiar, that’s because it was the filming location of Sharon Stone and Michael Douglas’ 1992 erotic thriller “Basic Instinct”, as well as Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman’s award-winning HBO series “Big Little Lies”.

The place is popular among Hollywood location scouts for a reason. It features five bedrooms, nine bathrooms, two gourmet kitchens — including one with a glass-walled breakfast area where you can take in views of the Pacific Ocean — a grand living room, and 12 fireplaces. Yes, you read that right. 12 fireplaces!

But that’s not all. The Lodge at Spindrift also includes amenities such as a gym, a sauna, a hobby room, a study, a swimming pool inside an atrium, and a two-story library that comes with its own spiral staircase and reading nook — perfect for cozying up with Liane Moriarty’s novel that “Big Little Lies” was based off of. 

Outside, the property has over two acres of naturally landscaped grounds with meandering pathways, an outdoor fire pit, a greenhouse, and even a hot tub with a majestic view of the surrounding cliffs.

“For many years, Hollywood elites have recognized The Lodge at Spindrift as the quintessential coastal estate,” real estate agent Jonathan Spencer told the Evening Standard.

“The home lives like new constructions with the thoughtful and extensive improvements made in recent years. The savvy buyer knows there is still substantial room for price appreciation at its current valuation and will view this property as a trophy piece for generations to come.”

You can learn more about the property (and even take a virtual tour) here.

Wordle has taken over the world and there’s one country that’s better than the rest at solving it. Any guesses which country it could be? Here’s a hint: it’s a six-letter word that starts with the letter S.

According to a study by search tool WordTips, Sweden is the top nation at solving Wordle puzzles, able to get the correct answer in 3.72 guesses on average. Included in the top five are Switzerland (3.78), Poland (3.79), and Australia and Belgium (3.80). America, though it only finished 18th in the world, still has a respectable 3.92 national average.

Taking a closer look at cities, Australia’s urban areas dominate, with Canberra having the highest Wordle average of 3.58 guesses, while Perth, Melbourne, and Adelaide, are included in the top 10. Other best-performing cities are Jerusalem, Malmö, Durban, Paris, Manila, and Geneva — all of which have scores no higher than 3.72.

The study also focuses on U.S. states. North Dakota is country’s top state when it comes to Wordle, with a 3.65 score. The second- and third-placers? Delaware and New Hampshire with 3.70 and 3.73, respectively (though another study found that Granite Staters cheat more than any other state). Other states didn’t do too bad, having scored 3.79 (South Dakota), 3.83 (Vermont and Minnesota), and 3.84 (New York), to name a few.

The U.S. states that are worst at Wordle? Nebraska and Alaska with a 4.22 average.

As for American cities, St. Paul in Minnesota is the best at Wordle with a score of 3.51 —though St. Paul isn’t included in the top cities list from earlier because it’s a small metro compared to the likes of Melbourne and Paris. 

And while Wordle might now be owned by the New York Times, the Big Apple struggles quite a bit with the puzzle. The study reported: “New York’s average score is 3.81, ranking the city #26 out of the 116 U.S. cities with available data.”

Have you ever found yourself trying to break down the logistics of a movie or TV show? Or maybe you’re an amateur real estate agent who prefers crunching possible numbers rather than paying attention to plot points. If you’re at all curious as to how much it would cost to rent an iconic office space from a favorite movie or show, then prepare to be indulged.

VoiceNation, a new outsourced call answering and live chat provider, wanted to break down how much money it would cost to rent some of our favorite on-screen office spaces, and Miranda Priestly’s workplace from “The Devil Wears Prada” pales in comparison to that of Jordan Belfort in “The Wolf of Wall Street”.

By using the average price for office space per square foot in 2021, as well as including prices for standard office equipments like desks, computers, and chairs,  and even looking into how many employees are employees at the real firms these fictional companies are based on, VoiceNation found that Priestly’s office space would cost $2,880,807 a year to rent — which is honestly chump change compared to the 30 Rock offices which are the most expensive at $14,325,300.

Stratton Oakmont, the office from “The Wolf of Wall Street”, is the second most-expensive office space at $10,366,694 annually with the offices from “The Bold Type” coming in third at $9,829,433. Shocker — all the most expensive offices are located in New York City.

Unsurprisingly, Dunder Mifflin from “The Office” only set the company back about $243,347 which is just slightly more expensive than the most affordable office on the list from “The Politician”, which only cost just over $52,000 annually.

You can check out the entire list of famous offices over on VoiceNation’s website and learn more about how the study came together.

A piece of cinematic history has officially hit the market. 

1774 Tinsmith Circle in the peaceful town of Lutz, Florida rose to fame in the classic 1990 film “Edward Scissorhands”. In the beloved film, Johnny Depp plays a sweet young man with scissor blades for hands who falls in love with Kim Boggs, played by Winona Ryder. Now, the three-bed, two-bath home, which belonged to the Boggs family in the Tim Burton film, is officially on the market for $699,900. 

Measuring 1,432 square feet, the home’s sellers have embraced the film’s cult following, while still implementing the updates that are necessary for a modern home. Set back from the street behind a front yard where intricate stonework sits under mature trees and spiraling topiaries, the house has several new updates, including new appliances in the quaint kitchen and new floors in the bedrooms. With a prime location on a corner lot, it has a huge, fenced-in backyard that’s perfect for gathering with friends and family, or just trimming the hedges with your razor hands. 

As you can see on the Instagram page associated with the house, appropriately titled Our_Scissorland, the current owners transformed the property back into one that honors the film, and even operated a free museum inside dedicated to the movie. And seeing as they purchased the property in September 2020 for $224,000 and are now selling it at nearly $700,000, they’re expecting to make a pretty significant profit. Here’s a look at the house’s transformation from classic single-family house to a “Scissorhands”-inspired icon:

In addition to being sold with a boatload of original film memorabilia included, another unique feature of the cozy property, which was built in 1989, is the willingness of the agents to lean into the house’s film history. That’s why superfans are invited to tour the property during the open house, and according to a statement, “selfies and photos are encouraged.”

 “It’s not every day you have the opportunity to sell a house that played such an iconic role in popular culture,” said listing agent Megan Hartnell of CENTURY 21 Affiliated. “The response has been like nothing I’ve ever seen before so we decided to host an open house this weekend to give superfans of the movie an opportunity to tour the property.”

Of course, any eager buyer could easily transform the home into a stylish property that isn’t so Tim Burton-ified. Located in a community called Carpenter’s Run in the town of Lutz, it offers a clubhouse, pool, playground, tennis and basketball courts, as well as a prime location close to the highway. But here’s one thing that won’t fly: The owner refuses to sell to anyone who wants to tear the house down. 

“One thing I will not do,” he told the Tampa Bay Times. “I will not sell it to anyone who would destroy the house.”