The Vince Carter Team Real Estate Blog: March 2010

Last July, an 80-year-old Louisville neighborhood gem was resuscitated: Zanzabar, Louisville's  "newest music venue (slash) neighborhood pub." http://www.zanzabarlouisville.com/ After "countless hours massaging 80-year-old tile," the old restaurant opened with a new zest, attracting residents and visitors from all over. With a winning combination of comfort cuisine, atmosphere, and music, Zanzabar is sure to outlive its glory days of old.

With chef Jamie Jones on staff, the Zanzabar menu is a hit. They offer cafeteria-style lunchlines for lunch and dinner, plus "Zanwichez," "Soupz," "Saladz," "Appetizerz," "Sidez," and "Dessertz," plus "Entreéz" such as Peppercorn Crusted Ribeyes, Fish of the Day, Chicken Cynthia, and St. Joseph's Veggie Pasta. In addition to these uniquely tasty offerings, Zanzabar  also offers catering,  boxed lunches,  and a beer menu.

If good food isn't enough to satisfy your appetite, you'll be encouraged to know that Zanzabar is the place to enjoy some of the best rising regional bands and musicians. Featuring all kinds of music from bluegrass to jazz to rave, the Zbar  has a night out waiting for you. Upcoming shows include Adventure, Supertruck,  Fanfarlo,  DJ Glittertitz, Electric Six,  Lucky Pineapple, Prizzy Prizzy Please, David Vandervelde, Ghostfinger, and more-all in the month of April!

Transformed from a place in the past where students danced the night away drinking whiskey and wine to a place reborn thanks to a new generation, Zanzabar has the fresh atmosphere, menu, and entertainment lined up to ultimately guarantee its presence in Germantown for years to come. And as one of the few locally owned and operated joints in the neighborhood, it has the quaint feel and service necessary to guarantee that survival, gaining more and more loyal patrons each week. Check it out for yourself-you'll return again and again!

Brought to you by your Louisville living experts, The Vince Carter Team. For more information on Louisville dining, entertainment, or living opportunities, contact The Vince Carter Team.

Golf, swimming, tennis, block parties, and more. Why leave the comfort of your own street for entertainment when you can find it right where you live? Glenmary Country Club  is surrounded by a neighborhood that eliminates the need for its residents to look elsewhere for a night out.

Glenmary neighborhood and Country Club is located off Bardstown Road near the Gene Snyder Freeway. Its location allows residents the close access to the city where they work and shop without sacrificing the quality living and fresh air that the rolling green hills that golf courses provide.

Glenmary provides its residents many amenities, one of which is the quality golf course headed by golf pro Jack Ridge.  Memberships to the course include singles, couples, or young residents for a price range of $500 to $3,990 for yearly passes. Monthly dues are also available for singles, couples, families, those seeking to play only on weekdays, junior executives, corporate members, and more.

If golf isn't what you're looking for, Glenmary still meets your recreational needs through its swimming pools and tennis courts.  Membership allows access to these three amenities, plus to social events such as block parties sponsored by the neighborhood.

Glenmary even provides residents a place to host yearly celebrations such as weddings, baby showers, and other parties of all kinds. This historic location is a terrific choice for your next gathering, and imagine the ease with which you could pull it off living only a street away from the club house!

Family attractions at Glenmary  include regular dining in the clubhouse, Karaoke every Friday night, and block parties. Neighbors are sure to get to know each other and make lifelong friends at these events. These events provide a perfect opportunity for children to make playmates and great memories to carry with them throughout life.

Convinced yet that Glenmary is the place for you to call home? If not, just browse through their available homes for sale, and you're sure to change your mind. Offering custom built homes with luxurious amenities, Glenmary has what you're looking for in the decision of a lifetime, your dream home.

For help relocating to Glenmary, please contact The Vince Carter Team. Agents with The Vince Carter Team have the experience, knowledge, and resources necessary to find exactly what you're looking for. Call today!

Nestled in the center of Old Louisville, The Highlands, Germantown, and Downtown Louisville stands a restored pair of Civil War era buildings from 1862. Because of Eric David Gould and his wife Lynn, these buildings today still stand tall, and boast home to Louisville's Best Barbeque, Smoketown USA.

Smoketown USA BBQ offers "a unique gathering place where you will enjoy awesome food and the fun of browsing the ever changing array of ‘yard sale' items that decorate the store." http://www.smoketownusa.com/about_us.htm Everything in the store is for sale-including tables, chairs, photos on the walls, etc.-and visitors can both shop their items or sell their own on consignment. But clearly the yard sale isn't what makes this place noteworthy.

No, instead, it's the quality food that brings people back to Smoketown USA BBQ  again and again. Offering its patrons "a mouth-watering array of tasty barbeque ribs, pit-smoked chicken, beef, pork, and delicious homemade vegetarian-based side dishes that are guaranteed to feed [the] spirit," http://www.smoketownusa.com/index.htm this restaurant combines taste and value like no other in the city. With ribs ranging in price from $7-20, chicken from $7-10, and sandwiches for $7, your dollar goes a long way. Check out their menu for yourself here.

In fact, customers love the tastes and prices of Smoketown USA BBQ so much that they even choose Smoketown for their catering needs. The restaurant can cater  for any kind of event-from smoked Barbeque buffets to elegant dinners, there is no need to look further for your catering needs if barbeque is on your menu!  They even offer boxed lunches, a great option for corporate outings, events, and meetings.

Eric Gould has made Smoketown USA BBQ a successful Louisville business, and others have opportunities through Smoketown to network and do the same. Every final Thursday of the month, Smoketown USA BBQ  hosts a "standing room only" business networking event, inviting business owners to come, network, and enjoy terrific food. Each person who attends has opportunity to stand and give a two-minute commercial about his company, products, and services to the rest of the crowd, taking advantage of a room full of ideas, drive, and ambition. Because this monthly event fills up so quickly, RSVPs are highly encouraged.

Enjoy Smoketown USA BBQ any Tuesday through Thursday from 11am-9pm or on Friday and Saturday from 11am to 10pm. You'll come home with your hunger satisfied, your thirst quenched, and with perhaps a few extra knick knacks to add to your own collection.

For more information on Louisville  dining, entertainment, and living opportunities, please contact The Vince Carter Team. Associates at The Vince Carter Team  are equipped to meet all of your real estate needs, with a thorough understanding of the Louisville area.

Tired of the noise of city life? Ready to see the stars again but not ready to sacrifice fast access to the city where you work and shop? Looking for an upscale neighborhood just outside the city limits that you can call home? Beech Spring Farm  may just be the place for you. Located off Highway 22 on Barbour Lane, Beech Spring Farm allows its residents access to the city and the serenity and beauty of nature in one location.

Beech Spring Farm features 350 lots that are divided into sections deemed "villages," each featuring different lot sizes and styles of homes. This division allows residents to enjoy a street of homes with similar tastes, size, and architecture to their own, while still maintaining the unique individual design that makes a homeowner proud. Here homes can stand out for their beauty and style within "genres" of living, giving this neighborhood a class and taste unmatched by any other in the Louisville area or beyond.

In addition to its unique setup for its homes, Beech Spring Farm also offers a variety of amenities to its residents. These amenities include wooded areas, creeks, a lake, walking trails, and over sixty-five acres of open space. Clearly this is not the typical house-sitting-on-top-of-house neighborhood that we are all used to. Beech Spring Farm leaves residents room to breathe.

Homes in Beech Spring Farm range in price from $450,000 to nearly $2,000,000, affording Louisville homebuyers  a wide price range to match their specific budgets. With such a selection, Beech Spring Farm surely has a perfect home waiting for you and your family.

For help finding your perfect home in this outstanding neighborhood, contact The Vince Carter Team.  This team has the skills, tools, and drive necessary to help you find your best home now. Reach The Vince Carter Team at 502-554-9514.

To search for homes that are currently available in this stunning neighborhood, click here: Beech Spring Farm.

*Information regarding one of the builders and the neighborhood found at http://www.canfielddevelopment.com/bsf.asp#

The Speed Art Museum in Louisville has made great strides toward accomplishing its one main goal: bringing great art and people together. Since its renovation and expansion in 1997, the museum has served over 180,000 guests each year. What keeps the visitors coming?

For one, The Speed Art Museum is the main art museum of the state of Kentucky.  Its holdings include everything from ancient Egyptian art to contemporary art, spanning over 6,000 years in over 13,000 pieces. And unique to this particular museum, it features paintings, sculpture, furniture, and decorative arts native to Kentucky artists and consumers.  In addition to these perks, the museum also includes: distinguished collections of 17^th century Dutch and Flemish paintings, 18^th century French art, Renaissance and Baroque tapestries, contemporary American painting and sculpture, and a growing collection of African and Native American works. http://www.speedmuseum.org/about_the_museum.html

Plus The Speed Art Museum is always featuring outstanding exhibitions to keep its returning customers satisfied. Currently the museum is hosting "The Most Famous People in the World: Karsh 100":

Eminent photographer Yousuf Karsh made a career photographing the world's most famous actors, artists, and statesmen. During his career he held 15,312 sittings, produced more than 150,000 negatives including the most famous men and women of the twentieth century. This great portraitist's work features iconic images of Albert Einstein, Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, Ernest Hemingway, Pablo Picasso, Mother Teresa, just to name a few. Admission is free for museum members, $10 for non-members. This exhibition was organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.  (Courtesy of http://www.speedmuseum.org/exhibitions.html )

This fantastic exhibition runs from March 12^th to June 27^th this year at The Speed Art Museum.

Other regular offerings of the museum include its educational programs, which feature school tours, teacher resources, lesson plans, a special gallery, family and community programs, adult programs, teaching ideas, a youth apprentice program, an art explorer program, classroom writing prompts,  participation program grants, and more.

Visit The Speed Art Museum of Louisville any Wednesday through Saturday, 10am to 5pm, or Sunday from noon to 5pm, and find out for yourself how fantastic this place really is.

Don't let its short existence fool you-despite the fact that Porcini Italian Restaurant has only been around since 1992, it is one of the finest Italian dining experiences in Louisville.  Located on Frankfort Avenue in Crescent Hill, the restaurant specializes in Northern Italian Cuisine and has received amazing reviews from Reader's Choice, The Courier Journal,  and HotBytes.com.

With two rotating menus available, one for regular dining and one for summer patio days, Porcini Italian Restaurant  keeps customers satisfied and loyal. There is no need to look elsewhere for a night out, as the restaurant is always serving new and delicious menu items.  These items are all appropriately and competitively priced, allowing patrons a gourmet meal followed by an agreeable bill.  And what Italian Restaurant would be complete without a full cellar of fine wine?  Porcini offers red, sparkling, and white wines ranging in price from $10 to $250, meeting the needs of both your taste buds and your budget.

In addition to its excellent regular menu offerings for small parties, Porcini Italian Restaurant in Louisville also has a Private Room available for parties of six to fifty-five people for all sorts of special occasions. In fact, the restaurant promises, "the experience and success record to assure that every Special Event in [its] restaurant is flawless" (Emphasis mine). http://www.porcinilouisville.com/private.html The restaurant employs Special Events Managers to help plan the décor and menu to fit your event like a glove. Their professional service "allows you to focus on your mission, not the details..." http://www.porcinilouisville.com/private.html Plus they are willing to work with any budget to help create a menu perfect for your event. Because of this Private Room  offering, Porcini ccasionally hosts special events, available for viewing at its website.

You can enjoy the fine Louisville dining offered at Porcini Italian Restaurant in Crescent Hill Monday through Thursday from 5:30-10:30 or Friday and Saturday from 5:30 to 11pm. The restaurant is closed on Sundays.

Porcini Italian Restaurant is another gem of Louisville's Crescent Hill neighborhood.  For more information on this upscale Louisville area, please contact The Vince Carter Team.

Who says you have to leave your hotel to be entertained? Louisville visitors  can lodge and be entertained in the same place by staying at 21C Museum Hotel in Louisville.  How exactly does the place pull it off? By providing "a 90-room boutique hotel, contemporary art museum, award-winning restaurant and cultural civic center nestled in the heart of Museum Row in historic downtown Louisville." http://www.21chotel.com/hotel/default.aspx

21C Museum Hotel is America's only museum dedicated to 21^st century art. It truly is "a modern epicenter for culture, activity, and artistic expression." http://www.21chotel.com/hotel/default.aspx With its luxury hotel rooms, fine dining restaurant, and modern art museum, this hotel offers an  experience unlike any other. How?

Patrons Staying at 21C Museum Hotel in Louisville  are afforded exclusive amenities:
*High ceilings, large windows, exposed brick walls
*Plush bedding, custom furniture
*Bath amenities, plush bathrobes
*Nightly turndown service with chocolates
*Fully stocked mini bar
*Preprogrammed iPods with a docking station and wide variety of music
*42" HDTV flatscreen TV with full cable line up
*100% Egyptian cotton sheets
*Silver mint julep cups
*Complimentary high speed Internet, wireless included
*Gourmet coffee makers
*Spacious work desks with ergonomic chairs
*Executive business center
*In-house spa with sauna, steam room, and workout facility
*Valet parking  
*Room service from Proof restaurant
*Access to Proof Bar
*100% smoke-free facilities

In addition to these outstanding amenities on its hotel front, 21C Museum Hotel also is home to one of the best restaurants in Louisville, Proof on Main.  This restaurant "offers a winning combination of inventive yet accessible food and beverage paired with warm, professional service to downtown Louisville... [and was] named as one of ‘Best New Restaurants 2006,' by Esquire." http://www.proofonmain.com/proof/default.aspx  Aside from its outstanding service for small parties, Proof on Main also offers an outstanding venue for corporate meetings and private events in Louisville.  These gatherings can take advantage of the restaurant's spacious meeting rooms, board room for presentations, museum galleries, and catering, among other offerings. The restaurant's full menu  includes breakfast, lunch, dinner, bar, dessert, and room service.  The drink offerings include wines, drinks by the glass, Quartinos, signature cocktails and beers, bourbon, and bourbon flights.

If fine quarters and dining aren't enough, 21C Museum Hotel has one more feature that's sure to impress: its exclusive 21^st century art galleries. This museum is "North America's first museum dedicated solely to collecting and exhibiting contemporary art of the 21^st century...[hosting] a series of dynamic group and solo exhibitions featuring emerging artists alongside acclaimed international artists..." http://www.21cmuseum.org/museum/default.aspx And "with over 9,000 square feet of exhibition space, as well as a dedicated video lounge, the museum features [a combination of] group and solo exhibitions [with] permanent, commissioned installations." http://www.21cmuseum.org/museum/visitor/overview.aspx The gallery is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with video installations running 7am to 1am.

21C Museum Hotel  has a bed, a table, and a piece of artwork waiting for you. Contact them now to drop in for a visit, and continue to discover why Louisville  is a terrific place to live.

One of the many eclectic stops along Baxter Avenue in Louisville that draws more and more patrons each month is Quill's Coffee.  Quill's captures the essence of the Highlands in Louisville with a single cup of coffee.

Founder and co-owner of Quill's Coffee, Nathan Quillo was raised with roots deep in coffee: "I understood the coffee-shop culture... Literature and music, discussing politics..." http://www.quillscoffee.com/history/ This understanding of coffee shop culture also led him in understanding and connecting directly to the culture of the Louisville Highlands neighborhood.  Nathan partnered with his brother Gabriel and decided on the shop's name easily, as perfectly it "embodied the spirit of the future shop." Nathan explains, "It stands for my family, our history...quills and parchment, literature, storytelling. Coffee has its own story to tell, where it's come from historically, geographically. There's a story in each cup." http://www.quillscoffee.com/history/ 

And Nathan's story of how he and Gabe made it all happen tells it best:
                We wanted to create a place that valued coffee. There's such a popularity in beer tasting and
              wine culture-to explore fine products and flavor profiles. Coffee, in its third wave, is joining
              that culture. In the first wave you had the instant coffees and popular kitchen coffees-poor
              beans with tons of caffeine, but they taught Americans to drink coffee. Then you had the second
              wave: the early 90s, and Gen X coffee shops, grungers and flannel and the Seattle scene-
              Starbucks and lattes.
                Now you have this third wave where it's really being refined....[placing] value on the farms and
              farmers and how it's prepared-everything from properly brewing a cup of coffee to pulling
              shots to making drinks that enhance espresso and don't hide it....[we] knew that was something
              we wanted to capture and be about. We wanted to celebrate coffee and know that it's this
              amazing gift the earth gives us.  (Courtesy of http://www.quillscoffee.com/history/ )

These brothers clearly have a profound passion for and understanding of coffee. But that's not all their amazing Quill's Coffee shop offers. They also launched a line of Novel Artisan Teas, consisting of fourteen tea blends. Additionally, they recently partnered with a local chocolatier, Erika Chavez-Graziano of Cellar Door Chocolates.   By moving her operation to Quill's Coffee, she will offer the terrific combination of a Quill's Coffee cup with one of her signature espresso truffles, classic bourbon balls, or other handmade gourmet confections.   Enjoy your cup and chocolate while admiring the work of local artist Douglas Miller.

Find Quill's Coffee at 930 Baxter Avenue any Sunday through Thursday from 7am to 11pm or Friday & Saturday from 7am to midnight. Or contact Quill's to request a meeting room reservation.

For more information about this great city and all the outstanding coffee shops, contact The Vince Carter Team!

Nestled near downtown Louisville, there is a neighborhood with the history, class, eccentricities, nature, and entertainment necessary to draw the attention of both Louisville visitors and Louisville home buyers. The Highlands, an area of Louisville centered on the streets surrounding Bardstown Road and Baxter Avenue and sitting on a ridge between two forks of Beargrass Creek, is the envy of every person who has visited the community.

Composed of many single-family residences  that range from working-class neighborhoods to the most upscale homes in Louisville, the Highlands caters to a wide variety of Louisville home buyers.  Many Highland neighborhoods have the highest percentage of college graduates and average income in Louisville. These residents take pride in their section of the city, and because of this, the Highlands has become well-known in Louisville for its many niches.

The Highlands is perhaps best known for its pedestrian-friendly community and its strip of eclectic shops and restaurants. The Highlands has developed a community committed to preserving the environment, and this is one reason that this community has successfully created a culture of pedestrian life. Many residents and visitors travel by foot or by bike down the strip to their favorite restaurants, shops, and bakeries, and the proximity of Cherokee Park has only served to further this tradition.

The eclectic shops and restaurants that The Highlands boasts include Quills Coffee, Flanagans Ale House, OSheas Irish Pub, and Bearnos Pizza, in addition to dozens more.  The area has a wide variety of terrific shops as well, such as European Antique Market, Dot Fox Clothing & Culture, and the Dundee Candy Shop.  These Louisville businesses are mostly entrepreneurial, resident-owned shops that cater specifically to Louisville patrons. Because the owners personally are involved in the daily ins and outs of the businesses, these stores and restaurants have a special touch that typical chain restaurants and malls lack. See the Keep Louisville Weird website for more information on this.

These are only a few of the amazing high points of The Highlands.  To truly discover what makes this neighborhood in Louisville so unique, youll just have to visit it yourself. For help finding your Highlands home, please contact The Vince Carter Team.