Former Trading Spaces Host, Alexandra McLeod, Trades Spaces All the Way to the Top
Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) September 25, 2013 -- Fans of TLC’s runaway design hit, Trading Spaces (US version of the UK’s Changing Rooms), may be interested to see how the show’s original host -- tastemaker and TV personality Alexandra McLeod -- has traded her “personal space” to the top, living today in a private 51,000 square foot Rolling Hills estate, Hacienda de la Paz, situated on the crest of the Palos Verdes Peninsula with fiancé/food entrepreneur, John Z. Blazevich.
McLeod recently gave 17 notable friends an inside look at the luxurious life inside her $53 million dollar home, hosting a women’s spa day at the estate’s one-of-a-kind, subterranean 10,000-square-foot Hamam spa, which rivals even the most exclusive spas at the world’s luxurious hotels, and includes four temperature-controlled spa treatment rooms, three sitting rooms and two Jacuzzi tubs – accented by 24-carat gold leaf Murano tiled walls.
The spa day was complete with a personal in-home shopping experience, courtesy of La Mer and Jo Malone, with pampering from complimentary skincare consultations from La Mer and gifts of their Crème Regeneration Intense moisturizer and fragrance/hand consults with Jo Malone, including a gift bag featuring their Fall launch scent, “Peony & Blush Suede.” Guests also enjoyed treatments including Ayurvedic scalp massages, 25-point acupressure foot reflexology and a full “brow bar” provided by mobile day spa, Spa Go’s, before relaxing in the indoor pool, tiled to match the calming blue color of the Adriatic Sea and heated by a geothermal energy system.
With a design palette straight out of Lawrence of Arabia and opulence including 24-carat gold leafed ceilings and walls, hand-carved sandstone star cut-outs and archways, and marble columns imported from Italy, resembling Spain’s Medina Al Zahra or Alhambra (the spa’s inspirations), the spa also features a selection of décor handpicked by McLeod herself, such as antique crystal Moroccan vases, Turkish rugs, Venetian and Syrian mirrors, large turquoise Moroccan water amphores, Mother-of-Pearl shells, and an antique fountain from a 15th century Moroccan mosque.
Among McLeod’s notable guests were SVP of Dole Food Company/Dole Nutrition Institute and Founder of news network, JAGTV.com, Jennifer Grossman; Founder and Publisher of DAME Media, Jennifer Reitman; Stacie Allocco, actress and wife to Emmy-award winning composer, Jack Allocco; Rose Wright, wife to pop star musician Gary Wright (known for his hit song “Dream Weaver”); Mina Accardo, a staging stylist for Donald Trump Home; TV personality and producer Kristina Dodge; representatives from Tommy Hilfiger; local philanthropists and other women of style.
McLeod’s lavish estate also includes nine bedrooms and 25 bathrooms and was designed by a Spanish dream team including award-winning architect Rafael Manzano Martos, who has designed homes for Spanish aristocracy and royalty including the Dukes of Segorbe and Cordoba in Spain, celebrities Julio Iglesias and Curro Romero, and the famed residential palace for Faisal Hassan Jawad in Bahrain; the Spanish Duke of Segorbe’s own personal painter, Nicholas Luca de Tena; and interior designers Manuel and Bruno Gavira. Top ambassadors, athletes and former presidents have all been guests.
Rounding out the impressive grounds are a five-story-high, Neoclassical-designed indoor tennis court built to U.S. Open specifications, which doubles as a ballroom, with large overhead balcony and floor-to-ceiling trompe l’oeil murals, and can accommodate a 30-piece orchestra and up to 350 guests; an outdoor red clay tennis court built to French Open specifications; infinity edged pool and loggia offering panoramic city views; private chapel; rose, herb and vegetable gardens and over 24 varieties of fruit and nut trees; library; media and game rooms; bocce court; bridle trail; geothermal system for heating and cooling; and 24-hour security and surveillance. Many of the home’s most unique accessories were acquired over the years through various buying trips via private plane on sojourns to Morocco, Spain, Turkey, Southeast Asia, France, England and Italy for the Hamam spa’s signature marble.
For more information and images, visit: http://www.haciendadelapaz.com.
Spa Party high-res event photos (courtesy of Josh Blanchard Photography) available at:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/j239b43vli4ol8w/HcozlNBLt3
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Elana Bodow, Hundred Stories PR, http://www.hundredstoriespr.com, +1 212-570-2700, [email protected]
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