Easter in Balmain!

Have an eggsellent Easter with Sarah Lorden Real Estate!

If you want to catch the Easter Bunny hop on down to Balmain’s Loyalty Square between 10am and 2pm on Saturday the 16th of April. For good boys and girls the Easter Bunny will be packing a big bag filled with delicious chocolate eggs. He will also be bringing along a few friends who are fabulous at face painting.

The Easter Bunny is helping raise funds for the Salvos, so please give generously and enjoy an eggsellent Easter with us!
Also, when you’re looking at properties on domain.com.au, don’t forget to check out Sarah & Kate Lorden presenting “Balmain TV” in the left hand section of the page.

The Tallest Hotel in the World

Having its official opening on May 3rd 2011 the Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong is set to claim the title as the "tallest hotel in the world."

Soaring 490 metres above the city, the hotel houses 312 rooms and occupies the 102nd to 118th floors of the International Commerce Centre, which dominates Hong Kong's skyline. Each room presents panoramic views of Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong Island and the New Territories and one night's stay begins from $745 a night.
There are six dining venues including Chinese and Italian restaurants, OZONE - the highest bar in the world, a "Chocolate Library" and a roof top pool sporting 144 ceiling-mounted TV screens to entertain backstroking swimmers.

"The overall design theme of the hotel is inspired by the city's dynamic culture," CEO Mark DeCocinis told The Wall Street Journal, "a global metropolis at the crossroads of East and West..." Once it's finished, there is no doubt that the hotel will be one of the most talked about in the world.

I've started a copywriting business!

Hi everyone!
Just to let you know that, while I'm still working in Sydney's premier real estate market, I also have a business up and running as a copywriter. The company is called "Logocracy Copywriting" and specialise in blogs, SEO, websites, brochures and any other form of advertised script or prose. I have just launched a facebook page which would be great if you could "like" it! I will be posting blogs and interesting articles on the world of copywriting and advertising.
"Like" the page at www.facebook.com/logocracy

If you are curious about the name, Logocracy comes from the Greek words "Logos" - "words" and "Kratos" - "to rule by". Therefore the name "Logocracy" means "to rule by words" hence the corny slogan "do your words rule?" and the logo which is a fountain pen with an exclamation mark, but also looks like a crown.
I'd love to hear any feedback on this blog, the articles or anything on copywriting. If you are looking for a copywriter for your business, you can contact me on the facebook page or email: logocracycopywriting@gmail.com

The Hitler House!

Here's something a little quirky!
A home owner in Wales has become an overnight Internet sensation when a pedestrian walking past his house noticed that the home bared an uncanny resemblance to the former Nazi dictator, Adolf Hitler.
While home owner Clive Davies remained oblivious to his homes fame, the photo of the house went viral to thousands of people via Twitter. He was later told by his son and daughter-in-law after his son spotted a picture of the house in a newspaper in Kabul, Afghanistan.
"I have never noticed any similarity before and most people who pass by are so close they probably never notice." Davies told a local newspaper, "Some people say they can see images of Jesus Christ on items such as toast, and I suppose it is just a variation on a theme."
The home has been with the family for nearly half a century and is the last home in a row of terraces. Mr. Davies later commented "I don't really think it looks like Hitler."

What do you think?

Balmain: Birthplace of the Australian Labor Party

Last Saturday, the NSW Liberal Party trounced Labor in a convincing victory that ended 16 years of Labor rule. Only five seats remain "too close to call" and one of those hotly contested seats is the seat of Balmain. Incumbant Labor member Verity Firth has seen a considerable swing against her and her Party, while her rivals, Leichhardt Mayor Jamie Parker and Liberal candiate James Falk had votes go their way. The State Electorial commision still has the seat as too close to call with 70% of the vote counted.

Since it is a relevant time for political talk, I thought I'd talk about the influence Balmain has had on the Labor Party. Many people know that Balmain has a strong working-class history, but it is also credited as the birthplace of the Australian Labor Party in NSW.
In April 1891, a group of unionised workers, mainly maritime workers and shearers gathered at the Unity Hall in Darling Street and formed the Labor Electoral League adopting the recent constitution of the NSW Trades and Labor Council. This was the first ever meeting of what was to become the Australian Labor Party in NSW. A few months later, "Labor" as their members were calling themselves, won 35 seats in the NSW Assembly to establish themselves as a new governing force within Australian colonial politics.

Over then next 10 years, the universal appeal of leftist political thought grew the popularity of the League - socialists, women suffergists and rural communities all found representation within the Labor Electoral League. In 1901, the year of Federation, the Labor representatives of the four colonies of NSW, QLD, Victoria and South Australia met at the inagural Federational Conference and hastly joined together to form the Australian Labor Party, ready to contest in the first Federal Elections. And the rest is history

Historically, Balmain has been a working-class seat and very safe for Labor; however in recent years a demographic change has led to a rise in the Greens vote, transforming it into a maginal seat. April 2011 will be the 120th Anniversary of the founding of the NSW Labor Party in Balmain but it may very well be a quiet celebration if Verity Firth looses her seat.

Mysterious French mansion frozen in time for 100yrs, opens it's doors

In Moulins, France sits a lone house lurking in the shadow of the town's cathedral. An eccentric bachelor by the name of Louis Mantin who was obsessed with death and the passing of time, wrote in his will that the house, known as Maison Mantin, was to open as a museum a century after his death. He died 6 months later in 1905. "He wanted the house to remain unchanged , like a time-capsule for future generations, so they would know how a bourgeois gentleman lived at the turn of the 20th Century" Maud Leyoudec, assistant curator of Maison Mantin told CNN.

Surviving two world wars including a German occupation in the 1940's, the townsfolk of Moulins respected the will and left the Mansion's doors closed for 100 years. Rumours circulated that there were skeletons in side and it became part of the town's lore.

When a house remains untouched for long periods of time, they tend to become decrepit and fall apart. The Maison Mantin was no exception. Mantin's great-niece opened it in 2005, highlighting the urgent need for restoration. "There was woodworm and damp caused by the house not being heated, and many of the elaborate wall coverings were torn," Leyoudec said, "There were insects everywhere in the house - it was really awful."

A team of 30 specialists set to work on the restoration which took over 4 years and cost nearly $5 million. The Mansion, reopened as a museum in October 2010 and displayed many modern comforts for the time including electric lighting, flushing toilets and under-floor heating. It also contained some unique artifacts such as two frogs sword-fighting and a stuffed puffer fish. It is thought that the Maison Mantin is a unique entity, having been the only home of its kind to have been deliberately left in its original state for 100 years - a snapshot of early 20th century life.

Balmain Pubs: Dick's Hotel & Exchange Hotel

Dick's Hotel:
Named after publican John Dick who built this pub in 1874, the hotel has stood on the corner of Beattie & Montague Sts for over 140 years with little change. For a brief period between 1886 to 1898, Dick's was also known as "Lean's Hotel" after it's second licensee Jabez Lean. It is known as "the People's Pub" not only for its cozy and conscience lack of bombastic flare, but because of it's history with the Balmain Union movement. Dick's Hotel had a verandah overlooking the street that was the scene of an accident in 1904 when a 7 year old child fell from the balcony and landed onto the road below. She sustained a broken arm and fractured wrist but was treated back to health. The verandah was removed around 1924 but the popular beer garden remains a favourite with the locals.

Exchange Hotel:
Heritage listed for its wonderful architecture, the imposing Exchange Hotel was the last and largest pub to be built in the 1880s. Rising up three levels, the Exchange Hotel, along with Dick's Hotel, were instrumental houses for the Balmain Labours Union that would later develop into today's Australian Labour Party. Politicians and speakers would take advantage of the height of the balconies to address crowds of the Beattie Street Push on the street below. It is unknown when the top balcony of the Exchange Hotel was removed but the balcony at Dick's Hotel was also dismantled. The Exchange Hotel recently underwent a $2 million renovation that restored it's old charm, but gave it a modern feel. The Safari Bar that, in the past, was adorned with hunting busts has now been given a face-lift to look like a 1930s Moroccan gin bar. Today the Exchange remains one of the most iconic buildings on the peninsula.