It may be known as the "Villa of Smiles" but since Robin Williams' death, his Napa Valley home for sale listing is now tinted with sadness. The late actor had put the home on the market months before his August 11 death, saying he could no longer afford the sprawling mansion in the middle of California wine country. While many celebrity mansions are staged and sanitized so that their owner's identity is hidden, Robin's hand can be seen throughout the main house and the 2.6 million square meters property. Featuring a staggering 1800 square meters five bedroom, six full and five half bathrooms main house and a four bedroom guest house, the 'ranch' as Robin called it, had provided a hideaway from Hollywood for the star. However, he had tried to sell the home in 2012 for US$ 35 million but did not find any buyers, then in April re-listed the home for the reduced price of US$ 29.9 million. The large property also features a stunning infinity pool abutting the main house that is an amazing 20 meters long. Also contained within the grounds is a seven-stall horse barn, tennis court, hiking and riding trails, a spring-fed pond, and, more than 100 olive trees which produces gallons of olive oil every year, and vineyard which produces Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc varietals.

Margaret Thatcher's former home is to go on the market for up to US$ 59.5 million after wealthy foreign buyers have been attracted by its "blue plaque effect". The house in Belgravia, London, will go up for sale after its current owners complete a major refurbishment project which will include two basement floors and a connection to a mews property behind. The new owners are thought to have arranged an extension of the lease and after initial renovation work. However, workmen are now expected to convert the house into a far larger "iceberg home" with a number of subterranean rooms totaling around 650 square meters. The extensive work being carried out by developers Leconfield Property Group is not expected to be finished until next year, but already potential buyers are interested in acquiring the property because of its historic association with the former Prime Minister. Estate agents in Belgravia say the connection with Lady Thatcher, who was Prime Minister between 1979 and 1990, will add to the property's value. It is expected a figure of around US$ 59.5 million could well be realized as trophy-hunter buyers from the US or Middle East bid against each other to own the home of such a famous figure. Lady Thatcher stayed at the five-storey house until December 2012 when she was unable to use the stairs. Blue plaques commemorate the link between notable figures of the past and the buildings in which they lived and worked. London's blue plaques scheme, which is run by English Heritage, was founded in 1866 and is believed to be the oldest of its kind in the world.

Paper and cardbo's toolbox for drawings and models of buildings, but for Japanese architect Shigeru Ban they are good enough to make the real thing. The 56-year-old, who has built a reputation over the past 30 years for crafting improbable structures around the world - from housing to art galleries and cathedrals - many from humble cardboard tubes, has been named as the winner of the 2014 Pritzker prize, the highest accolade in the industry. "When you finish a roll of tracing paper or fax paper, there are always paper tubes left over," he said. "They were so strong and so nice, so I kept them. Then I went to the factory where they made them, and I saw they could make any length and any diameter." Beginning with temporary exhibition designs, his experiments with cardboard engineering soon expanded in scope, from undulating grid-shell pavilions to the geodesic frame of his temporary office in Paris. Strapped limpet-like to the roof of the Pompidou Centre, this cardboard-framed tunnel was his base for designing the gallery's outpost in Metz, completed in 2010, itself conceived as a rippling rattan hat of bamboo and oiled paper. But it is for his humanitarian work, as much as for his houses and museums, that Ban caught the Pritzker jury's eye. "He is a force of nature," said the jury chairman, Lord Palumbo, "which is entirely appropriate in the light of his voluntary work for the homeless and dispossessed in areas devastated by natural disasters." In 1994, prompted by the displacement of millions by the Rwandan civil war, Ban proposed paper-tube shelters to the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, followed a year later by paper log cabins after the Kobe earthquake, with foundations made of sand-filled beer crates and walls of vertical cardboard tubes. After founding the Voluntary Architects' Network in 1995, he has tackled disaster relief in Turkey, India, China and Haiti, most recently erecting a magnificent cardboard cathedral after the earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand , rising in an elegant A-frame next to the ruins of George Gilbert Scott's stone building. Outside Ban's humanitarian work, his projects include the Centre Pompidou-Metz, a modern art museum in France featuring a curved roof made of timber which is inspired by a Chinese hat. He also designed Swiss media firm Tamedia's seven-store headquarters, built with an interlocking wooden frame that has no metal joints. Ban is the seventh Japanese architect to receive the prize since it was established in 1979, following Kenzo Tange in 1987, Fumihiko Maki in 1993, Tadao Ando in 1995, the team of Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa in 2010, and Toyo Ito last year.

Angelina Jolie is splashing out around US$ 20 million to buy Brad Pitt a heart-shaped island. The film beauty visited stunning Petra last week and thought it would be a perfect 50th birthday gift for her superstar partner. Angelina, 38, was particularly excited after discovering its two homes were designed by Brad's favorite architect Frank Lloyd Wright. A source revealed: "As soon as Angelina heard the island was on the market she arranged a viewing. She was really impressed". "The house is perfect for romantic getaways or as a family retreat. It's very private. And Angelina knows the fact the island is in the shape of a heart will mean so much to him." Exclusive 11-acre Petra - which has a helicopter pad - is off the US coast 50 miles north of New York City. The cottage was put up in 1950, nine years before Wright's death. The main house was built in 2008 from a Wright plan and is one of his most spectacular designs. Boasting vast expanses of stone, cement, mahogany and skylights, it is a triumph of modern architecture and would be a perfect getaway for Brad and Angelina's children Maddox, 12, Pax, nine, Zahara, eight, Shiloh, seven, Vivienne and Knox, both five. Architect fanatic Brad, who turns 50 on December 18, once said: "When I discovered Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Frank Lloyd Wright, it changed my life." In 2006 Angelina took Brad on a tour of Wright's home Fallingwater which was completed in 1939. Cara Armstrong, Fallingwater's Curator of Education said: "He was incredibly well-informed about architecture. "Experiencing Fallingwater in person, hearing the waterfall cascade under the house was better than anything he imagined." In 2011, for Brad's 48th birthday, Angelina bought a waterfall in California so he could build a house over it inspired by Fallingwater. The source added: "The fact he could now live in a house designed by one of his idols will make this his best birthday present ever." Ocean's 11 star Brad and Oscar winner Angelina have been together since 2005.

Work has begun in India on what is billed as the "world's tallest statue" after Chief Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone in the western state of Gujarat. The statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, one of India's independence heroes, is being erected on a river island. At 182 meter, it would be twice as high as New York's Statue of Liberty. But critics say the statue's US$ 336 million price tag is much too expensive. The memorial would be called the "Statue of Unity". Officials say the statue is expected to be ready in 42 months. Sardar Patel, generally called the "Iron Man of India", played a major role in the country's fight for independence from British rule. Currently world's highest statue located in China. The 153 meters tall Buddha Vairocana statue was built in 2002. On the second place is 129 meters tall Sakyamuni Buddah statue in Myanmar and on the third place is 120 meters tall Amitabha Buddha statue in Japan.