Living in a Moshav

There is a very interesting article at haaretz.com about life on a Moshav.  There has been a growing trend since the  mid 1990’s that is changing the rural landscape in Israel.

A quote from the article:

“These moshav homes have created an unusual architectural category in Israel, rather like a local version of estate homes. Since the mid-1990s, the traditional landscape of the moshavim in the center of the country has begun to be transformed by new residential buildings. Large, relatively inexpensive patrimonies attracted senior executives and business people, notably from high-tech, who wanted to trade urban bustle for a pastoral existence. Fields, orchards and greenhouses were gradually replaced by enormous mansions surrounded by cultivated gardens, swimming pools, tennis courts and a ranch-like setting for horses. The move to the countryside also bore a saliently romantic aspect, ostensibly drawing on the ethos of manual labor and the desire to be the owner of an iconic moshav landscape of cypresses and tilled soil”.

Read the entire article at haaretz.com

If you are interested in finding out about purchase opportunities in a Moshav, contact Lyle Plocher at lyle@buypropertyinisrael.com

Renovated Promenade will stretch from Bat Yam to Herzliya

There’s some great news at jpost.com about the renovation of the promenade that runs along the seashore separating the Mediterranean from Tel Aviv.  Already a great place to go for long walks or bicycle rides, sounds like the new renovations set to be completed in 2009 will make it amazing.

read the article at jpost.com

photo is courtesy of Oren Klass/The Jerusalem Post

Tel Aviv International Music Festival

Starts this Thursday night!  Whether you are in Tel Aviv to look at apartments to buy, just vacationing or are a local Tel Aviv resident, you might want to check out this event.  Apparently, there are 7 different venues playing music from all over the world.

get details at the realtelaviv blog

Tel Aviv Restaurants that the “locals” like

I don’t know about you, but when I’m in Tel Aviv, I don’t like to go to all of the Touristy type restaurants, I like to get out into the neighborhoods and experience more of the everyday, local hangouts. 

There is an article at Haaretz.com with 5 Tel Aviv restaurants that the “locals” like.

check out the article

Restoring Jaffa’s past

JPost.com

March 5, 2008

by Anat Rosenberg

Visitors to Tel Aviv’s Galeria Bashdera (Boulevard Gallery) possess a rare opportunity this month: to simultaneously glimpse part of Jaffa’s rich past and its potential future.

“Well Houses: Disappearing Palaces of Jaffa,” currently on view through March 21, is the culmination of three semesters’ worth of work undertaken by students from the conservation studio at Tel Aviv University’s Azrieli School of Architecture.

Using what is known as the Sandel map – a detailed view of Jaffa dating from 1878 – as their starting point, the students located 55 structures still in existence (some nearly in ruins).

The budding architects then painstakingly documented the buildings’ history and current condition, and drafted plans to help restore what remains of their grandeur by converting them into community, educational and medical centers.

All this, despite the fact that a majority of the well houses (called Biara in Arabic and Batei Habe’er in Hebrew) are likely destined for demolition.

“We hope that these structures will stop being destroyed,” said Amnon Bar Or, one of Tel Aviv-Jaffa’s leading architectural preservationists, who mentored the students and curated the show together with colleague Sergio Lerman.

“We hope that the newfound recognition of these sites will lead to their integration into the city’s preservation plans, for the good of us all, Arabs and Jews as one.”

Built in 19th and early-20th century Palestine, the well houses served as an integral part of Jaffa’s citrus-grove culture and contributed to the city’s growth. Each “house” was in effect a compound comprising accommodations for orchard workers, a water well, a reservoir and an irrigation system. Members of Jaffa’s upper class eventually converted a number of these sites into luxury mansions and summer homes.

By 1948, around 200 such well houses existed, but many of them were evacuated or abandoned during and after the War of Independence.

Incredible photo of the old City in Jerusalem

One of my favorite things to do when I visit Jerusalem is to stroll through the narrow walkways of the Jewish Quarter.  It’s very easy to get lost but it is an amazing experience.  Check out this incredible photo of one of the old city’s narrow walkways.

Photo Essay:Israel’s trees

Photographer Michelle Baruch, has put together a photo essay about Israel’s trees in honor of Tu B’Shvat.

check it out at the Israel National News website

Lofts for Sale in Florentin

One of my favorite neighborhoods in Tel Aviv is an area called Florentin.  It’s an “edgy” part of town on the southside of Tel Aviv, probably a 15 minute walk to the beach. 

Florentin is not a neighborhood for a typical family, looking for a vacation apartment, but if you are young and single or married with no children and love modern, loft style living, you might want to check out the lofts on Vital St.  There are currently 2 roof apartments available, 50 meters each with 150 meters of roof (small penthouse) that are in the $300,000 price range. 

There was news in the press sometime back that Steven Spielberg bought an apartment in Florentin.

read about the neighborhood

read more about the neighborhood

To find out more about available apartments for sale in Florentin or any part of Tel Aviv, contact Lyle Plocher at lyle@buypropertyinisrael.com

The Jordan Valley and the Sea of Galilee, photos you’ve never seen before

Check out some fantastic photos by Israeli Landscape photographer, Doron Nissim.

photos at Israel on Blog