Paparazzi-Free Home

A high-rise condo project in Los Angeles has a unique marketing pitch to attract wealthy (and presumably famous) buyers: a paparazzi-free home!

The Carlyle Residences, a 24-story tower under construction on Wilshire Boulevard, bills itself as the first building specifically designed to thwart prying lenses.

Promotional materials for the property, which is set to open next year, promise round-the-clock patrols by "Israeli-trained VIP" security guards, private elevators that open directly into apartments, and high hedges that shield the swimming pool and yoga lawn from shutterbugs. Even the shape of the tower, a crescent, is advertised as an anti-paparazzi device. According to the developer, it minimizes views into the Carlyle from neighboring buildings.

Paparazzis, on the other hand, don't seem to be too deterred:

Among those who make their living by chasing the rich and famous, news of the building's paparazzi-free design brought either laughter or eye-rolling.

"A waste of advertising," said Giles Harrison, a paparazzo who has worked in Los Angeles for 14 years. "Paparazzi don't go into buildings to get shots. They wait until people go out and about. I have yet to see a paparazzi shot that came from the inside of a private residence."

Christian Zimmerman, a tabloid photographer for five years, said colleagues would simply park on the street and wait until celebrities left the building.

"Then they will follow their cars and it will be like any other day in the field," he said.

Harriet Ryan and Joanna Lin of the Los Angeles Times have the story: Link | The Carlyle Residences official website [warning: Flash with auto-starting music] - Thanks Tiffany!

(Photo: Elad Properties West)