Because you can't move forward without looking back, here now is The Year That Was, wherein Curbed briefly and by no means exhaustively recaps important things that happened in the realms of real estate, interior design and decor, architecture, and shelter media. Month by month, here it goes: sayonara, 2011!
· Susan Sarandon buys a place in NYC.
· Casey Anthony happens, inspires tons of tacky household products.
· Man ties some balloons to his house to replicate house from Up.
· Kmart announces a line of Gordon Ramsay housewares.
· Duke Ellington's childhood home in contract days after listing.
· Star designers Roman and Williams list their personal Manhattan pad.
· Elizabeth Taylor's Bel-Air spread sold to real estate investor.
· For some inexplicable reason, Courteney Cox is appointment "home editor" of xoJane.com.
· Exact replica of the house from Up built in Utah and hits the market.
· Tyler Florence unveils the 2011 House Beautiful Kitchen of the Year in NYC.
· Stark announces a new paint designer: the Novogratzes.
· Someone pays $16 for a home worth $300K.
· Another charming 13th-century Italian village hits the market.
· Someone in Leesburg, Pa., erects a horribly racist and homophobic yard-sale ad on Craigslist.
· Extreme Makeover: Home Edition announces Michelle Obama as a guest star.
· Walt Disney's 1932 Los Feliz house hits the market.
· In Jackson, Wyo., a ranch hits the market for a staggering $175M.
· The entire town of Scenic, S.D., hits the market for less than $1M.
· When built, the world's thinnest house (in Poland) will be about 28 inches wide.
· John McCain's former Arizona pad hits the auction block.
· The house that Entourage made famous sells.