Every ski town seems to have its own appeal. It’s easy to get to, or it’s isolated and exclusive. It’s snowboarder heaven, or it’s snowboard-free. It a great place for beginners, or it’s dominated by advanced-level runs and black diamond-lovers don’t have to navigate around skiers like me.
Steamboat Springs in northwestern Colorado is known as an exceptionally family-friendly town. It’s known for lots of programs for children, kids-only lifts, and play areas and parks designed with juveniles in mind. But, the area has a unique natural feature with special appeal for adults: mystical natural hot springs where skiers, snowboarders, and hikers can relax and soak away tired muscles and aches and pains. Click here for a look at these therapeutic wonders and a gorgeous new vacation home listing in Steamboat Springs:
When I say “old Hawaii,” I mean places where locals have lived for decades. These are not the new flashy high-rises in Kaka’ako, but rather buildings like this one that rose from the ground in 1969. The Regency at Kahala is a tall, 20-plus-story slice of Hawaii.
There are four units per floor … a one-bedroom, two two-bedrooms, and a three-bedroom unit. There are minor differences in square footage in the same floor plan due to some units having enclosed their patios (and you know how I feel about that!).
Sunday, I braved sheets of rain to walk over to a quadruple open house that featured two one-bedroom units and one example each of two- and three-bedroom units. My favorites were the one-bedroom and the three-bedroom units, which mostly came down to view. These two face the water, though on Sunday they all faced the rain.
Soap star Sean Kanan asked Dallas designer Kathy Fielder to create a vibrant, personalized space.
When you envision the interiors of your second home, you might gravitate toward relaxing color schemes and open spaces with comfortable furniture. It should be a space for relaxing and letting go. A space for enjoyment, not practicality.
Not everyone has the talent to create that kind of space, nor the time. That’s why Sean Kanan, a renowned daytime TV star, enlisted Dallas-based veteran designer Kathy Fielder to create the perfect environment for his vacation home in Palm Springs.
“The combinations that Kathy put together echo my taste,” Kanan said. “She utilized a combination of bold patterns with solids all within a neutral palette that I love.”
But how do you achieve that look without succumbing to design ennui? We asked Kathy for a few tips on designing the perfect spaces for your vacation home.
But I was sworn to secrecy until the deal was closed. Closed, signed and sealed it is: Terra Verder Group LLC, the devloper of Windsong Ranch, has indeed purchased the 2,000 acre Boot Ranch north of Fredericksburg. Terra Verde and financial partner Wheelock Street Capital bought the luxury vacation home golf course community from Lehman Brothers.
Boot Ranch, the brainchild of Texas golfing great Hal Sutton, opened in 2006 just in time for the Great Recession. Like so many of its brethren, Boot fell into foreclosure. But during the four years that Lehman Brothers operated it, the community slowly, steadily kept the momentum moving forward. In fact, Boot Ranch may well become a poster child success story for how a vacation home community survives a downturn.
“The previous developer opened the project at the wrong time in the market,” said Terra Verde founder Craig Martin. “Our plan is to complete the development.We like Boot Ranch because of its proximity to Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Austin and Midland-Odessa – within a 4-hour drive.”
Read more about this amazing acquisition on CandysDirt.com!
Sometimes we want to get away, but the thought of travel is just too much. Packing up everything, getting the kids ready, and climbing in the car or in a plane for hours is enough to keep us at home, ensconced in air conditioning and watching the latest releases on Netflix.
But what if you could enjoy a lake house that was just 15 minutes from downtown Fort Worth? What if there was a property big enough to host you and your extended family without feeling cramped and uncomfortable? What if you could enjoy all the best things about lake living without the drive?
Cedar shake shingles for siding is a classic look for cottages all over Cape Cod. They are left unpainted and turn from light tan to a weathered gray over time. Clapboard siding is also commonly seen on Cape Cod cottages. All photos: Leah Shafer
Cape Cod has historic roots in American history, one of the earliest places the Pilgrims settled, later becoming a thriving fishing, whaling, and trading area.
But the romantic mythos of the Cape took off during John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign, much of which was based out of the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port. JFK gave his acceptance speech there after winning the 1960 election, and returned frequently during his presidency. The Kennedy’s Camelot and Cape Cod are inextricably linked in the American imagination.
Today, the year-round population of 220,000 swells during summer months, when many thousands flock to Cape Cod for relaxation and resorts. It stretches from Provincetown in the northeast to Woods Hole in the southwest, and each of the 15 towns has its own individual character and hallmarks.
The sunset at low tide from our vacation house near Orleans in Cape Cod. Stunning.
Cape Cod still maintains a charming, maritime feel, with almost 560 miles of wide, sandy coastline (including the gorgeous Cape Cod National Seashore), and house after house with weathered cedar shake shingle siding and colorful flowers that thrive in the temperate summer climate.
I just returned from a week’s vacation in Cape Cod, where we stayed in a classic shingle-style Cape beach house near Orleans on the inner bay. My fiancé’s family has vacationed there since the 1970s, and I joined them last year for the first time. As someone who spent her childhood summers in Galveston, Cape Cod was an enchanting experience, from windy afternoons walking by the seagrass along the shoreline to driving along winding roads with lush vegetation. The whole week we were there, the temperature never rose above 71 degrees.
Candy just wrote about the Cape for Grand Vie Magazine (read it here), and we both are delighted with the region and intrigued by the real estate market there. As Realtor Paul Grover of Robert Paul Properties in Osterville told her, 68 percent of his buyers were from Boston and its suburbs in 2013, and lots are empty-nesters.
But contrary to popular belief, Cape Cod is not just a haven for the rich and famous. As I discovered, there’s a range of housing available, with many beauties available for under $400,000 (I photographed 14 houses I’d consider classic Cape Cod cottage style that you can see throughout this post).
Located 35-miles off the coast of the tropical island of Roatán, is one of the Caribbean’s best kept secrets – Pristine Bay – and it’s just a short 3-hour flight from DFW International Airport. You could ideally leave around 8 a.m. and be on the beach by lunch! (more…)
