Second-House Porn

Having a second home is really the best — you have your old but faithful Mother Ship home base — which has undergone a few re-dos, a nip and tuck, maybe a few “filler” additions. (Maybe she’s even been to re-hab, but mums the word.) Then you have a fresh, sleek, perfectly-proportioned second you stash away in the country — or smack in the middle of downtown. (Those mistress elevators at the Vendome are not an urban myth.)  The July/August ‘08 D Home & Garden is loaded with second homes I swear will make you drool with lust. Facts: In 2006, vacation and investment home sales gobbled 36 percent of all existing and new residential Real Estate transactions, according to the National Association of Realtors. That was down from 40 percent in 2005, but singling out vacation home sales alone, NAR reports a record 1.07 million sales in 2006 over 1.02 million in 2005. And get this: 35% of people are paying cash for their second homes. Median vacation home price in 2006: $200,000. Thanks to our healthy local economy, second home developers love Texans. They know Texas is one of the last hold-outs where they can find people who have the resources to buy second, third and sometimes fourth properties. This week we’ll visit, among other places, Coeur D’Alene, Idaho and Skywater at Horseshoe Bay. But to get you started on the drool, here’s an opener: Clint Eastwood’s Tehama Carmel, 125 miles outside of San Francisco, lots starting at a mere $2.8 with a $20 million spec going up and, just found out today, a smattering of Texans from D/FW, Houston and Texarcana among the owners.