Virtuoso Life - July/August 2008 - (Page 176) TRAVEL TRENDS T D THE SURVEY Homes, Sweet Homes Living the expat life one villa at a time. BY MARGARET LOFTUS s imple pleasures draw elaiNe Halpern to provençal villas each september: waking up to warm croissants brought by the housekeeper, biting into a ripe tomato from the sunday market, sipping rosé at a boutique winery. “we fell madly in love with it,” she says. Though she and her husband have traveled the world, to her, nothing compares to finding the perfect home for a few weeks of living like a local. The Halperns aren’t alone in their sentiment; spreading out in a european villa, à la Under the Tuscan Sun or A Good Year, ranks high on readers’ wish lists in this year’s Travel dreams survey. in fact, luxury-villa rental companies report a brisk business in europe in spite of the weak dollar. last year, sales at the Toronto-based Homesaway doubled. and rentals are up some 30 percent this year at Villas of distinction, a leading California agency. Italian indulgence: Ten miles from Pisa, Villa Pisana sleeps up to 18 amid frescoed ceilings and antiques. 176 V I RT U O S O L I F E
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