I don’t know about you, but I love to take home tours when I’m on vacation or even in my hometown of Savannah, Ga., when I have visitors from out of town. Related side bar: For those of you who have never visited Savannah, it should definitely be on your weekend getaway list. Be sure to check out the home tour at the Owens-Thomas House, the tour guides that I’ve had are hysterical and provide fascinating details about the Hostess City’s historic district.

Here are four of my favorite homes that I’ve had the opportunity to visit and tour while traveling:

The Grand Trianon at Versailles. Less grand than The Palace but not as modest as the Petit Trianon, where Marie Antoinette preferred to stay, I found this place magical. Everything had this amazing tone of rusty pink, whether inside or outside. And when the wind blew while walking on the breezeway you could smell the fragrant lavender growing abundantly in the surrounding landscape. 

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Breezeway at The Grand Trianon

 

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Magnificent Room in The Grand Trianon

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Rembrandt’s home in Amsterdam. Not only was this where a legend lived, but where some of the world’s greatest pieces of art were brought to life. The live demonstrations at the home didn’t disappoint; it felt as if I had stepped back in time and could smell the paint drying on canvas.
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Front view of Rembrandt's home

 

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The live demonstrations were wonderful at the Rembrandt home

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Biltmore Estate in Asheville. Imagine being the only child to George and Edith Vanderbilt and growing up in America’s largest home? Talk about having to set some rules for an afternoon game of hide-and-seek: “OK kids, you can only go into half of the rooms in the house today” (which would be mere 125 rooms).
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A grand entrance at the Biltmore

 

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Getting up close and personal with the home's architecture

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hemingway’s home in Key West. Crazy to think he bought this amazing home in Old Town Key West for a mere $8,000 but then went on to spend $20,000 on an in-ground swimming pool when running water wasn’t even available in Key West at the time.

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Key West home of Nobel Prize winner Ernest Hemingway

 

Next city up on the travel docket is New Orleans, where I’ll be traveling to the Coldwell Banker Generation Blue Experience. Anyone have recommendations for fabulous homes to tour?

 

 

 

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