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 […]
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.
Breezeway at The Grand Trianon
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.
Front view of Rembrandt's home
The live demonstrations were wonderful at the Rembrandt home
The Biltmore Estatein 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).
A grand entrance at the Biltmore
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.
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?
Senior Manager, Public Relations & Giving for Coldwell Banker. Grew up in Sarasota and attended college at Western Carolina University. Athena wanted to wake up in that city that doesn’t sleep so headed to Madison Avenue to start her marketing career. She has been with this awesome brand for more than 15 years and can be found generating buzz about CB in every way possible. Athena helps to grow the brand’s position as the most storied real estate company within the industry and has led many high-profile endeavors; she was at the forefront of the brand’s pioneering smart home campaign, raised $6 million in two years to build 130 Habitat for Humanity homes, and led the Homes for Dogs program in partnership with Adopt-a-Pet.com that resulted in tens-of-thousands of dogs finding their furever home. She currently leads the CB Supports St. Jude program, which encourages the Coldwell Banker network’s 96,000+ real estate agents to make donations to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital for every real estate transaction they represent. In her spare time, you can find her either digging up a new area in her yard for another flower bed or planning her next travel adventure. She's the proud mom of three cats Jolene, Ziggy and Lucy.
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