Homeowners Who Are Changing The Face Of Holiday Home Ownership

Starting with a beautiful Homeowner story of multigenerational travel; this year we had the pleasure of speaking with Collien and Sandy from the US. The mother-daughter duo hadn't always travelled together, but now embark on regular adventures around Europe with their August Pied À Terre Collection homes away from home. It was actually after considering a permanent move to Europe that they found August and realised that this holiday home model could open up a world of exploration - without any of the hassle and stress that comes with buying a house abroad.

"I love to travel and I’ve travelled on my own, so when Sandy’s situation changed I thought it would be wonderful for her to come along and travel with me and so we started doing that maybe three or four years ago,” shared daughter Collien.

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An introduction to Europe's finest cities

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Mother Sandy had never visited Paris, unlike Collien who had been multiple times. Now it’s both of their favourite cities, for its museums and beautiful buildings. In the interview, they shared how being a part of August sparked their interest in travel and ignited their creativity too. Alongside the City of Light, they love Barcelona, sharing how vibrant and avant-garde the Eixample neighbourhood is.

"The resources are just unbelievable, it is mindblowing what they are doing with design and so I came back a little inspired…” continued Collien.

Naturally, the pressures of city living make frequent travel to far-flung destinations seem inaccessible and simply not the norm. For one of our Signature Collection Homeowners, this spurred her on to find a setup that would work for her lifestyle. In an interview with August, Amy shared how it was at 32 years of age, when living solo in New York and post-pandemic, that much to the surprise of her friends and family, she decided to break the mould and embark on her own co-ownership journey.

“I liked being the person who was doing something a little bit different,” shared Amy.

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With the option to work from home, the variety that comes with August Collections suits Amy well. Being able to stay in the Cotswolds, Mallorca, Tuscany and Chamonix is wonderful in itself, and each home is a great jumping-off point to visit surrounding cities too. Amy also shared a fondness for exploring her favourite destinations in the shoulder season, like Chamonix in the French Alps in the summer.

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Travelling on your agenda

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Naturally, being able to work remotely can give you more freedom to travel when you please, but the way that August curates the profiles of shareholders in each Collection makes booking time away with our Valeria system that bit more seamless too.

"I think the way that August manages who is in the groups is great,” says Amy. “Some people have children in school, others have to be at work. So I've had great success booking the weeks I wanted.”

Particularly for Signature, Premium and Prime Collection Homeowners, long, leisurely holidays with lots of guests drives the appeal of owning a second home. But as we have seen with Amy, part of the beauty of co-ownership abroad with August Collections is the flexibility to travel how and when it suits you.

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Speaking recently at our delightful event in London, we heard from Pied À Terre Homeowner, Arlene, who shared refreshing tales of travelling to the most exciting European cities where you are spoiled for choice when it comes to restaurants and things to do.

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Variety is the spice of life

Arlene is based in the US with her three children and is part of the Saint Germain Collection. She loves using the apartments for their locations, and for shorter, last-minute bookings. Often travelling with her sister or friends to Paris, Cannes, Barcelona and soon, Rome, Arlene’s holiday home story is one to inspire the culture-hungry and proves that juggling work, children and a love of travel can work well with the August lifestyle. 

Arlene’s top tip? Set up an alert on Google flights or another search engine so that when the right travel option come up and aligns with the availability of your August property, Europe is your oyster.