Buying a vacation home seems like a dream investment, but it’s a big decision that requires a lot to think about first.

“A second home has countless life-enriching benefits, as it specifically gives you that place to spend time with friends and family and create memories which I find to be super important to set aside time for,” says Austin Allison, co-founder and CEO of Pacaso, a San Francisco-based real estate service that aims to expand second home ownership.

“There’s something relaxing and special about revisiting your favorite hiking trail or your favorite coffee shop and having those moments of peace and reconnection that people value more now than ever before,” he adds.

1.  Weigh the Pros and Cons

You may be set on buying a vacation home, but you still need to consider the positives and negatives. Some of the pros include:

• You can rent it out for extra income. You could create a passive income stream by renting out your vacation home to travelers.

• It’s an investment. Not only does a vacation home offer rental income, but the property could also appreciate over time. Vacation rentals can increase in value, especially in areas with growing market demand.

• It saves you money on your next vacation. Instead of spending money on a hotel or other short-term rental, you could save by taking a trip to your vacation home.

• There could be tax benefits. There are significant tax advantages available to second home owners, such as deductions on your property taxes and mortgage interest.  

• What to Consider Before Buying a Vacation Home | Real Estate | U.S. News (usnews.com)

Concert pianist James Dick established Round Top Festival Institute in historic Round Top,  Texas, in 1971. Dick, a performer with a distinguished career, was uniquely qualified for the  task of creating a 200-acre campus and organization to operate one of the major music festivals in the United States. Dick graduated from the University of Texas with special honors in  piano in 1963 and was a student of pianist and pedagogue Dalies Frantz. Subsequently, Dick  received two Fulbright Fellowships for study at the Royal Academy of Music in London and  private study with Sir Clifford Curzon, a major pianist of the twentieth century. Dick was also  a top winner in the Tchaikovsky, Busoni and Leventritt international competitions and since  has represented the United States on the juries of the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.

The campus is also used for conferences, meetings and retreats. The Festival Concert Hall,  completed in April 2007, is one of the best in the country, acoustically speaking and strikingly beautiful. It is used for recordings. Major business groups, museum administrators, music  critics, law firms, and numerous university and professional organizations have held conferences and retreats here. A series of distinguished museum lectures is presented at Festival  Hill each year. The campus, famed for its gardens, rare trees, herbal collections, cascades,  fountains and unusual landscaping, is a destination for visitors from all over the world. An  outreach program of public services concerts featuring students and faculty extends the benefits of the Festival-Institute to the surrounding community. Be sure to check out Round  Top’s newest country acreage community…The Estates at Astoria, walking distance to Festival Institute!

*Pulling into Round Top, Texas (population 93) for the first time feels like discovering a hidden gem. The stylish small town appears almost suddenly after miles of country roads, a  drive accented by white fences and sightings of longhorn cattle. Barely a square mile in size,  Round Top is made up of a collection of historic buildings which house antique and vintage  shopping, clothing boutiques, and even a cheese shop, a candy store, and a Hallmark-esque  coffee and pie counter.

The New York Times deemed Round Top “the Cotswolds  of Texas,” and a local was quoted in CultureMap San Antonio calling it “the next Jackson Hole.” Texas  Monthly even gave it the title of “the Aspen of  Texas.” But while there are touches of each affluent destination throughout Round Top — where the charm of the English countryside  meets the Western flair and sky-high real estate  prices found in the mountain towns — it has a  distinct personality and appeal, even outside of  the tri-annual Original Round Top Antiques Fair.  Since the late 1960s, Round Top has played host  to “The Show,” a multi-day extravaganza that  has grown exorbitantly over the years. Today,  hundreds of thousands of visitors descend upon  the town and the tents, barns, and hayfields  along Highway 237 in hopes of finding or selling  a variety of antique furniture, art, and textiles.   *article by Lydia Mansel Travel + Leisure

Round Top Antiques Show History: Then and Now

By: Lorie A. Woodward

The Round Top Antiques Shows History began with one woman and one building.

In the fall of 1968, Emma Lee Turney established a two-day “country antiques show with unsurpassed standards of excellence” and called it the Round Top Antiques Fair. The consummate businesswoman and Houston insider understood that the fledgling event’s success depended on mixing the business of high-end antiques with the pleasure of a much-anticipated social event.

Decades later it’s apparent that Turney was on to something.

“. . . the Round Top Show is uniquely itself. It’s always great for shopping, terrific people watching, a good excuse to go off your diet a little and a chance to walk in the boots you were born to.” – Emma Lee Turney, Denim and Diamonds: The Story of Emma Lee Turney’s Round Top Antiques Fair (1998)

Except for the smoke that rose from the barbecue pits at the rear of the Rifle Hall, the air was crisp and clear. It crackled with anticipation as 22 (or 24 or 26, depending on whom you ask) of the state’s top antiques dealers brought the best of their collections to Round Top the first weekend in October 1968. No contracts were signed. Merchandise was offered by those invited dealers who passed Turney’s stringent standards for authenticity and provenance.

“Emma Lee was a purist,” said Charlie Ham, who attended the earliest shows as a shopper and later, along with his mother, became one of Turney’s dealers. “For her it was fine American, including early Texas antiques, or nothing. Round Top was a purists’ show.”

Knowing their money would acquire investment-quality pieces, antiques collectors, many from the ranks of Houston’s social register, lined up and waited for Turney to open the doors and grant them access to the treasure trove of one-of-a-kind originals. Typically, the women power shopped, and the men gathered under the historic oaks swapping stories and drinking cold beer. It was not uncommon to have change from food and beer purchases counted back in German.

“It was a welcoming gathering,” said Nancy Krause, owner of Nancy’s Antiques in Brenham, who was one of the original dealers and still has a booth at the Original Round Top Antiques Fair. “It was a just a place where people wanted to come and spend their time.”

“It has been a challenge—and a great pleasure—to sponsor, manage, produce and host this country show. . . Taking the risks, setting the standards of excellence in country show and the loyalty found in both patrons and dealers has made every minute of time and every penny of every dollar invested worth it. . . .” – Emma Lee Turney, Denim and Diamonds: The Story of Emma Lee Turney’s Round Top Antiques Fair (1998)

Collecting and selling antiques can be highly competitive, but at the early shows the competition was always friendly.

“The camaraderie that existed defies description,” Ham, who recounted tales of dealers two-stepping down the show aisles, said. “Dealers counted down the days until we could see each other and see our clients who came to this show. Clients marked it on their calendars, and it was a priority. Round Top was—and is—a relationship place.”

With that said, it certainly didn’t hurt that Ima Hogg, Faith Bybee and Hazel Ledbetter, the triumvirate of movers and shakers, preservationists and philanthropists with homes in both Houston and Round Top, supported the show and encouraged their friends to attend.

“Those women had vision and influence,” Krause said. “I’m sure it was their support, because of who they were and who they knew, that made the Round Top show the place to be.”

In 1969, Turney decided to make the show a semiannual event. A few years later, she added a tent at the Rifle Hall to hold more dealers.

“We were so upset because it seemed that she was cutting the pie into smaller pieces,” Krause said. “What we didn’t realize was that those new dealers would bring their clients with them, so we all benefited.”

Ham, whose booth was housed in the added tent, concurred noting the tent’s presence created a second line of attendees “four abreast and a 100 yards long” waiting to gain access to the dealers inside.

The success of the tent prompted Turney to add the Carmine Dance Hall to the mix, which then prompted other promoters to follow suit.

“Once people figured out that shoppers would drive to Carmine and later Shelby, they figured out that they’d drive just about anywhere in the area,” Ham said.

Soon after, the fields at Warrenton sprang to life bringing with it a spirit of competition of another kind. The dealers at the Rifle Hall were discouraged from exploring other venues. It became a game for them.

“We’d put on glasses and hats and sneak down to the fields avoiding any venues that fronted Highway 237,” Krause said. “When we’d bump into one another, we’d jokingly threaten to ‘tell on’ each other. It was funny—and big fun.”

From then on, the overall show grew exponentially every six months.

“Once it started growing, it took off with an obvious spurt every six months,” Ham said. “It’s been something to see—and be part of.”

As other venues staked a claim on easily accessible State Highway 237, diverting traffic away from the Rifle Hall, Turney made a move. She purchased land near the junction of FM 458 and Highway 237 five miles north of Round Top and built the Big Red Barn, then and now home to the Original Round Top Antiques Fair. Later, she sold that show and venue to Susan Franks who continues to own and manage it today. Turney then founded the Round Top Folk Art Fair and Creative Market, now Round Top Vintage Market, which specialized in fine arts and crafts. She sold that business to Barbara Griffin and Pat Boyd in 2013.

“Emma Lee was the best businesswoman I’ve ever met,” Ham said. “When she saw that traffic patterns were changing, she changed the way she did business to ensure that she was still in the middle of things.”