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Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts

A guestroom at the Banyan Tree Ungasan, Bali

Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts’ guests take their luxury with a healthy dose of social responsibility. by David Eisen

Most companies are interested in producing a healthy P+L statement, not a transparent sustainability report. But since 2006, Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts, with 20 properties in places like Thailand and the Maldives, has been doing just that. The company’s reports cover each resort and highlight resource conservation topics like green house gas emissions and energy consumption.

“It’s what we do, and we seek to be as transparent as possible to allow everyone to make their own judgment,” explains Claire Chiang, senior vice president of Banyan Tree Holdings and co-founder of Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts.

In fact, everything about Banyan Tree begins with sustainability—from its resorts’ designs to the manner in which they’re run to the way they integrate the local community. “We look to use the most architecturally efficient materials within a reasonable investment cost,” Chiang says. “This is applied anywhere, from using the passive method on natural lighting and ventilation to the selection of building supplies. We plan and design resorts with minimum impact to the environment and great impact on a guest’s experience.” (Take Banyan Tree Ringha in China, where 32 lodges and suites were reconstructed, log by log, from decades-old Tibetan farmhouses, without the use of nails or other modern materials.)

Banyan Tree’s commitment to sustainability does not mean it comes at the expense of profits; the Banyan Tree product is not cheap. Consider Banyan Tree Samui in Thailand, where rates for a Deluxe Pool Villa begin around $900 per night. The Presidential Villa at Banyan Tree Seychelles commands a rate of around $4,700 per night.

“Banyan Tree’s definition of sustainability echoes the triple-bottom-line approach, whereby we seek social, environmental, and financial success simultaneously,” Chiang says. “We see sustainability as not being a zero-sum game between earning profits, promoting communal prosperity, and ecological conservation. The biggest obstacle is when we allow the time horizons associated with profitability to shrink such that the tail (short-term profits) is truly wagging the dog (long-term success).”

Currently, Banyan Tree properties are mostly situated in Asia, but there are two in Mexico. For the time being, Banyan Tree taking up a presence stateside is unlikely, but not out of the question, says Chiang.

Banyan Tree’s main goal is to continue operating and serving its brand of sustainable luxury. “Resorts are even more exposed to the three Ls of real estate: location, location, location,” says Chiang. “You can have the most beautiful location, but if you’re not conscientious about designing, building, and operating the resort, you’ll destroy the competitive advantage of that destination by destroying…the local ecosystem.”

Destination Hotels & Resorts

Designing Destination

You might know one of the properties in the Destination Hotels & Resorts portfolio, but soon you’ll know the company, too. by Bill Owens

Destination Hotels & Resorts is a hospitality management company with a well-capitalized real estate parent in Lowe Enterprises (loweenterprises.com). Together, they’re quietly assembling a strong portfolio of mainly upscale mixed-use properties, of which Lowe owns almost half of the 42 in Destination’s collection.

Terranea

While many of its hotels are known by travelers, Destination’s president and CEO Jamie Sabatier wants those travelers to know that they are the brand behind properties that include Wild Dunes Resort in South Carolina and L’Auberge Del Mar in California.

“One of my focal areas for 2013 is to move us from being a bunch of different properties that have a linkage together to a collection of properties that resonate with the consumer,” Sabatier says. “That doesn’t mean we necessarily need to do a hard brand, but we have the opportunity to better present our portfolio to our customers in a way that will enhance their awareness and their desire to go from one property to another.” The move is similar to what hotel collections like Rosewood Hotels & Resorts and RockResorts have done to acquaint themselves with their customers. For example, The Carlyle in New York only recently became The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel.

There is also a residential component to many Destination properties, which is part of the vertically integrated structure of the Lowe Hospitality Group, where Destination acts as the manager and Lowe as the developer.

At Terranea, in Southern California, Ocean Golf Villas and Oceanfront Casitas are priced from around $1.3 million. In Vermont, Front Four Residences at Stowe Mountain range from $219,000 to $309,000.

“We have chosen to stay out of timeshare [options],” Sabatier says. “We’ve got a great opportunity to develop communities. The types of deals we are seeing are really redevelopments. Every market is different, but what we are seeing is a greater velocity in the number of sales. With that comes better pricing, and we are in early phases of seeing pricing improvement.”

In the near future, Destination will look to grow via acquisitions and expand its reach outside of the U.S. to the Caribbean and Mexico. “Our goal is to double the size of the company over the next five to seven years,” Sabatier says.

At the same time, Lowe Enterprises and its development arm, Lowe Destination Development, look to develop properties across the United States. And while growing via acquisitions, Sabatier does think the market for ground-up development is coming back. “As the development market improves, and we have seen a real increase in our development pipeline, I can see [new development] being a growth vehicle,” he says.

A Classic Approach

La Playa Carmel

Sam Grossman’s business is real estate. His passion is hotels. By David Eisen

To hear Sam Grossman tell it, the hotel business really has nothing to do with real estate. In fact, adds the chairman of Grossman Properties, “The hotel business is actually an ongoing business operation that requires constant attention.” Perhaps that’s why Grossman has a soft spot for hotels—it’s a passion he can nurture and to which he can devote constant attention, ultimately leaving his own mark.

Grossman displays this side through Classic Hotels & Resorts, the Phoenix-based hospitality management division of Grossman Properties, whose portfolio includes the Arizona Grand Resort, in Phoenix, plus the Inn at Laguna Beach and La Playa Carmel, both in California. All three hotels are well positioned to take advantage of the upturn following the downturn. “The leader in the pack right now is high end [properties],” Grossman says, pointing to positive signs in rate and occupancy growth.

For now, Grossman is content to focus on West Coast projects. The company recently completed multimillion-dollar renovations at the Inn at Laguna Beach and La Playa Carmel. Classic’s finest turn-around moment, arguably, was its 1992 acquisition of the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix. Classic bought the 730-room resort for $62 million, spent $60 million on renovations, then sold it in 2000 for $350 million.

While the company has dipped its toes into waters off the West Coast—in the past having built two hotels in Dallas—the mode of growth today is in acquiring properties and, as Grossman tells it, prices have shot up. “We are interested in acquiring properties with attractive pricing, but it’s difficult to find really good properties below replacement cost,” Gross- man says. In fact, he adds, prices are approaching 2006 and 2007 levels— then heady times for the hotel industry.

No matter the time, Grossman is a firm believer in hotels and real estate. “I’m often asked the question, ‘Is this a good time to be in real estate?’ “My answer: It’s always a good time to be in real estate.” classichotels.com.

Honduras Pristine Bay Resort

Get to know Pristine Bay Resort off the coast of Honduras—Central America’s next island hot spot. By David Eisen

Thirty-five miles off the coast of Honduras sits the island of Roatán, where scuba diving, eco-tourism, fishing, and glass-bottom boat tours are a way of life. Pristine Bay Resort, situated on a 400-plus-acre site that nuzzles against the Caribbean Sea, offers all of this, and more.

Pristine Bay Resort features a wide variety of residential units, including two-, three-, and four-bedroom residences, as well as two-bedroom villas and quarter-acre custom home lots. Many of these properties enjoy unobstructed views of the ocean and access to a Pete and Perry Dye-designed par-72 golf course, The Black Pearl, which has been ranked No. 1 in Honduras by Golf Digest. Residences range from $600,000 to $1.1 million; lots start at $260,000; and villas average between $438,000 and $500,000.

Currently, there are approximately 60 properties available for purchase, says Luis Pedro Toriello, COO of Pristine Bay Resort, adding that sales have been brisk, with more than 150 properties sold. “The exclusiveness of our development and its many amenities for owners attract people looking for the best investment opportunities or the perfect vacation,” Toriello says.

In addition to the residences, a new 155-slip full-service marina will provide deep-water access for a wide variety of seafaring vessels. For those not in the market to buy, there is also a luxury hotel component. The previously named Resort & Spa at Pristine Bay has been r

enamed Las Verandas Hotel & Villas, and opened earlier this year. The hotel includes 36 rooms and 11 free-standing villas; its design has a local feel with features like terracotta flat-tile roofing and Honduran mahogany trim. At the top end is the Ocean View Villa, which goes for $925 per night during high season (late December through May). The villa has its own private pool and other amenities. pristinebayresort.com.

Southern Comfort at Reynolds Plantation

New ownership, same carefree living at Reynolds Plantation in Georgia. By David Eisen

Few development communities in the United States rival Reynolds Plantation (reynoldsplantation.com) on Lake Oconee, in Greensboro, Georgia, in terms of sheer beauty and lifestyle. Situated on 10,000 acres and including six golf courses (featuring Nicklaus, Fazio, Jones, and Cupp designs), four marinas, a Ritz-Carlton hotel, and ample real estate opportunities, Reynolds Plantation, which is about 70 miles east of Atlanta, is a vacation mecca for some, a business opportunity for others seeking to pad their real estate portfolios.

Maybe that’s why it was so appealing to the nation’s largest life insurer, MetLife, which agreed to acquire the community in May from Linger Longer Development Company after it struggled under a heavy debt load too high to bear.

“This is a premier community with world-class amenities, a great reputation, and a strong future,” says Robert Merck, senior managing director and head of real estate investments for MetLife. “This transaction represents an outstanding investment opportunity for us.”

The new owner has brought on Daniel Corporation to oversee all day-to-day operations. The collaboration between MetLife and Daniel represents a continuation of a 25-year relationship between the two companies.

In addition to its golf courses and 251-room Ritz-Carlton hotel (which will remain operated by Ritz-Carlton after the acquisition closes some time this summer), Reynolds Plantation has 3,800 residences, some of which struggled to sell during the housing slump.

Single-family homes, cottages (tandem or attached), and home sites are available for purchase, with varying views (lake, woods, or golf course). Single-family homes are available starting around $300,000 for three bedrooms and two baths. Cottages start below $200,000, while home sites are listed starting at $40,000.

Reynolds Plantation also offers a long-term leasing program for those looking to rent instead of own. These can range from one month to one year or more, and some of the properties in this program have a membership available to borrow that can allow tenants the opportunity to obtain golf privileges while renting. reynolds plantation.com.

Made with Love: St Kitts’ Christophe Harbour

Christophe Harbour

St. Kitts’ Christophe Harbour is a labor of love. By Stephen Oakridge

It is one thing to build a one-off hotel or resort; it’s a whole other story to develop a luxury community from scratch. That is the pursuit of Christophe Harbour, the luxury resort development still under construction on the southeast peninsula of St. Kitts in the eastern Caribbean.

The master-planned development spans 2,500 acres and, when complete, will entail a mega-yacht harbor and 300-slip marina (the development’s focal points); an 18-hole Tom Fazio-designed golf course; two branded hotels; private residences; a yacht club; beach clubs, restaurants; and shopping.

Getting to the point of total completion has been a chore for Christophe Harbour Development Company, a venture of Kiawah Partners, stymied by a fickle economy and a downturn that arrived just as the first shovel hit the dirt in 2008.

Now, the development is in full advance. “Despite launching this project during a difficult economic climate, Christophe Harbour has successfully sold more than properties and started to develop both the infrastructure and amenities for a world-class residential resort community,” said Charles P. “Buddy” Darby III, CEO of Kiawah Partners. “Our goal is to create an opportunity for a lifestyle that is unmatched anywhere in the Caribbean, and we believe by doing that, Christophe Harbour is well positioned to take advantage of the economic recovery we are now beginning to see.

The real estate component comprises lots available from $750,000 to $2.8 million. A variety of different home sites to choose from includes Sandy Bank Bay, set along a horseshoe bay with two reefs and a natural sand bank that extends more than 100 yards from the shoreline, and Cardinal Point, which is situated above Sandy Bank Bay and comprises 13 home sites overlooking the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic. According to Kiawah Partners, 67 lots have been sold to date. christopheharbour.com.

Luxe Cabos

Mexico’s Baja Peninsula offers unabashed luxury in a setting of natural grandeur.

Jutting out into the aquamarine junction of the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Cortez, the southern capes of the Baja Peninsula, or “Los Cabos,” have long served as the West Coast’s answer to the distant Caribbean and the even more remote Pacific islands. Since tourism began here in the late ‘70s, the scramble for the 20-mile corridor between the towns of San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas inevitably spawned gimmicky hotels and tawdry motels. However, it also brought some of the most lavish, show-stopping resorts, aptly fit for their regular Hollywood A-list clientele and the global elite with a desert-meets-the-sea romantic vibe. Indeed, magnificent resorts like the One&Only Palmilla and Las Ventanas al Paraíso rank among the globe’s finest, earning Los Cabos a spot high atop the list of the world’s most luxurious locales.

Villa Cortez beachfront pool Casita Master Suite at One&Only Palmilla

One&Only Palmilla

Designed as an intimate beachfront hacienda for the mid-20th century’s rising rich and famous, One&Only Palmilla once attracted the likes of John Wayne, Lucille Ball, and Bing Crosby. Over time, improved infrastructure in the Baja Peninsula catalyzed expansions, but the resort’s original ethos—an unapologetic, decadent respite from reality—remains unchanged. Nowadays, the 250-acre One&Only Palmilla redefines the concept of barefoot luxury with sumptuous accommodations and exalted outlets at the tip of the Palmilla master-planned community.

An ambassador of South of the Border luxury, One&Only Palmilla exudes a true sense of place. The contemporary incarnations of the original accommodations take the form of 12 traditional casas boasting a total of 173 rooms and suites that range from large to palatial. All face the ocean, are outfitted with sprawling terraces and patios, and offer the brand’s signature butler service. Lively, eclectic Mexican design abounds, right down to the last detail, while massive wooden doors and room partitions, intricately studded and bursting with character, reflect the Colonial farm style typical of San Miguel de Allende. One-of-a-kind rustic floor tiles complement the understated tapestries, hand-embroidered cloths, and colorful linens.

One&Only Palmilla’s ample acreage separates the more family-centric north from the more adults-driven south. That’s not to say that these regions are mutually exclusive or that any age will forgo frivolity and fun on the hilltop; simply put, One&Only Palmilla champions the best of both worlds.

Vacationing families gravitate toward the resort’s central and northern reaches, where the rocky outcrops give way to placid beaches. Nestled in dense foliage and teeming with towering palm trees, this vast expanse includes half of the resort’s lavish casas, the principal pool and connecting children’s pool, the unique “Mexiterranean” Agua Restaurant & Bar, and an ESPA spa. Lining the southern rim of the property, 16 units with private oceanfront infinity pools and three dozen junior suites cater to couples seeking honeymoon-style romance. At the multi-tiered, adults-only Vista Pool & Bar, complimentary foot massages, ginger margaritas, homemade sorbets, and towel fluffing are all on the menu. Come nightfall, a mesmerizing fire pit illuminates and creates idyllic ambience for good conversation and stargazing. A stone’s throw away, Suviche Lounge buzzes with the sweet sounds of live music and the chatter of margarita-merry patrons, while the neighboring Market restaurant doles out Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s award-winning French-Asian cuisine, peppered with regional Mexican spices and ingredients.

Between January and March, mammoth gray whales arrive at this coastal refuge to give birth and rear their young. They are often visible with the naked eye, though in-room telescopes bring them up close and personal. One&Only Palmilla is a year-round habitat for relaxation and uninterrupted bliss for both the affluent family and the starry-eyed romantic.

Oceanview suite at Las Ventanas al Paraíso

Las Ventanas al Paraíso

There’s no case of getting lost in translation for Las Ventanas al Paraíso. These “windows to paradise” overlook a stunning panorama of desert and sea that embodies our contemporary definition of “paradise.” Comprising 11 whitewashed, low-rise buildings that are enveloped by diverse cacti and framed by the most brilliant blue skies, Las Ventanas imparts an ambience of far-and-away storybook romance.

The resort impresses from the onset, with an expansive alfresco lobby opposite the rising tides, hovering over an enclave of inspirational architecture. The artisan floors are composed of contrasting stones, beautifully arranged along the labyrinthine walkways, while the ceilings are bound by traditional dried latilla sticks. Bare branches from the Baja desert come to life with hand-blown red and pink glass ornaments, complementing the color-splashed desert foliage. Freestanding rectangular stairs intersect reflection ponds, leading toward sea-level amenities and outlets like the resort’s fine-dining restaurant or the more casual Mexican-inspired Sea Grill. Seven distinctive pools offer varying degrees of privacy, and a warm and smiling staff surprise at every turn, eager to deliver stellar service.

Las Ventanas’s 71 suites perfectly balance elements of luxury with regional authenticity. Its understated interiors pay homage to the flavors of Mexico’s 32 diverse states, cast ashore on a seaside desert. Even the recent spa expansion showcases a multi-faceted example of Mexican craftsmanship, with ornamental glasswork from Oaxaca embellishing an outdoor traditional Bajan palapa that serves as the spa’s relaxation area.

Due in part to its extensively manicured grounds, Las Ventanas exudes a constant spa-like placidity. Here, the few interruptions to guests’ R&R usually occur poolside or beachside with hourly offerings of homemade sorbets, water coolers, and other thirst-quenching delights. Perhaps you’ll wake up from a post-massage, sun-kissed snooze to a distant horn signaling the presence of whales in the area. Like One&Only Palmilla, Las Ventanas al Paraíso is a superb spot for witnessing the renowned gray whale migration, one of nature’s most majestic sights.

Highlights Los Cabos With all the shameless pampering you’re bound to experience at One&Only and Las Ventanas, heading off site can seem like a ridiculous idea. But if you can manage to break away, here are a few can’t-miss activities in San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas. Art Walk Exposition On Thursday evenings, the wildly popular Art District in San Jose del Cabo comes to life as dozens of galleries offer patrons complimentary wine and insight into their fabulous displays and works by Mexican and international artists and artisans. Land’s End Think of Los Cabos and a vision of Land’s End quickly comes to mind. This impressive cluster of rock formations, including the famous Arch of Poseidon, appears on nearly every postcard of Los Cabos. During high tide, panga boats (dinghies), from either the Marina or from El Medano Beach in Cabo San Lucas, offer rides to the Arch. Better yet, during low tide, intrepid travelers can get there by foot by way of Lover’s Beach. Whale Watching From January to March, gray whales rule the Cabo coastline. Around 6,000 whales come here annually to birth their young. While it’s exciting to view the whales from the coastline, the full gamut of boat tours—from zodiacs to sail boats—offer an even more exciting way to immerse yourself in their world.

*More luxurious images from Luxe Cabos

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A Jamaican Must Sea: Jakes

Jake's Farm Dinner

Jakes, a Bohemian-Style Boutique Hotel nestled in the fishing village of Treasure Beach on Jamaica’s South Coast, has added 2012 calendar dates for its monthly Farm Dinners. In conjunction with chef Liz Solms, a local sustainable agriculture expert, the program supports the independent farmers of Jamaica’s Pedro Plains. Once a month on the Saturday closest to the full moon, the dinners are held on a small farm in the hills of St. Elizabeth. Upon arrival, guests are greeted with fresh cocktails made from fruit grown on that farm. Situated in the working fields, tables are set with white linens and surrounded by glowing lanterns. Dinners feature organic dishes prepared on site, and the rotating menu reflects seasonal local produce and organic ingredients. Dishes like chèvre on toast with homemade lime-pepper jelly and organic lamb with coconut milk and spices are served family-style. The dinners also play host to specialists such as honey experts and wine sommeliers, who lead tastings of locally produced fare. Upcoming dates are January 14, February 11, March 17, and April 14; 35-guest max. jakeshotel.com

Boca Raton’s Blooming Business

Beacon of Boca In Boca Raton, Florida, One Thousand Ocean draws buyers with its coastal setting and top-shelf amenities.

In Boca Raton, One Thousand Ocean possesses those three crucial property characteristics: location, location, location. But some might argue that Boca’s newest luxury condominium has something even more important: water, water, water.

Boca Raton's One Thousand Ocean

That partly explains why developer BRE/Point Parcel LLC has been so successful, selling eight residences for just under $40 million in 2011. Overall, the 52-unit building has become 77 percent sold out since residents began moving in in July 2010.

Of the eight buyers in 2011, six were first-time visitors and closed within weeks—and with cash, according to Jamie Telchin, president of development for LXR Luxury Resorts & Hotels, which oversees the project. Overall, One Thousand Ocean has generated $180 million in sales and has just 12 unsold residences (one contract was pending in October 2011). Telchin attributes the project’s success to its fantastic setting on the southernmost tip of a private peninsula, among other factors.

“Number one, we have water on three sides,” he says. “Second, our development group put a beautiful building on the property. And right next door, our affiliate ownership group just spent $160 million on renovating the Beach Club [at Boca Raton Resort].

“The biggest thing is the lifestyle. Whether our residents come down for a weekend or a month, they can have all the world-class amenities from the resort next door or go to our private pool and have the same quality of service that the guests are getting at the Beach Club.”

Residences at One Thousand Ocean are comparable in size to custom oceanfront single-family estates, with a variety of Residences, Penthouses, and Beach Villas. Prices are approximately $3 million to $15 million. visitonethousandocean.com, 561-869-5000.

Mayakoba Resort Mixes Nature with Luxury

On Mexico’s Riviera Maya, Mayakoba Resort’s effort to blend luxury with nature is rewarded.

Mayakoba Resort, the self-contained luxury destination on the Riviera Maya, encompasses three ecosystems—beach, lagoon, and mangrove jungles—and properties by Banyan Tree, Fairmont, and

Mayakoba Resort, Riviera Maya

Rosewood. It’s also home to an 18-hole Greg Norman-designed golf course, which hosts The Mayakoba Golf Classic, Mexico’s only stop on the PGA Tour.

Six miles of freshwater lagoons connect the properties, and guests are transported in boats via canals made exclusively for the resort, all leading to Mayakoba being known as “the Venice of the Yucatan.”

According to James Batt of OHL Desarollos, the developer of Mayakoba, business improved in the first half of 2011, with a 23 percent increase in room reservations from 2010, and July and August fared even better.

In addition, Mayakoba’s sustainable and eco-conscious efforts have not gone unnoticed. The United Nations World Tourism Organization awarded Mayakoba the 2011 Ulysses Prize for sustainable and responsible tourism development; the honor followed that of a similar award earlier this year from the Rainforest Alliance.

“Environmental recognition is important to us, as it is to many of our guests,” says Batt. “It is not so much a measurable concept as validation of our long-term efforts in this area. Guests are primarily looking for the right hotel for their vacation, and we regularly hear that our environmental activities have tipped the balance in our favor.”

For those wishing to buy here, Rosewood suites and Banyan Tree villa ownership opportunities are available, with prices ranging from $470,000 to $3 million. In terms of growth and development, Batt says that fresh products are being planned, adding that, “In the meantime, we continue to close sales on our [villas].”

Sheraton, Nassau Beach

Situated on seven acres and a 1,000-foot stretch of one of Nassau’s spectacular white sand beaches, the Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort now offers adrenaline junkies the chance to swim among wild sharks in Nassau’s warm waters with its new Shark Dive Adventure Package. Each dive takes place at Stuart Cove’s Dive Bahamas—Nassau’s leading full-service dive destination—and includes a free swim and a feeding dive. During the free swim, guests—who must be certified divers to participate—observe the sharks as they swim along nearby, and during the second dive, participants kneel on the ocean floor, forming a semi-circle in front of a professional shark feeder. The sharks swim around the divers in a feeding frenzy, chasing after bait that the shark feeder places on a spear. Three- to five-night packages, booked now through December 22, 2011, start at $915; double-occupancy, and include accommodations, taxes, resort fee, and dives. 866-716-8106 (mention rate plan DIVE3 for the three-night package or DIVE5 for five nights).

Rockport’s Shalin Liu Performance Center

The Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport, Massachusetts, proved an instant hit with audiences, as well as architecture critics. By Regina Cole

Architects Alan Joslin and Deborah Epstein of Cambridge, Massachusetts, collaborated with famed acoustician Larry Kirkegaard to produce Shalin Liu’s gorgeous look and sound. Previously, Kirkegaard and Joslin worked together to design the acclaimed Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood and the Strathmore Concert Hall in Rockville, Maryland. Kirkegaard, headquartered in Chicago and Boulder, is also responsible for the acoustics at London’s Festival Hall and the concert hall at Kuala Lumpur’s Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia.

Epstein designed Shalin Liu’s warm, earth-toned interior. Against a backdrop of rosewood and grayed green walls, it features Douglas fir timber framing, third-story clerestory windows, and balcony railings made of Balsam fir strips woven over steel rods, the pride of an architect who is also a weaver. She lined the lower-level walls of the 43-by-86-foot shoebox-shaped hall with panels of stone, their irregular surface in service to the sound and in homage to the area.

“When it comes to acoustics, there is one rule: no parallel surfaces,” Epstein says. “Hard, faceted surfaces reflect sound and maintain its energy. The small pieces of stone appear to be the same size as the pieces of Cape Ann granite that we see in the distance.”

The view of Cape Ann’s rocky shore is the venue’s dramatic feature. Behind the stage, an 18-by-28-foot window looks out to sea and provides a constantly changing panorama. If the view becomes too distracting, three screens slide across the stage to curtain the window. The shutters, which repeat the wood and steel basketweave of the balconies, allow light through in scalloped beams, an echo of the waves outside.

Rockport Music, which began as the Rockport Chamber Music Festival in 1981, has grown into one of the country’s premier summer classical music venues. The new hall will host concerts year round, as well as film series and opera and theatre simulcasts. The ambitious program and the new hall would be impressive anywhere, but that it happened in Rockport, a town of fewer than 8,000, is a triumph. Key to this success is the Second Empire façade, a replica of the 1860 mercantile Haskins Building originally on the site. “Rockport Music wanted to be respectful to the town,” Joslin explains. “So we built a new concert hall behind the original façade.”

While some architecture critics aren’t fans of the Victorian reproduction exterior, concertgoers love the familiar façade. Once inside, it doesn’t matter; every element of the new building stands in service to the music.

TrendLuxury.com

A favorite amoung celebrities, socialites and fashion icons, this online resource is essentially a guide for living the high life. By Lindsay Gabrielski, Associate Web Editor

Launched in 2008, TrendLuxury.com has quickly earned its place as the one stop spot to find the latest on luxury trends, fashions, hotels, getaways and basically anything that fits into a lifestyle of pure opulence. TrendLuxury.com’s founder, Carlos Muhammad, became fluent in the language of luxury after working with the affluent in the entertainment industry. Using his knowledge and contacts he created TrendLuxury.com as a luxury lifestyle resource for an elite class of consumers. His insight and widespread contacts give him access to select interviews with style icons, insider fashion and design tips and endless resources to stay in constant pursuit of the next turn in luxury trends. TrendLuxury.com is a favorite amoung socialites and celebrities who visit the website regularly to find the newest luxury indulgence from a travel destination hot spot to next season’s designer “must haves”.

In addition to celebrities and socialites, TrendLuxury.com recently realized its popularity among those simply in awe of extravagant lifestyles or dreaming of ways to integrate luxury into a more average lifestyle. Having originally targeted his website towards the wealthiest of wealthy consumers, Muhammad needed to maintain the exclusivity that built TrendLuxury’s reputation, but was inspired by the idea of bringing luxury to this new class of consumers. In response TrendLuxury.com expanded, seeking out not only the most select products, topics and trends in the world of luxury, but also the best giveaways, deals, and promotions within it. The website now satisfys a broader range of luxury seekers by featuring promotions like a $1,000 Tequila Popsicle (made with 24 ct. gold flakes) in addition to a sweepstakes for a free week-long trip to a Costa Rican Eco-Friendly Resort. At $1,000 a pop (no pun intended) not many of us can build a tequila Popsicle adorned in gold flakes into our budget, but all of us can certainly indulge in the opportunity for a free vacation!

Whether entering a give-away sweepstakes for a stay in a trendy hotel, looking for next season’s hottest fashion picks, or simply glancing into the world of opulence– TrendLuxury.com keeps luxury as accessible as it is exclusive. This distinctive balance brings a range of 10,000 unique visitors from over fifty countries to TrendLuxury.com each day. The top of the website reads “Luxury is timeless and touches everyone who truly appreciates Beauty, Elegance and Class.” Being well-versed in the language of luxury ourselves, we at OceanHome can confidently state that if there was ever a place to indulge in luxury or discover an appreciation for it, TrendLuxury.com is it.

Visit TrendLuxury.com