Private Residence Clubs are becoming a favorite among affluent travelers and baby-boomers looking to enjoy a vacation home or retreat without the high acquisition cost or hassles of full ownership. Kind of "All the pleasure without the pain." In the late 1800's George Vanderbilt visited Asheville, North Carolina and fell in love with the area's fresh air, great weather, vibrant culture and views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. He created his "little mountain retreat" so he could pursue his passion for art, literature, and horticulture. Now known as the Biltmore Estate, is the largest privately owned "pied a' terre" in America at an astonishing 175,000 square feet.

Over a hundred years after Asheville captured the heart and imagination of Vanderbilt, the city still lures vacation home buyers with its unique amalgam of dramatic mountain vistas and close proximity to world-class recreation. So it's not surprising that a recent report by Barron's places Asheville at Number 1 among the top 10 places to buy a second or vacation home.

Many envision vacation homes as an oasis of relaxation with a satisfying bit of "I've made it" built in. However, the reality can be far from the dream. Even in the "Paris of the South," as Asheville is nicknamed, owning a second home can be burdensome exacting a toll in time and money that is disproportionate to the actual enjoyment. George Vanderbilt learned this painful truth a century ago. He spent more than his annual income maintaining Biltmore Estate and depleted his inheritance. Consequently, some of the mansion's rooms were never completed.

Steve Dering, founding partner of DCP-International, introduced the world's first-ever private residence club at top-rated Deer Valley Resort in Park City, Utah. This high-end form of fractional real estate became the fastest growing segment of the luxury vacation home market and prestigious residence clubs are now found at many of the world's most popular vacation destinations. They offer an intelligent alternative to the expense and hassles that come with a second home, leaving owners more time and money to enjoy it.

Residence clubs work like this: you purchase a deeded fractional interest in a vacation home, most often a luxury villa or condominium, and share the cost of upkeep and services with six to ten other owners. (The number of fractional owners per residence typically depends on the seasonality of the location.) Owners of DCP clubs use their homes as often as they like, subject to club reservation policies and availability. Additionally, owners do not have maintenance responsibilities, a club staff provides hotel-type services and takes care of all operational details. Luxury hoteliers such as Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons and St.Regis now offer private residence clubs at some of their most prestigious luxury hotels worldwide.

Why are so many choosing this real estate option? Dr. Richard Ragatz, president of Ragatz and Associates, a research firm that focuses on the worldwide resort industry says, "Research shows that the typical household uses their wholly owned vacation home no more than four to five weeks a year. The rest of that time it sits idle, accumulating maintenance costs, taxes and repair fees."

Ragatz noted that, thanks to the housing bubble burst and the recession, many individuals have changed their thinking when it comes to buying real estate. "People don't buy for appreciation anymore," he said. "They buy to enjoy it. Even though they can afford the $1M price tag, they are more comfortable in spending $200,000 on a very high-end, quality vacation home than on something [a whole ownership home] that sits vacant most of the year." Not to mentioned they still have $800,000 in their pocket.

Dering, who is working with the Hotel Indigo owners and Residence Club Partners, LLC on the new Asheville Club at 151, agrees with Ragatz.

"For 20 years our company has been creating residence clubs for those who love a particular destination, visit numerous times each year, want the benefits of luxury home ownership, and desire personalized services. What they don't want is the disproportionate costs and maintenance worries of a vacation home," said Dering. "The popularity of residence clubs is based on simple logic, the ownership cost is commensurate with actual use and the club staff frees owners from all responsibilities." added Dering. The residence club pioneer noted that most club buyers can afford their own vacation home but can't rationalize the purchase, knowing they will only use it four to six times per year.

DCP and it's partners Residence Club Partners have designed and launched more than 40 residence clubs around the world, ranging from luxury ski-in, ski-out retreats to sumptuous residences in a meticulously renovated Italian palaces. Now RCP has come back to the mountains of Western North Carolina with the launch of The Asheville Club at 151 in downtown Asheville (you can see the Biltmore mansion from the 11th floor) and tucked up at 5,000 about 30 minutes north of Asheville is the Mountainside Club at Wolf Laurel Resort and Country Club. Both of these luxury fractional private residence clubs offer spectacular views of the mountains, the services of a boutique hotel. At the Mountainside Club Ownership comes with a full golf country club membership to the highest golf course east of the Rocky Mountains. All for less than the down payment on a full ownership home within the gates of Wolf Laurel!

Another of DCP's most spectacular private residence clubs is The Reefs Club in Bermuda, consisting of luxury villas perched on a spectacular private pink-sand beach. Steve Comeau, an owner at The Reefs Club had a unique way to sum up his residence club experience, "For those considering a fractional residence, it all comes down to the math," he explains. "Take the best services of a five-star hotel, plus all the space and amenities of a beautiful new home, minus 1000 headaches. Then, put it in Bermuda."

Also among the DCP clubs is the world's first urban residence club. Sales at The Phillips Club, located in Manhattan next to Lincoln Center, have exceeded $150 million. The Phillips Club allows owners to live large in the world's most exciting city without the Madison Avenue price tag. Whether it's a lavish apartment in Florence Italy or an amazing location overlooking downtown Asheville, the past 20 years have proven that fractional real estate and residence clubs are here to stay.

The residence club model makes it feasible for buyers like Joan Jernigan a single middle-aged women, a self-described "type-A personality, first-wave boomer" to contemplate second homes without stressing over upkeep. "I wanted it to be a destination, not just a place to stay," Jernigan said of her Residence Club ownership in Vail. "This was truly an impulse buy but one that was a perfect fit for my lifestyle." I said, 'I'm going to treat myself because I deserve this and because it's a wonderful way to get my brother, sister and parents to spend a week or 10 days together as a family, for me it's a smarter way to own my dream second home.'

Source: Kimberly Miller - Luxury Living Magazine

(Mars Hill NC, March 26, 2011) Spring is finally here and so is the grand opening of The Mountainside Club at Wolf Laurel Resort, scheduled for May 6th. This exclusive fractional private residence club offers families dreaming of owning a luxurious mountain vacation home, access to Western North Carolina's most unique private residence club.

You will find The Mountainside Club is located only 30 minutes north of Asheville, NC inside the gates of Wolf Laurel Resort and Country Club featuring the highest golf course east of the Rocky Mountains perched at almost 5,000 feet. You will also find Western North Carolina's best ski mountain and the famous Appalachian Trail just a few steps away.

Owners at The Mountainside Club enjoy carefree living in a beautiful new three-bedroom chalet or a five-bedroom mountain villa. These professionally decorated, fully furnished mountain homes have large living areas, three fireplaces, oversized family/media room and expansive fully furnished outdoor living space with amazing westerly views. These newly completed mountain homes are the finest deeded fractional real estate in Western North Carolina.

In addition to the compliment of great mountain golf and alpine skiing, you can enjoy amazing hiking trails, tennis, horseback riding or fish in beautiful trout streams. Only a short walk from the Mountainside Club the Wolf Laurel Country Club is a place where you can unwind with friends and family on the newly expanded outdoor deck where you will find fine dining with beautiful long-range mountain views.

Source: BestResidenceClubs.com

Owners of the Mountainside Club receive a full membership to the Wolf Laurel Country Club where they can enjoy challenging golf, amazing views and a Clubhouse with superb dining and friendly bar for a relaxing 19th hole.

Few golf courses in the eastern U.S. are set at a higher elevation than Wolf Laurel Country Club, an 18-hole, par-72 mountain classic is known as the highest course in the eastern U.S. WLCC was designed in 1965 by W. B. Lewis. It rises and falls from 3,600 to over 4,800 feet in elevation, where one literally tees off into the clouds. From tee to green the golf course experiences elevation changes of as much as 310 feet on a single hole.

Source: YouTube.com