Fractional ownerships

Date: 07/31/2007

Six of the best by Hannah Roberts

Palazzo Tornabuoni, Florence
To be an owner of a 16th-century frescoed Palazzo in the center of Florence is a rare privilege given that these historic estates are passed down from family to family, and almost never come up for sale. This Renaissance palazzo, once home to a Medici cardinal, has been restored to its glory days complete with supreme marble and silk furnishings. As an owner, you can have access to all the favorite pastimes of the nobility, including wild boar hunting, private wine tours of the Tuscan vineyards, and decadent massages and beauty treatments at the new Four Seasons Spa, just steps down the Via X, as well as six weeks a year guaranteed time at home. See: www.palazzotornabuoni.com.

Castello di Casole, Siena, Italy
This vast Tuscan nature reserve dotted with flawlessly restored traditional farmhouses is fractional maestro David Burdon's first European venture and a stone's throw from the medieval treasure that is Siena, fulfilling every cultural fantasy of living in Italy. The clever part is that you side-step the perils of Italian bureaucracy and arrive each time at your sumptuous and individually furnished Sienese villa, set amid olive groves and maturing vineyards, to find the infinity pool cleaned, the fridge stocked, and the forno (the wood-fired outdoor pizza oven) fully stoked and raring to go. Four weeks per annum are guaranteed here, but any number of short breaks is possible if there's room. See: www.timbersresorts.com.

The Phillips Club, New York
Given the cost of Manhattan hotels, if you visit the Big Apple on a regular basis, owning your own one- to three-bedroom designer- chic retreat in the city makes financial sense (although experts constantly make the point that fractional ownerships are a lifestyle choice not an investment). If it provides all the services of a luxury hotel-and indeed it does-so much the better. Sleek bachelor-pad-style furnishings complete with black and white Karl Blosfeldt prints, and the extra perks of the spa, Reebok gym, and access to the Lincoln Square cinema all conspire to seal the deal. See: www.phillipsclub.com.

Isle de France, St. Barths
Overlooking St. Barth's most magnificent beach, La Baie de Flamand, is the renowned Isle de France hotel now in the process of converting its 30 rooms and suites into fractional ownerships of which, for $420,000 for 1/9 ownership, you can now own a pretty white-decked piece. As well as the gorgeous Caribbean home-from-home itself, ranging from a suite looking over the bay to a two-bedroom villa with a terrace and private garden spa, the hotel has a Molton Brown spa and one of St. Barths top traditional French restaurants. The club also has a reciprocal agreement with Marrakesh club Riad Farnatchi, allowing you to split your allocated five weeks. See: www.foliocollection.com

Pezula Private Island and Residence Club, Seychelles
Having sold, in just eight weeks, all memberships to their South African private residence club at Knysna, on the picturesque Garden Route, the Pezula group's latest project on its own exquisite Seychellois island, is tipped to shift quickly. This tropical island haven is 18 acres, so homes are restricted to just 10, each with its own pool and beach with a maximum of 80 people in residence at once. Like most of the neighboring islets, which you overlook from your beachside villa (from around $290,000), the snorkelling is spectacular and the island itself is a garden of fabulous fauna-most thrillingly turtles and giant tortoises, which you can enjoy for 21 days a year. See: www.pezula.com.
Rendezvous, Anguilla
Having hacked their way through the mangroves to the sea in the late 1950s, pioneer hoteliers Jeremiah and Lydia Gumb, who built the original property here, set the standard for Anguilla's clean-living-style of development, in which cruise ships, casinos, and highrise buildings were banned. Wedged on one-and-a-half miles of sugary sand on the Southwest coast, Rendezvous' setting and manner are still un-flashy and nostalgic in a way that's perfect for families, but building on its new, privately-owned luxury residences is well underway. Fractions are available of low-key, luxury four- and five-bedroom villas, as well as three townhouses, penthouse suites, and spa suites. See: www.rendezvousownership.com. IL