MEMBER PORTRAIT MAGAZINE
Leveque Family Mercer Island, Washington, USA
MEMBERS 03 GRAIL FAMILY PARIS, FRANCE
08 LEVEQUE FAMILY MERCER ISLAND, WASHINGTON
11 MIGLINO FAMILY WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CALIFORNIA
14 EVERINGHAM FAMILY MERITT ISLAND, FLORIDA
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EGGLETON FAMILY PARK CITY, UTAH
MEMBERSHIP 22 BENEFITS & SERVICES Leveque Family Mercer Island, Washington, USA
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MEMBER PORTRAIT MAGAZINE HomeExchange Collection is excited to introduce our first Member Portrait Magazine. Highlighting members of the HomeExchange Collection community, the Member Portrait Magazine spotlights our members, their homes, and the unique experiences that they have enjoyed while exchanging their homes. Created for like-minded travelers to meet, share and exchange their luxury homes, HomeExchange Collection is designed to give members the opportunity to feel at home anywhere in the world. With inherent trust in one another as part of the community, conscientious homeowners are dedicated to sharing their homes and destinations, providing tailored, individual recommendations for a more authentic vacation experience. The HomeExchange Collection membership is as varied as the homes, with notable sustainable and ecological fashion designers, international consultants, interior designers, scientists, architects, artists, and engineers all among the community. Hospitality, generosity and trust are essential values that link the members of HomeExchange Collection together and allow everyone to travel with peace of mind. HomeExchange Collection is more than just. a platform, it's a community. As part of the membership, members are given access to the exclusive HomeExchange Collection Facebook Group. There, members can connect, discuss upcoming exchanges and share local travel recommendations. Our members are what make the HomeExchange Collection community so unique, which is why we’re excited to share their stories and experiences with you.
Charles-Edouard Girard and Emmanuel Arnaud President and CEO of HomeExchange 2
HomeExchange Collection / Member Portrait
The Grail Family - Paris, France Laetitia, an entrepreneur, and her husband, Jean-Sébastien, a consultant, are both from Lyon, France. They met there, lived in London for a while, and then settled in Paris. Together they have three children; Max-Emmanuel, the eldest who is currently in ECG preparatory classes and who does a lot of climbing, Lazare their second who is in MPSI preparatory classes and who loves sailing and finally Victoire who is 14 years old, and is in the third year of secondary school and who loves to read.
Laetitia & Jean-Sébastien Exchanger since March 2009
Bedrooms: 4 | Bathrooms: 3 | Size: 170 m²
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Why HomeExchange Collection? Our very first home exchange was in Normandy at Lion sur mer. From there, we visited Marseille, Venice, London, Cape Cod, New York, Venice again... Ilhabela in Brazil - with friends, and Siena in Italy, Dinan in Brittany, Altea in Spain, Orlando in the US, Koh Samui in Thailand, Bonnieux in France, Poros in Greece, Ixtapa in Mexico, Martinique, Marseille again, the Pyrenees in France, the list goes on and on! And we always go for reciprocal exchanges, not necessarily simultaneous, but because people like us often have second homes, it's easy to exchange. What I really like about exchanging is meeting people. We've kept a lot of friends through it. There are even people that we have seen again and that we have visited up to four times. This summer, Max-Emmanuel may go to Orlando for three weeks to visit the people with whom we had a first exchange in 2013. We saw them again when we went to Los Angeles for an exchange and we regularly talk through email. I find it really nice to be able to keep this kind of relationship.
So, to answer the original question, why HomeExchange Collection? Because we love to travel. And then because when the kids are little, it's so much nicer than a hotel.
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I remember once in New York, the kids were still very young, and there was a slide in our exchange apartment, as well as all of the toys of the two boys of the other family; our boys were delighted! We were with Jean-Sebastien's parents, his brother and my sister-in-law. Our host shared the name of a babysitter they use regularly, so we were able to go out in New York. When the children were younger, going to a hotel and often in separate rooms, frankly, was not very practical. Exchanging, going to people's homes, keeping contacts, friends, in addition to the practical aspect of being in a house, I think it's great. Home exchanging is something we continue to enjoy now that the children are older.
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Grail Family Paris, France
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What inspired the design of your space?
That's a good question because I don't think I was inspired by anyone or anything. In fact it's a mix of "easy" contemporary decoration, like our two chandeliers or the Cassina desk, as well as items that I found at the flea market in Vanves or at vintage stores in Paris. We also love art. We have paintings, a lot of ancient statues of primitive art, pieces brought back from our travels, and we even have a drawing by our son Lazare which was featured by the Louvre Museum. We're lucky to have an apartment that even without decoration is already beautiful: there are extraordinary period moldings on the ceiling and around the mirrors, a fireplace in each room, herringbone parquet, stained glass windows everywhere, it's the perfect playground. I like to contrast this typical Haussmanian style with a lot of contemporary art.
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HomeExchange Collection / Member Portrait
The Leveque Family - Mercer Island, Washington JC Leveque, along with his wife and two children, have been home exchanging since 2017. When traveling, the family enjoys any opportunity to get active and move around; exploring towns, scuba diving, riding ATVs, hiking glaciers, you name it. They prefer these types of experiences over exploring museums or historic sites. Home exchanging has brought them a cool sense of exploration. Through the platform, the family has taken many trips that they wouldn't have thought about without the initiation of other members.
JC Leveque Exchanger since April 2014
Bedrooms: 5 | Bathrooms: 5| Size: 4m²
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What do you enjoy most about home exchanging? The Leveque family loves the spontaneity of home exchanging. Many of their exchanges have been spontaneously initiated by another exchanger, which has resulted in the family taking many trips that they wouldn't have considered in other circumstances. Using HomeExchange Collection, the Leveque family has enjoyed a trip to Iceland, as well as more local trips to Seattle and Florida, sometimes even exchanging their vehicles and pets in the process. One of their most notable trips was one to Scotland with eight adults, which would have been very challenging without HomeExchange. During their stay, they enjoyed a comfortable and cozy home right outside of Glasgow, which turned out to be the perfect place for a relaxing getaway. The fact that each home is a real, lived in space, really adds to the experience. For them, having access to daily supplies and essentials is so important. It also brings them a sense of cool exploration, being able to see how other people decorate their homes.
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Leveque Family Mercer Island, Washington, USA
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HomeExchange Collection / Member Portrait
The Miglino Family - Westlake Village, California Software CEO Chris Miglino first began home exchanging two years ago, when his family wanted to start traveling and he stumbled upon the service online. The family of six had previously stayed in hotels and via home rental services but realized it just didn’t fit their travel style. Since joining HomeExchange Collection, Chris and his family have traveled around the world, staying in cities like Dubai, San Francisco, Tahoe and Cabo San Lucas.
Christopher Miglino Exchanger since August 2020
Bedrooms: 5 | Bathrooms: 5| Size: 4m²
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What do you enjoy most about home exchanging? We started home exchanging around two years ago. We have four kids so every time we would travel and stay a hotel, we ended up having to get three rooms. After looking into other options, we found out about HomeExchange and ever since we've joined we've gone to amazing places. It's the kind of thing where you really just explore all of these places in the world you otherwise wouldn't have seen if you were staying in a hotel. We've gone to Dubai, went skiing three times in Big Sky, Tahoe and Colorado. We've stayed in San Francisco. We always get to stay in some interesting places and people are always very respectful of our home, as we are of theirs. We also love becoming friends with the people that we trade houses with. The last trip we took, it was our second time to the place down in Cabo and we're now friends with those people. My wife is always chatting with people around the world and keeping in touch with them through HomeExchange.
HomeExchange is so easy to do and it's fun when you start connecting with people. When you find someone that matches well and that works with us, it's exciting. It's a fun feeling.
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What is the inspiration for your home and home decor? The inspiration for our home is family and kids. We try to make it as fun as possible for the kids so that it's a place that they want to bring their friends. We have a really big backyard, the pool and lots of devices for the kids to play with. It's all about having a family home.
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HomeExchange Collection / Member Portrait
The Everingham Family - Merritt Island, Florida Kristi Sanders and her five daughters, ranging in age from 10-19, live in Merritt Island, Florida. Managing a large global team during her work hours, Kristi has always had her eye on global travel. Because travel had already brought so much joy to her life, she knew it was something that she wanted to do with her kids. HomeExchange Collection has made traveling as a family easier, which has allowed them to do it more often.
Kristi Everingham Exchanger since May 2017
Bedrooms: 5 | Bathrooms: 5| Size: 743m²
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How has your experience with HomeExchange Collection been? We’ve been home exchanging for around 5 years. I have five girls ages 10-19 and as our family grew, we started to realize that we couldn't stay in hotels anymore, we’re just too big of a family. We loved the idea of having more space and had a really close friend who has been using HomeExchange for years, so we decided to give it a try. We've loved it and have used it ever since.
With a large family like mine, HomeExchange Collection allows us to do so much more than we would be able to do without it. We started out with a small getaway, staying at a lake a short drive away and we had a great time. We continued to expand from there. We then did 2 weeks in Europe and did home exchanges the whole time. We were in Paris, Norway and South of France and we had great spots all along the way. Some of the stays were secured using Guest Points and the other was with a family that had stayed in our home a few years back so it was great to reconnect with them.
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Everingham Family Merritt Island Florida, USA
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What inspired the design of your space? I really want my home to feel like a home and not a museum. It's a very relaxed beach house vibe. Really comfy couches, lots of rugs and throw pillows and blankets. Lots of places to sit together with friends, whether it's on the back porch, side, porch, front porch, or floating in the pool. Our home is meant to gather and have people in it.
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HomeExchange Collection / Member Portrait
The Eggleton Family - Park City, Utah Chris and his wife were college sweethearts and have been married for nearly 20 years. They have three kids - Bennett who is turning 13, Jacquelyn who is turning 16 and their oldest, Zach who is 18. As their family grew over the years and they found that they needed more space while traveling, they quickly realized that they needed a travel experience that hotels couldn't provide. When the pandemic happened and perspectives and attitudes changed about how people spend their time, home exchanging provided them with an opportunity for more travel and prioritized spending time together exploring new destinations.
The Eggleton Family Exchanger since February 2021
Bedrooms: 5 | Bathrooms: 5 | Size: 463 ft²
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What do you enjoy most about home exchanging? Home exchange is a unique type of travel in that it allows you to experience a destination, but you also have the ability to create connections and keep in contact with families well after the exchange has ended. We’ve hosted people more than once and were able to customize their experience at our home. For example, one family we exchanged with liked espresso martinis so we went out and purchased martini glasses so that the next time they stayed with us so they could enjoy their favorite things while staying at our home. We also love that home exchanging gives us the ability to get to know the people that we’re exchanging with and that’s one of the unique things that keeps us coming back. Individuals that we’ve exchanged with in the past have become part of an extended friend group that’s uniquely different from those in our normal social network. Before Collection launched we were getting exchange requests from member’s with 2 or 3 bedroom homes and because of the size of our family, we just wouldn’t be able to fit in those homes. Having this luxury option with homes that are comparable in size and quality to our home makes the process of securing a suitable exchange that much easier.
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What do you feel makes your home unique? Having a real estate background, we knew that we wanted to remodel our home to fit our family’s needs as a larger family with tween and teenage kids. The upstairs is our central living and gathering spaces – kitchen, dining and living rooms. It’s also home to the master and ensuite, guest room and office, so it tends to be where the adults hang out. Then downstairs we have the three kids’ bedrooms, along with a game room and bonus room which has a shuffleboard, arcade, darts, art station and a gathering table for the kids. Having these two distinct areas gives us the ability to be in the same home but still find moments to be disconnected as adults and kids. Our set-up is best for families with children who are older, so we find that we typically exchange with families who have a similar aged-children as us. We always say that “ home” is where our families gathers. When we exchange, those houses become our “home” because we’re all there together. When you exchange, you’re exchanging your house and your things, and each family can quickly establish ‘hominess’ in in their exchange house through the communication and preparation of their host family.
Bedrooms: 4 | Bathrooms: 3 | Size: 170 m² 20
What are some things that you love about your home's location? Park City, Utah is a pretty special place that’s world renowned for its winter activities and accessibility to world class ski resorts. We have easy access to two world class ski resorts and within just one hour's drive, there are six other resorts, so we’re centrally located to access eight different ski resorts. The mountains are an incredible destination any time of the year. In the fall you’ll experience the seasonal color change, cooler air temperatures and wildlife. In the summer, everything is typically green with an abundance of outdoor recreation in perfect temperatures. We’re lucky to live in a town where our life is most people's vacation because Park City is a world class vacation destination.
What are some of your best home exchanging memories? We’ve had a number of great experiences but one of our favorites would have to be a seasonal exchange with an Australian family. We went there during their summer and they came to Park City to ski during our winter. They got to ski every day and we got to go the beach every day. We really love just being able to sit in a living room, on a couch and watch a movie as a family with our dogs. Or gather around a large kitchen island and connect after a fun day of adventures. To be able to do that on vacation is a really unique experience.
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Membership Benefits Access to our carefully curated selection of outstanding properties all over the world along with the flexibility to exchange with homes within our standard HomeExchange platform
Membership fees
Unlimited exchanges for one year subscription Invitation to HomeExchange Collection Facebook private group to meet and share with other members
$1000
Dedicated membership support available to cater to your needs Exclusive insider recommendations on top destinations 100% flexible cancellation and accommodation guaranteed in case of noncompliance
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we guarantee a second year free of charge if you're unable to utilize our service in the first year. Terms and conditions apply.
Protection in the event of property damage up to $2,000,000 USD +2,500 GuestPoints for new members upon joining
Valerie's Home France
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Arto & Krista's Home Finland
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