Virginia K. Smith

Thinking of springing for a vacation home this summer, or just armchair shopping for one? Us too. Last summer, we looked into the lay of the land for vacation properties in areas like the North Fork and the Catskills, and in seaside neighborhoods within the five boroughs. Read on for tips on house-hunting for a reasonably priced summertime set-up, and for some dreamy looking listings:

For anyone in need of another metric with which to keep up with the Joneses—or just curious about their own environmental impact—you can now start feeling smug (or quietly ashamed) about your water usage habits.

Playing "Settlers of Brooklyn" is cheaper than actually gentrifying, at least (Above Average)

You can't own Andy Warhol's former fire-station-slash-studio, but you can own the lease (Curbed NY)