Six perfect family getaways for your summer

Summer has already began and we’ve compiled six idyllic escapes, perfect for relaxing and unwinding with big groups of family.

Very different escapes… let us know your favourite one.

A family of six New Yorkers gave a waterfront Connecticut home with a notable architectural legacy an expansive update. Louis Kahn helped devise the 1970s home’s original layout, but died before its completion.

A modular family compound in Texas Hill Country fits three generations under its roof. Its model was conceived in 2008—in part in response to the economic downturn—as a customizable system of simple, gabled modules that could be prefabricated, trucked to a site, and then stacked or arranged side by side or in a circle to create unique indoor-outdoor living combinations.

Legendary Danish designer Jens Risom designed an A-framed prefab on Block Island in 1967 for under $25,000―a remarkable budget, even then. Recently, he returned to the summer house to ready it for his family’s next generation.

This eco-friendly vacation home north of San Diego is known as the Sunrise House, because its impressive solar array provides power for an extended family to relax.

Though designed as a ski house, the owners of this idyllic escape near Lake Tahoe visit from San Francisco all year round. “The girls have been part of the Sugar Bowl ski team for years, and we also use the house for a couple of weeks in the summer when they go to camp—they can go river rafting, mountain biking, and rock climbing,” says one resident.

Architect Cary Tamarkin designed his family’s summer house for snoozing. “It lends itself to massive relaxing,” he says of the 2,800-square-foot cottage on Shelter Island overlooking Long Island Sound.