Here's a question for my fellow Massachusetts residents: Do you have a favorite "dream" vacation destination? When I was growing up, it seemed like all of my relatives wanted to go to the Hamptons.

To each his own, I guess. I have nothing against the Hamptons, but for me it was, is, and always will be...Hawaii. A place I could never afford to travel to, unfortunately, but after all, we're talking about dream vacation destinations, aren't we?

Nowadays, thanks to the increasing number of summer heatwaves, more and more people are looking away from the beach and opting instead for cooler spots on the map, like Western Massachusetts, for instance.

Real estate pros at Agent Advice recently surveyed 3,000 Americans to find out which cooler destinations people were seeking out to own a vacation home. Believe it or not, Massachusetts is represented by 4 locations, all of which are in Berkshire County!

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That's right, folks! Out of the top 120 cooler destinations in the survey, Massachusetts is home to FOUR of them. Here's what Jim Gray of Agent Advice had to say regarding the survey:

As extreme heatwaves become more common, we are seeing a notable shift in vacation home preferences. Cooler destinations at altitude or near lakes are now top choices for those looking to escape the heat while enjoying luxurious and scenic retreats.

We'll get to those Berkshire County locations in a moment. First, here are the Top 10 Dream Vacation Homes To Beat The Heat:

  1. Aspen, Colorado
  2. Big Bear Lake, California
  3. Homer, Alaska
  4. Seward, Alaska
  5. Big Sky, Montana
  6. Moosehead Lake (Greenville), Maine
  7. Shaver Lake, California
  8. Highlands County (Lake Placid), Florida
  9. Mount Rainier (Ashford), Washington
  10. Deep Creek Lake, Maryland

Hats off to Maine for crushing it at #6 with Moosehead Lake! Now let's honor the 4 Massachusetts destinations to own a dream vacation home (with where they placed in the survey in parenthesis):

  1. Mount Greylock Area - Adams (#33)
  2. Lenox (#34)
  3. North Adams (#82)
  4. Williamstown (#105)

Way to go, Massachusetts! And way to go, Berkshire County, also! Be sure to check out the full survey results by visiting Agent Advice's website here.

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