A few months ago, Airbnb approached me to put together a Wish List of my favorite homes in the West. I enthusiastically accepted (of course). Along the way, I discovered that some of my favorite homes featured in Sunset over the years are for rent on the site. Yes, that means you can actually spend the night in a house you've seen on the pages of Sunset.
The West Shakes Up the Way We Travel
Remember this gorgeous Venice, CA home from Sunset's June issue? It's for rent!

Remember this gorgeous Venice, CA home from Sunset’s June issue? It’s for rent!

Today, we’re celebrating a Western company that has, literally, opened up the doors for a new way to vacation: San Francisco-based Airbnb, the site that allows anyone to list their guest room, apartment, even an entire house—or airstream or igloo or private island—as a vacation rental.

A few months ago, the company approached me to put together a Wish List of my favorite homes in the West. I enthusiastically accepted (of course) and proceeded to get joyfully lost for hours as I virtually toured homes and dreamed up vacation plans. Along the way, I discovered that some of my favorite homes featured in Sunset over the years are for rent on the site.

Yes, that means you can actually spend the night in a house you’ve seen on the pages of Sunset.

Want to try on zero-waste living? Minimize your carbon footprint with a couple of nights at the streamlined Mill Valley house (From $275/night). A fan of Heath Ceramics? Spend a week at owners Cathy Bailey and Robin Petravic’s home in Sausalito for $490 a night (just don’t break anything). Or immerse yourself in the SoCal indoor-outdoor life at the One Window House in Venice Beach (from $250/night).*

There were so many to choose from, I curated two wish lists: “Featured in Sunset“, which lists all six Airbnb rentals that Sunset’s covered, and “Westphoria“, which calls out all the unusual homes in astounding settings, from a San Francisco treehouse and a Baja beach house to a Seattle house boat.

Here’s to dreaming up your next vacation.

*For future lazy Sunday reading, here are the Sunset stories behind those houses.The zero-waste home in the January 2011 issue. The Heath house in the April 2007 issue. The Venice home in the June 2012 issue.

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