H and I are also avid skiers and D1 and her fiance are exploring Colorado to possibly move to. They said they would want a house with a basement so that we could stay with them for extended periods in the winter.
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Our original plan was to have a smaller city house and a lake cabin. We have the former, the latter is still up in the air. H still talks about it (and we can do it financially) but then we have all of the work associated with a second place. I really do not want to clean 2 houses 
In addition, the summer here in the twin cities is delightful (especially after 38 years in the heat/humidity of the DC area). So much to do - I donāt even want to go out of town. If we got a cabin, I foresee us spending a lot of time apart. I have suggested getting an Airbnb or VRBO cabin.
As for the cold winters, we spent 3 1/2 weeks in late Jan-Feb. traveling in warmer areas. We are already in discussion as to where this winters travel will be.
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DS1 has talked about investing in a condo near them for all the in-laws. I would never have two full houses, but I could seeing being a reverse snowbird and spending some summers up there in the condo, if one materializes. Or maybe buying one on our own. They are pretty reasonable near them, as long as we donāt want something fancy. Ds2 really hopes to move back here and take over our home. In some ways, it all feels right around the corner and yet so far off.
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I posted upthread that I never considered having two placesā¦until we did. I have never enjoyed traveling, so travel between the two sites is enough for me. We donāt have a mortgage on either place and combined taxes for both is just a bit north of $6K/year. Because we are avoiding the summer in AZ and the winter in ME, utilities are minimal as we have solar in AZ and only an electric bill in ME. Iām only cleaning one place at a time, so I donāt see cleaning as any additional effort especially since the cabin is smaller and does not require much inside or out. Both places make us feel like weāre on vacation year-round. Also, because weāll never be able to predict where our son ends up, having a place on each side of the country means that weāll be closer to him at one of the locations at least part of the year. We havenāt experienced any cons yet.
As @Jolynne_Smyth posted upthread āyou have to match the location to your interests.ā
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Thanks for all the thoughts on the two homes!! My initial inclination was always ātwo homes = twice the workā and less overall money.
Just lately my hub has been absolutely firm on preferring to live in a warm weather environment for stage two. And my preference is a beauteous mountain state. So am trying to come up with concepts that take both of those into account.
Maybe the solution (as indicated above) is to vacation/rent in various places. That will help sort it out (for us both!).
I can say that after spending almost two weeks traveling around Italy - I donāt think the āglobal nomadā life would be for me! For over a year Iāve been following FB pages and websites of folks who retired and did thatā¦too tiring, I think!!
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North Carolina or Tennessee have warmer climates and mountains. 
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Thank you, momofboiler1! Iāve beent thinking of planning a trip to South Carolina for exactly that purpose - maybe North Carolina would be good too - weāve visited OBX but never the mountain areas (which I hear are beautiful!).
How do those of you who have moved to or bought second home in new states reconcile the politics there if they are very different from your own beliefs? Some of the states we are interested in from a weather and geographic perspective have political climates we are very opposed to. Do you just ignore politics while you are there? Register to vote there so you can at least cast a vote in opposition? Become politically active?
There is one state we are very drawn to. We have visited many times but have managed to ignore politics so far. It hasnāt come up at all in chats with the neighbors. Next winter we are renting for two months to see what itās like for a longer period. But we are concerned about moving somewhere that is so politically different.
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This is my worry also.
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AZ and ME are very different, and our politics lean quite left. We have been able to find our people in both places, but politics do not drive us or define the joy in our lives.
We vote, and move on.
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@ChoatieMom - H and I have children who would be directly affected by some of the laws being passed in certain states. We donāt have the luxury of choosing to live in certain states unless we are willing to sacrifice seeing our own children. And we wonāt make that choice.
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I totally understand that, @FallGirl, and would do the same in that situation. We protect our children first.
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We would have a hard time buying in many states that are appealing weather-wise. At this point, no plans to move from the NE. We have a ācolonial splitā with only 4 steps up to the main bedroom level, but no bath on the main floor. Next step is to add a bathroom - a least a powder room possibly with a walk-shower. One of my friends has a bathroom in which the entire thing is tiled so the shower is totally open!
My kids are not yet settled and live fairly close by. One is planning to move west. While we wouldnāt follow them at this point, I think that when we are āold oldā (>85 or so) we would want to live in close proximity to at least one of them. I may have said this before, but my FIL lived far enough from all of his kids that months would go by with no visitors, even though 3 of them lived within driving (overnight stay) distance. I donāt want to end up THAT alone.
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Itās so easy and common now to rent an AIRBNB (for instance) for extended stays like a month or so. I think find a place that meets your general needs/lifestyle for 11 months of the year - and then have one month out of the year (or longer or shorter) to enjoy the alternative environment.
We have been on the hunt for a while for our next home, not really downsizing or leaving the area we are in. While our focus has been on a home that will fit us for our 60ās-70ās-80ās (if we are lucky!) our mind frame has changed a bitā¦why do we have to look at each home and imagine ourselves at age 82 in it when we are in our early-mid 60ās and active? YES, we will buy a home that has main floor accomodations but we also hope we have many more active years to enjoy a more active lifestyle. Maybe another move comes when we are 75-80 - why not enjoy something weād love for the next 10-15?
We had a bid in on a year around lake home this weekend that would allow us exactly that. An active physical environment and generous enough home space for us and our kids/family when they visit. Unfortunately our bid got bumped by someone who bid cash AND no appraisal or inspection - not a choice we would make! But this has reminded us that we donāt ONLY have to picture ourselves walking with a cane around the yard - we can make a choice thinking of the future but also thinking of NOW!
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Sorry you missed out on the lake option. Itās good you have been thinking through your priorities.
From watching our aging friends and family, I do see some value to having a home that works with mobility limitations. Usually mobility decline is gradual, with time to shop/relocate. Other times there is some kind of unexpected surgery or injury/illness. (In our case we do have a main floor den/guestroom with adjoining bathroom - wish the shower were bigger than its phone booth size.)
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I canāt think of anything worse than moving except moving twice.
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We have two residences about 2400 miles apart.
One is our home of 30+ years. The other is a TINY (about 500SF) apartment in the PNW, near our adult children. We split our time between the two locations, about 7mo./ 5 mo. We typically winter in the PNW (yeah, not so smart), over the holidays when they have more time off. It is also much easier to winterize our home (drain pipes, no yard work, etc.) than leave in summer.
The original plan was to buy in the PNW and rent in our home town, but prices have soared so much in the PNW that it became prohibitive. (Shoulda-woulda-coulda had we purchased early, but wanted to rent initially to see if it were a good fit, and learn the local neighborhoods).
We have a great landlord, and rents have risen, but it still cost far less than owning a home. Eventually weāll need another apartment for better mobility (weāre on an upper floor with stairs, street parking only, etc.)
I actually enjoy maintaining one home (gardening, occasional small improvements, etc.) but would definitely not want to maintain two. Since our apartment is so small, it is also relaxing to come home, with space and surrounding greenery.
City house / country house is a nice blend (ok, city house/ suburban house). I wish they were closer, with the ability to drive between them over 1-2 days max, but alas, flying is required.
Downsides:
ā¢ Hobbies are non-existent in the small apartment (no sewing, crafts, storage space for outdoor hobbies, etc.), so we spend more city time.
ā¢ Because our rental is so small, it is difficult to host visitors (family or friends).
ā¢ Duplicating everything is a pain and expensive. We canāt fly everything back and forth. But we treat life differently in the two locations, so it rarely gets boring.
ā¢ Friendships are harder, without being a more significant part of the rental community. Our building is primarily young adults. Older adults Iāve met through other activities, are all very nice, but they have their established lives (families, friends, etc.).
ā¢ We had significant neighbor issues for one year, but thankfully they were not āinvitedā back by landlord).
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Not ideal of course. But in our situation - Iām 63 - our current house has no first floor bedroom or full bath and laundry is in the basement. So totally NOT doable should mobility issues arise. Itās time for a move. But we also want some perks that we would/could totally enjoy as active 60ish year oldsā¦and not settle for that home that is perfect for an 82 year old. Maybe we find a home that works well both ways. But I donāt want to limit our mind to ONLY homes that work for an elderly person. Only one life to live!
As is the case with these things, determine your priorities. For now and later, but to me, NOW is as important as later!
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We do this at our full time residence. Being so close to the GDs makes it worthwhile.
We have had multiple houses in the past and it was a pain. Irrigation system leaks (two different houses), HVAC troubles (three different houses) and just the hassle of scheduling routine maintenance was enough for us to look forward to having only one house again.
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In theory there would be less junk the second move Butā¦ if selling/buying is involved it could be painful.
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