The Simplicity International Story

By: Destination Club News
Date: February 21, 2005

Last month, we profiled the launch of Simplicity International, a new destination club based out of Connecticut. Today we outline how the new club came to be.

"Simplicity International's concept can be traced back over two decades ago when luxury homebuilder Jeffrey Tallman and his wife would bring their children to camp in New Hampshire. The drive to and fro often evoked the relaxing natural beauty of the area and ultimately motivated them to begin their second home search."

"After evaluating their options the Tallmans found that their lifestyle would more likely be restricted with a single vacation home because of their fondness for several locations. Furthermore, they realized the limited time they had to use the home would not justify the costs and hassles associated with ownership. With practicality on their side they opted out of buying - hoping there was a better solution."

"A solution never emerged and as their children grew up their vacations started to get complicated. The costs seemed unreasonable for tight or fragmented hotel accommodations and mediocre rentals involving a tiresome amount of research. They wanted the privacy and spacious comfort of a single family residence that met their high standards of quality and service – and they wanted it to be simple."

"Two decades later Mr. Tallman still held his dream and wanted to create it for others. In late 2003 he assembled an initial concept team and founded Simplicity International. That concept evolved into a leisure-industry company offering unique and private membership programs for high-end vacation homes, destination residences and luxury travel. Simplicity's purpose: 'to provide a life of leisure made unexpectedly simple.' The company launched its Private Portfolio Club™ in January 2005, after appointing industry veteran John Schopfer as President and COO in late 2004."

This story resembles the story of many other destination clubs, founded by executives who become frustrated with other travel options, including second home ownership, villa rentals, and five star hotel stays. The rapidly growing destination club industry has seen several new clubs launch in recent months, including Ultimate Resort and Havens, with several others in the pre-launch phase.

According to Simplicity, several new members have already joined the young destination club, limited to just 36 total members.

If you are considering membership with Simplicity International or any other destination club, a good place to begin is requesting a free copy of our Destination Club Guide. Included you will find additional information about the benefits and risks of destination club membership and a list of suggested due diligence questions that should be discussed with any club you are evaluating.