David Konwiser, an architect and California native, found his little piece of heaven in Costa Rica. With acres upon acres of natural jungles along the Costa Rican coastline, he knew this was where he wanted to build his villa. His vision for the 10-bedroom villa? To make it feel like you are on a yacht at sea. When he’s not working, playing golf or spending time with his family, David Konwiser loves to travel. Get to know THIRDHOME member David Konwiser!
How did you get involved with THIRDHOME?
My family and I own 10-bedroom Villa Punto de Vista which is a fully-staffed, private luxury estate overlooking the Manuel Antonio National Park on Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast. The villa is part of the THIRDHOME exchange. I am also the architect who designed the villa.
Where are you based?
Escazu, Costa Rica, which is a suburb of the nation’s capital, San Jose.
Who do you usually travel with?
I mostly travel with my wife Sabrina and my kids Penelope (4) and Dominque (2). But I also do an annual ski trip with old friends from elementary school, high school and college.
What do you do for a living?
I split my time between architectural projects and management and sales of the villa, with my brother Christien.
What do you love about THIRDHOME?
I love the ability to gain value from trading dates on my calendar that I might not be able to sell otherwise. I have also met some AMAZING people that I also would have never been able to meet without THIRDHOME!
What are your favorite travel hobbies?
When you live in Costa Rica you need to escape from time to time and the main things we lack here are city-life, jet-set culture and snow. I treasure my annual trips to LA to visit family and friends and enjoy the Hollywood Bowl, The Getty Center and great restaurants. I also need my skiing “fix” and that’s a really key annual trip (for my brother and I) as well! We share our THIRDHOME Keys equally.
What is the favorite city you’ve traveled to with THIRDHOME and what did you love about it?
So far I’ve only done two THIRDHOME trips but they were both excellent! One was to Steamboat Colorado where we stayed at Creekside Chalet, a wonderful and well-appointed 6-bedroom property managed by Moving Mountains. Great experience! The other was just last month where we traded our 10-bedroom villa for three, 3-bedroom condos at the Ritz at Aspen Highlands. That was equally wonderful as the location and service staff were…well…what you might expect from a Ritz!
My brother stayed at One Ski Hill place in Breckenridge and I know he also loved that. Again, location, location, location, right on the hill!
What’s the next destination you are eyeing to travel to with THIRDHOME?
We do a lot of charity work with Sir Richard Branson on his private island (Necker Island) in the BVI. We donate our villa at an uber-exclusive live-auction on the island once a year as a part of the Virgin Cup, a pro-amateur tennis tournament. It’s an amazing concept as the Virgin Cup pairs both active and non-active tennis pros like Rafa Nadal and Martina Navratilova (to name just a few) in a doubles format with just a handful of lucky tennis aficionados that can afford the experience. It’s amazing! We plan to spend a week on Virgin Gorda or another local island with THIRDHOME before or after the event this year.
What do you love about your home with THIRDHOME?
I could speak volumes about Villa Punto de Vista as it’s a labor of love for myself and my family. We are extremely proud of the hundreds of 5-star reviews we have received on Trip Advisor, which gives us a ton of satisfaction. We’re also proud of the many awards the villa has received including the 2016 Conde Nast Johansens Villa of the Year award for all of the villas it represents in the Americas including Mexico, Costa Rica and the Caribbean.
Mostly we just love how the villa really brings people together. The villa is as much a venue for entertaining as a 10-bedroom estate and destination weddings, elaborate birthdays and family reunions are common at the villa as are corporate retreats.
Any personal/family achievements you’d like to share?
I think this Architectural Digest article on 100-year-old, architectural Icon (Louvre Paris Pyramid Architect) I.M. Pei’s visit to my villa as our very first overnight guest pretty much sums it up.
Anything else you’d like to share?
Most definitely our villa videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYY_VP-7IYs&hd=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9TzvRDe564
Photos provided by David Konwiser.
