That's how one Cleveland-area couple, he a financier and she the executive director of a professional ballet school, came to own their vacation home on Longboat Key. The husband discovered Sarasota through a friend, and he introduced it to his wife after they married. "We really fell in love with the area," she says. "I liked the island feel and the beach. And Sarasota has all of the arts." They've owned their sixth-floor condominium in Sarasota's L'Ambiance for 10 years now; and their only complaint is that because of business demands and a standard poodle at home, they can rarely spend more than a week at a time here.

As Florida's east coast, once the fashionable destination for wintering Northerners, has become congested and expensive, Southwest Florida, with its tropical sunsets over the placid Gulf, wide-open wild spaces just a few miles from the beaches, and a kinder, gentler lifestyle, has grown in cachet. And the region can hold its own with anywhere in the country when it comes to luxurious living, with exclusive gated communities equipped with every amenity possible, championship golf courses, mega-mansions on and off the water, and fine dining, shopping and cultural attractions up and down the coast.

Once reserved for the mega-wealthy, second homes are now on the wish lists of many merely well-off Americans. Among the top reasons buyers give for buying a second home: vacation, planning for retirement, investment diversity and rental income.

In a study commissioned by Centex Destination Properties, the second-home/resort subsidiary of homebuilder giant Centex Homes, researchers found that the second home market could double by 2009, with about 25 percent of affluent Americans expressing interest in buying a second home within the next two to three years. And the place they'd most like that home to be? Southwest Florida, of course-specifically, the Marco/Naples area. (The southern New Jersey and Delaware coasts, the Florida Keys, the southern South Carolina coast, and Maui rounded out the top five.)

The National Association of Realtors projects that one out of every 1,000 Americans will own property in the Fort Myers or Naples areas by the end of 2005, says Jennifer Mesa, director of business analysis for HomeBanc, a Florida mortgage company. "It's the third fastest-growing [metropolitan statistical area] in the country," she says. While the study didn't differentiate between primary and second homes, there's a good chance many of those new property owners will be part-time residents.

EscapeHomes.com, a Web site that matches buyers and sellers with real estate agents who specialize in vacation homes, reports that Fort Myers recently ranked second among all site users, Naples fifth and Sarasota 10th.

When it comes to luxury buyers, most agree that ritzy Naples leads Southwest Florida's second-home market; but many brokers and developers say that more affordable Sarasota, with its cultural reputation and growing affluence, is an increasingly strong contender.

Linda Page, a Sarasota realtor, estimates that 60 percent of her clients are second-home buyers, targeting the $600,000 and up range. Sue Simon, an agent with Downing Frye, says the majority of her Naples-area buyers are seasonal residents, here for the more temperate months and back up North or elsewhere during the slower summer.

Most of Simon's buyers are looking in the $2 million range. Simons, who surpassed $1 billion in sales by July 2004, says second-home buyers want amenities like golf courses and private beach clubs. They're also more than happy to share their homes with adult children and visitors. "Palm Beach is very societal and people who like that go there," says Simon. "Our buyers are more family-oriented. They want to spend time with their families and relax in a beautiful environment."

A good number of those who buy Southwest Florida vacation homes already own more than one residence. For example, Bill and Judy Daniels, who live in Lansing, Mich., also own a home on Michigan's Beaver Island. They scoured Oregon and Arizona before they discovered Fort Myers.

"We spent a considerable time looking from one end of Arizona to another," says Judy Daniels, an engineer. "But Arizona had dust storms and water problems. We realized we wanted a lush environment and were used to being on the water. Our next stop was Florida. We visited friends in Gulf Harbour and fell in love with the whole area. We toured the area for a month, made an offer on a house and moved in two weeks later."