Our home is a 5,200 sf house built in 1980 located in a gated, upscale neighborhood with 24-hour gate guard. We have been renovating the house for the past 2 years. The public spaces are completed -- but we still have work to do on the master bedroom and 2 of the bathrooms (I hope to post up-to-date photos as the areas are updated). This house is a chef's dream! The spacious kitchen is equipped with a Wolf range with down draft venting, Wolf double oven wall unit, 6-foot SubZero refrigerator/freezer, 2 dishwashers.

Most of our house is on the ground floor - but we do have an office on the second floor which is a loft which looks down on the main living space. There is also a bathroom connected to the office. The master bedroom is at one end of the house along with our two children's bedrooms. At the opposite end of the house (on the other side of the kitchen) is the laundry room and guest room.

We have 2 small children (2 years and 4 years) -- so the house can be childproofed if necessary. We have a beautiful pool with contiguous spa which is usable from May through Sept (and other months with the help of a pool heater). We have a security fence around the pool for children's safety, but this can be completely removed if not needed.

Our lot is one-half acre. The backyard is quite spacious and consists of the pool, a large lanai (covered area) with seating, a basketball court (large concrete area with basketball hoop -- it doesn't have a formal court!), and an outdoor playground. The playground area is currently on dirt - but we plan to get some sort of playground surface soon.

Our front yard is all grass with lots of trees.

We have weekly landscapers who come to maintain the outdoor space. We have house cleaners available if need be as well - though we only utilize them for once-monthly cleanings. We have a chemical service for our pool but maintain it ourselves. I plan to secure pool service as well if we have a home exchange depending on the time of year (summer months require more attention!).

As far as upcoming projects for our house, my next goal is to have wood flooring put in the bedrooms. The current carpeting was here when we moved in and is need of replacing or removing.

Las Vegas doesn't need too much of a description since it's one of the most famous cities in the world!! But living as a local is quite different than being a tourist. The first thing to talk about is the weather. It is rather hot in the summer (average high temperature is 105-degrees Fahrenheit) -- but it is the desert and it is a dry heat. I've had friends visit from Greece in the middle of the summer and they say it is more comfortable here than there. During the summer, outdoor activities can be daunting because of the heat, but there are many options. We use our swimming pool daily during the summer. All of the major casinos have parking garages (cool parking!) and lots of air conditioning! Many of the shopping areas do, too. There are many parks with water features and pools abound. Summer evenings are quite nice -- so if you're an evening person, summer is quite beautiful once the sun goes down! In my personal opinion, the best months in Las Vegas are March/April and Sept/October....but if you enjoy swimming, nothing beats the summer!

Las Vegas is centrally located and offers many opportunities for driving trips. In car, we are a 4 hour drive from Los Angeles, 5 hour drive from San Diego, 5 hour drive Phoenix, 3 hour drive to Zion National Park in Utah. Our two favorite day trip destinations are the Valley of Fire (about an hour north of Las Vegas) and Boulder City (home to the famous Hoover Dam).

Our neighborhood is located just West of downtown Las Vegas. There has been a huge revitalization project happening in Downtown Las Vegas. We are only 1 mile away from the new Smith Center for the Performing Arts (a major concert venue with world class acts and shows...NOT touristy!). Right next to the Smith Center is the new Children's Museum which is opening in fall 2012. Just west of our neighborhood is the Las Vegas Springs Preserve which is home to the Nevada State Museum. The Preserve is an ecologically minded botanic garden with lots of education aspects. In includes an indoor area with the history and future of water conservation in the desert as well as lots of small, desert animals to see. It is also home to a weekly farmers' market and children's play area.

We live in a neighborhood called Rancho Bel Air- an upscale neighborhood with 24-hour gate guard located in central Las Vegas. The community is very unique to Las Vegas because every house is different -- most of them are custom, high-end homes. Many casino executives and entertainers have lived in this neighborhood. The neighborhood is located only 2 miles west of Downtown Las Vegas (a 5 minute drive!) or 3 miles northwest of The Strip (a 10 minute drive). We are also only blocks away from 2 major interstates which makes travel extremely convenient.

We are actively involved in the neighborhood playgroup which consists of a dozen families with small children from 3 months to 9 years old. Las Vegas isn't normally associated with a family environment, but this neighborhood is very family friendly. If you are traveling with children, I'm happy to put you in touch with some nearby families if you'd like some local friends to play with.

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We are somewhat flexible but with school would like to visit Brighton/Hove June, July or August of 2013.

Open to any dates

My husband is a native of Hove and we are hoping to spend 3-4 weeks in the summer of 2013 visiting his family and acquainting our small children with daddy's homeland. The ideal location would be near The Drive in Hove, where Warwick's sister lives.

We would also consider other locations in England if the house is large enough to have an additional 2 people stay (6 total).

We are also open to short-term and weekend exchanges within driving distance of Las Vegas that are family-friendly locations - preferably the beach or wine country (dates are flexible).

Bethany is a cellist, photographer's agent and stay-at-home mother of Beatrix (4yrs) and August (2yrs). Formerly an internet marketing professional, she keeps herself busy teaching private cello lessons and chasing 2 small children around! She is an active musician playing in the Henderson Symphony and for various paid events.

Warwick is the music memorabilia curator for the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino as well as a designer. He has worked for the Hard Rock Hotel Casino and Hard Rock Cafe's for the past 30 years. The house itself is peppered with many art and artifacts from Warwick's private collection as well as his interior designs.

Pippin is our 9 year old bull terrier mutt who we would prefer stays here but we can send her away if necessary.

English