If owning a home is the American dream, then owning a vacation home must be the American fantasy.

That fantasy is becoming a reality for an increasing number of families these days. Last year alone, more than 1 million vacation homes were purchased in the United States, an increase of nearly 17 percent over the record set in 2004.

Mountain homes in the Central Sierra counties of Tuolumne, Calaveras and Mariposa are among those luring buyers.

"Vacation home buyers want beautiful and natural areas, and the Central Sierra is an emerging destination,"said David Hehman, president of EscapeHomes.com, an Internet-based company that focuses on vacation property. "The attraction there is the natural beauty and affordability."

Affordable, that is, compared to other vacation hot spots in California, like pricey places along the ocean. Most foothill vacation homes sell for $350,000 or more, with many priced above $1 million. A decade ago, many Tuolumne County homes could be found for $100,000 to $150,000.

"Prices are up from last year," said Ruth Jeffers, owner of Acorn Real Estate in Twain Harte. She's been selling foothill property for two decades, and she's seen unprecedented price jumps the past few years.

Vacation home popularity — and prices — are being driven by pleasure-seeking baby boomers who are in their peak earning years, according to David Lereah, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors.

"Vacation home sales will remain strong for the foreseeable future, given the fact baby boomers are favorably positioned in terms of affordability, as well as being at the stage in life when people are most interested in making that kind of a lifestyle purchase," Lereah said. "Discretionary purchases of that nature are more likely in a healthy economy, and that is looking positive as well."

Jeffers said foothill prices have soared particularly high because privately owned property is scarce there.

"The government owns about 80 percent of the land in Tuolumne," said Jeffers, noting that terrain makes much of the remaining property difficult to develop.

That means existing homes can demand premium prices.

For instance: Jeffers has a small, older, three-bedroom home in Twain Harte listed for sale at $488,800. That same home sold last year for $395,500.

"Call the appreciation a bonus because there are no guarantees prices will continue to rise," Jeffers said. "But I've had people tell me they were able to sell their family cabins and completely pay for their kid's college education."

Timing is the key.

"We bought our cabin at the right time and sold it at the right time," said Bob Rosenbaum of Modesto. He bought a five-bedroom home near Strawberry in Tuolumne County in 1998, then sold it last year for about triple the price.

While it turned out to be a great investment, Rosenbaum said his family didn't visit the vacation home nearly as much as they thought they would: "There were years we only used it a couple of times."

That same home now is bringing joy and peace to the Kisst family of Ripon.

"No matter how busy you are here, you go up there and look out the window and have a little serenity," said John Kisst, who brings his wife and five children to Strawberry several weekends a month. "We seem to have a lot more quality family time together in that home away from home."

Kisst said buying a vacation home only makes financial sense for those who will use it regularly.

"If you're only going up a couple weeks a year, why pay for something that's collecting dust?" Kisst asked. "You don't have to buy when you can rent the best house on the mountain for maybe $3,000 a week."

There's an active vacation rental market in the foothills.

Darlene Jacobson manages 25 rental homes in Tuolumne County, which she books for $140 to $460 per night. Her typical four-bedroom home sleeps 10 and rents for $1,100 per week.

"My biggest place sleeps 28 people," said Jacobson, who owns Darlene's Vacation Cabins.

Most of the cabins she manages — around Mi-Wuk Village, Long Barn, Cold Springs and Strawberry — are owned by others who rent out their dream homes when they're not around.

"If they want their home to pay for itself, they've got to rent it all the time," Jacobson said. That's tough to do without a management company, she said, because someone must book the cabins, advertise them, hand out keys, clean up, stock wood piles, remove trash, respond to problems and assorted other things. "No one is going to get rich doing that."

Sandy Asquith, who manages 75 vacation cabins around Twain Harte, said owners shouldn't count on renters to cover their mortgage payments.

"You're probably going to make enough to pay your taxes and that's it," said Asquith, noting that most cabins only rent during holiday weekends, winter and spring breaks, and for perhaps four weeks during the summer.

Marcus and Yolanda Rivera of Turlock, however, found a way to make renting their vacation home work for them. They purchased a home four years ago in Calaveras County, right before housing prices there started climbing.

"We are both teachers, and having the second home is great for the summer," Marcus Rivera said. "The house is so big that we converted the bottom half into a rental and have it rented all year long.

"We bought this house as a fixer-upper. We did all the work ourselves with the help of family and friends."

Bee staff writer J.N. Sbranti can be reached at 578-2196 or jsbranti@modbee.com