One Sunday morning in May, I arrived at the club's boat house, an old hangar-like space near the marina that was stacked floor to ceiling with traditional Venetian boats.

WSJ: Taking Gondoliering Lessons in Venice, Italy

Louis, recently signed a contract to buy a three-bedroom house with a boat dock and a swimming platform on the shore of Lake of the Ozarks, a Missouri vacation spot.

WSJ: Getting Away��but Not Too Far

Nancy Manolovici and her husband own a 39-foot boat that they dock at their waterfront house.

WSJ: 3 Children Die After Yacht Capsizes

Founded in Paris in 1849 by Pauline Moynat, the house originally achieved glory by constructing customized trunks for well-heeled train and boat travelers in an era when traversing the Atlantic took days.

WSJ: Luxury Trunks, Reinvented