These High-Altitude Homes Justify Your Climb
Credit crunches. Subprime hysteria. Burgeoning recession fears. For an executive with a vested interest in such things, these are times to try one’s soul.
One response — and a time-honored one, at that — is the noble act of running away. Quitting. Giving up. Cashing out. Divesting yourself of your global economic woes and fleeing to the high hills. Best of all, thanks to the recent profusion of high-altitude, high-luxury residential clubs, those hills are now more inviting than ever.
by Nick Kolakowski
It’s a simple plan: Just acquire yourself a lofty, ultra-exclusive perch in the mountains — one blessed, of course, with world-class skiing, concierge services, helipads and the requisite contingency of in-house chefs (what, you’re going to shoot and boil a squirrel every night)? Then sit back and peer down upon the world as it wrestles with all those rising uncertainties. From where you’re sitting, it will all be miles below.
The Idaho Club
Location: Sandpoint, Idaho
cSize: 900 acres
Cost: Homesites $300,000+; lodge homes $850,000
Properties: 425 total units
Nearest Skiing: Schweitzer Mountain Resort (25 minutes)
Nearest Airport: Sandpoint Airport
Contact: 800-323-7020; theidahoclub.com
Men of means looking to unleash their inner Hemingway — by which we mean embracing nature and rugged living, not blowing one’s head off with a shotgun — might well find themselves gravitating toward the Idaho Club, located outside the small (population 6,835), remote (only, um, 620 miles to Twin Falls) and tidy burg of Sandpoint. Arrayed along the hilly shores of Lake Pend Oreille (the largest, deepest lake in Idaho) and within easy hiking distance of the nearby mountains, the resort features an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus golf course, in addition to a multitude of regular and arranged hunting, rafting and fishing trips. The Schweitzer Mountain Resort — with its 85 trails on 2,900 skiable acres — is minutes away, and there’s a full-service spa on-site to work your aching muscles at the end of a long day spent playing wilderness warrior.
Even the architecture here is of a style that Papa would have appreciated, combining strong elements of stone and wood, with hand-scraped maple hardwood dominating each interior and a masonry fireplace in the Great Room. Not that this is your grandfather’s plywood sweat lodge — as evidenced by the optional climate-controlled wine rooms and outdoor gourmet pizza ovens. And for those who suffer seizures when separated from their software (and on rafting trips keep their BlackBerry stuffed down their shorts in a waterproof bag), a second-story loft can be easily converted to a high-tech headquarters-away-from-headquarters.
Iron Horse
Location: Whitefish, MontanaSize: 820 acres
Cost: Homesites $250,000–$1.5 million; cabins and finished homes $1.3 million–$5 million
Properties: 264 homesites; 50 cabins; 74 luxury homes
Nearest Skiing: Big Mountain Ski Resort (Five to 10 minutes)
Nearest Airport: Glacier Park International Airport, Kalispell (20 minutes)
Contact: 406-863-3000; ironhorsemt.com
There’s a time for the bespoke suit, the Salvatore Ferragamo briefcase, the $2,000 Berluti shoes. But sometimes, all you really want is to don your favorite pair of tattered old sneakers and jeans and head into the great outdoors for a mountain-bike trek or some backcountry skiing — or perhaps an unexpected mauling at the hands of a grizzly bear. Iron Horse, in northern Montana, caters directly to that impulse. “It has great access to the natural beauty of Glacier National Park and some of the best fly-fishing in the world,” boasts Mike Meldman, CEO of Discovery Land Company, developer of the site. “It’s a place rife with tradition, but not stuffy.”
Which isn’t to say that everything here is casual — witness the grand dining room of the Iron Horse clubhouse, with its massive stone hearths and cedar-trunk supports reminiscent of a Viking hall, or the luxury-home options that include beamed cathedral ceilings (homes themselves range from some 3,750 to 8,000 square feet — and still seem small amid the sweeping vistas of Whitefish Lake and the massive nearby peaks). Still, if you want to throw on a pair of scruffy Nikes and sneak out onto the championship-caliber 7,028-yard Tom Fazio course, who exactly is going to stop you? Besides, of course, that bear.
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Snake River Sporting Club
Location: Jackson Hole, Wyoming Size: 554 acresCost: Homesites $1.5 million+
Properties: 130 homesites
Nearest Skiing: Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Teton Village (under 30 minutes)
Nearest Airport: Jackson Hole Airport (25 minutes)
Contact: 888-434-7772; snakeriversportingclub.com
Over the past few years, much has been said of the supposed overdevelopment of the West — communities on top of communities, spoiling all that picturesque wilderness. The Snake River Sporting Club, near Jackson Hole, is hardly primed to suffer that fate. “Jackson is very much like an island in itself,” says Steve Schram, chairman of the club’s parent company, DPS Development. Schram notes that 97.5 percent of surrounding Teton County is state and federal land — leaving little in the way of developable terrain.
On a more personal level, that means little chance of saddling up your horse at the Equestrian Facility, heading up Martin Creek and running head-on into a Kwik-E-Mart. (Those who seriously prefer the company of trees to that of humans can even journey into nearby Bridger-Teton National Forest.) To help ease your transition into the outdoor life, the club also offers two “personal ambassadors,” whose collective fishing, duck hunting and skiing knowledge could help even the most deeply atrophied desk jockey to unleash his inner Jeremiah Johnson.
At the end of the day, though, it’s back to your Lodge Cabin and its granite-slab kitchen counters, Sub-Zero fridges and hot tub — because while spending the day in the great outdoors is, well, great, sleeping in them isn’t nearly as appealing as it sounds.
Grizzly Ranch
Location: Portola, CaliforniaSize: 1,040 acres
Cost: Homesites $250,000+; finished homes $850,000–$1.35 million
Properties: 380 homesites mapped
Nearest Skiing: Northstar Ski Resort (50 minutes)
Nearest Airport: Reno/Tahoe International Airport (45 minutes)
Contact: 866-901-1010; grizzlyranch.com
There are times in a man’s life when what he really wants is a sizeable second home. (“Hey, look, kids! It’s your very own wing! Now go away!”) Other times, what he seeks is a pied-à-terre with the carbon footprint of a fern. The latter is what Grizzly Ranch had in mind when it built the properties of its seven low-density neighborhoods, each designed to impart a minimal burden on the land. Your abode can thereby be as little as 2,200 square feet of teak hardwood floors, indoor/outdoor sound systems and mountain views.
“Some people are not interested in building a 4,000-to-6,000-square-foot mountain home; they’re interested in 2,000 square feet. That’s part of our product mix,” says Trip Shine, senior VP and general manager of the four-year-old, and still growing, Grizzly Ranch. “The people coming up here and buying are all about not disturbing the natural beauty.” Unless they’re on the golf course, that is. Indeed, for those corporate titans whose day doesn’t truly begin until they’ve shanked a bump-and-run while barking orders into their BlackBerry, the resort’s Bob Cupp–designed course is archetypical mountain golf, 18 minimalist holes that playfully traverse the natural contours of the land. For pursuits of a less exasperating sort, there’s also skiing nearby Tahoe, boating Plumas County’s 100 rivers and lakes or hiking the trails of the 200-acre conservancy on the property.
Talisker Club
Location: Park City, UtahSize: 10,000 acres
Cost: Tuhaye homesites $450,000– $1.5 million; custom homes $1 million–$2.4 million; Empire Pass homesites $2 million–$5 million; custom homes $2 million–$7 million; condos $1.6 million– $4 million
Properties: 1,100+
Nearest Skiing: On-site
Nearest Airport: Salt Lake City International Airport (40 minutes)
Contact: 866-333-9210; taliskerclub.com
Not the world’s biggest fan of hurling yourself down a mountain? Not to fear at Talisker, where there’s always golf . . . and horseback riding . . . and hiking . . . and biking . . . and fly-fishing . . . and waterskiing . . . and — sure, why not? — hot-air-balloon rides.
And if you’re not completely exhausted yet, there’s always perky Park City. “Whether or not Park City becomes the next Aspen, it’s got a lot going on,” says Mark Thorne, president of Talisker Mountain Incorporated. Indeed, between the golf community at Tuhaye, on the edge of scenic Jordanelle Lake, and the ski-in/ski-out communities of Empire Pass and Red Cloud, Talisker Club offers hyperactive execs the chance to wring their adrenal glands like dish towels.
Looking for something a bit more “relaxing”? You can always visit Talisker Fitness and Spa in Tuhaye, or the nearby golf clubhouse (astride the Mark O’Meara–designed course, rated one of Golf Digest’s top 10 new private courses in America in 2006), which comes complete with fully stocked bar, high-def televisions and game tables. Meanwhile, Talisker Tower at Empire Pass (overlooking the ski runs) affords its residents this unique pleasure: reprimanding your under-performing regional manager — via high-speed wireless access — while you warm your ski boots by the fire pit.
One Steamboat Place
Location: Steamboat Springs, ColoradoSize: 4.2 acres
Cost: Residence club eighth-share $700,000+; whole ownership $3.3 million–$4.5 million
Properties: 80 residences, including 42 Residence Club units
Nearest Skiing: On-site
Nearest Airport: Yampa Valley Airport (25 minutes)
Contact: 866-599-4626; onesteamboatplace.com
Once completed in 2009, this ski-in/ ski-out residence resort — located outside the Rocky Mountains–locked town of Steamboat Springs — will offer its residents the opportunity to snap their ACLs on some whoa-that’s-steeper-than-it-looks slopes within mere minutes of arising in their wireless-enabled abode (with steam showers, heated master-bath floors and a built-in grill on the deck to help ease those post-skiing aches).
Unlike so many other Colorado resorts that offer few options except skiing, One Steamboat Place also delivers both year-round activities and a variety of comforts-of-home amenities, including dining courtesy of visiting chefs from Italy, a signature restaurant, private wine storage, knowledgeable outdoor guides for fishing, biking and skiing, and a dedicated concierge service that ensures your fridge is loaded for your triumphant return from the outdoors (it can also arrange pre-arrival grocery shopping and rides to and from the airport).
But the best accoutrement of all might be the quirky and lively town of Steamboat Springs itself. “It’s not strictly fancy stores; it’s got its own character,” says David Burden, the project’s developer. “We never wanted to apologize for our location.”