destinations Properties - Windermere

 

 

 

North America is home to some of the world’s greatest ski resorts. And whether you get your kicks schussing down a near-vertical slope, skiing the back country, or relaxing après-ski with a cup of espresso in front of a cozy fire, there’s a home for you in the mountains.

 

“Our average [residential] cost,” says a Windermere broker in the resort community of Park City, Utah, “is $512,000 -- compared to, say, Aspen, [Colorado’s], average at $1.2 million. So we’re comparatively affordable.”

 

So, maybe not surprisingly Park City (year-round population approximately 7,400), had home sales totaling $930 million in the first two quarters of 2005 alone -- more than double Aspen’s for the same period. In other words, real estate is extremely hot in Park City, where 70 percent of properties are second homes. 

 

 

The 2002 Winter Olympics, which were partly held in Park City, ratcheted up media coverage of the area around the globe. And the Sundance Film Festival -- occurring every January in downtown Park City -- brings even more exposure, not to mention a bevy of A-listers from the worlds of entertainment, business, and society. Of course, the area broadly called “Park City” actually encompasses three upscale resorts: Park City, Deer Valley and The Canyons.

 

Insurance marketer/real estate developer Darrel Keuck bought his top-of-the-line condominium in exclusive Upper Deer Valley a year ago. An avid skier, Keuck paid “north of $900,000” for his two-and-a-half-bedroom unit, located in the classy condominium-hotel Chateaux at Silver Lake. Keuck, whose primary residence is in Scottsdale, Arizona, loves the mid-mountain location of his ski resort second home, just steps from the lifts.

 

“I’m already halfway up the mountain when I get to my condo,” Keuck says. “And they have the best snow here. It’s the lightest snow on earth.”

 

Speaking of snow, the 2,900-acre Schweitzer Mountain Resort, in northern Idaho, near Sandpoint, is one of that state’s largest ski areas, yet it’s still somewhat undiscovered and often uncrowded. “Schweitzer has true ski in, ski out,” observes a Windermere owner in the nearby town of Sagle. “[Plus] we are the only other destination ski resort in the West -- besides Tahoe -- that has a lake [Lake Pend Oreille] as well.”

 

 

While snow is what initially attracts many folks to the mountains, ski enthusiasts from Wyoming to Nevada know that “luxury ski resort living” can actually mean a fabulous year-round lifestyle. During the summer months, for example, Schweitzer’s extensive trail system offers marvelous hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding opportunities.

 

Currently, some of the nicest high-end residences available at Schweitzer are the new Granite Peaks condominiums (mid to upper $400,000s). The spacious penthouses and flats have custom finishes and outstanding views of the snow-capped mountain and village.

 

More than 500 miles south of Schweitzer, surrounded by wilderness, is legendary Sun Valley, Idaho. Famous for its long runs, Sun Valley -- like all the ski resorts mentioned here -- is also hugely popular in summer. Hiking, biking, fishing, and golf are just a few of the area’s warm-weather activities. For the literary-minded, Sun Valley launched the Ernest Hemingway Festival this year, which will be an annual event.

 

Lately, sales of high-end Sun Valley residential property have been “robust,” says a Windermere broker with offices in both nearby Hailey and Ketchum. “[Through September 27], 120 residential units closed at over $1 million,” says the broker. “In the same period last year, there were 85 residential closings at over $1 million. So that’s quite a jump.”

 

 

A Windermere owner/broker in Zephyr Cove, Nevada, near the southeastern shore of Lake Tahoe, points out that Tahoe, too, is “really a year-round destination resort. We have the skiing -- but we also have the casinos, world-class entertainment and restaurants, phenomenal golf courses.

 

“We have some of the most beautiful properties in the world here,” says the broker, noting that Tahoe lakefront homes range from around $3 million to $40 million. 

Like all resort property, Tahoe is particularly popular as a second-home community. The broker notes that today’s buyers are often looking for exceptional “legacy” homes that can be passed on to their children and grandchildren. “They want something that will be in their family for generations,” she says.

 

 

Jackson, Wyoming (population 8,700), gets some 3.5 million visitors a year. In the winter, Jackson’s popularity is due to its phenomenal ski runs. Jackson Hole, by the way, is the name of the 50-mile long valley that the town of Jackson sits in. But here, too, “we’re very much a year-round destination,” says a Jackson Windermere office owner, “because we’re close to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park.”

 

In the Jackson market, luxury properties are usually $1 million and above. “If we’re talking high-end,” says the owner, “I have a beautiful example of what’s available in this market. One listing I have now is a brand-new single-family home, a little over 5,000 square feet, custom-built. It’s $3.5 million and sits on 19.57 acres. It’s just amazing.”

 

Dr. Bruce Thaler and his wife and two children know just how enjoyable Jackson Hole can be. For several years, the Thalers have had a fractional ownership in a private residence club in Teton Village. Teton Village is 12 miles northwest of Jackson, and is the popular base of the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. Now the Thalers, whose primary residence is in Pennsylvania, are building a four-bedroom second home (roughly 5,900 square feet) on a .85-acre site in the Village. “It [will be] the third house from where the road ends and the mountain starts,” says Thaler. Well-known Jackson architect Larry Berlin is designing the home, which Thaler describes as “a little more contemporary than what you’d typically see on the side of a mountain. Very light and bright.”

 

“My daughter snowboards, and the rest of us ski,” Thaler says. And while the whole family loves winter sports, they also enjoy the area’s other recreational opportunities. “[In the summer] there’s fishing, hiking,” he says. “We run every morning. It’s a very active lifestyle, and we like that.”

 

Indeed, what’s not to like about luxury ski resort living? The range of outdoor activities and the natural beauty of the mountains inspire many people -- including Darrel Keuck, who’s enthusiastically enjoying the good life in that second-home mid-mountain condo he purchased in Upper Deer Valley.

 

“It’s just beautiful up here,” Keuck says, and you can hear the awe in his voice. “It’s gorgeous.”