Location, Location, Location: Bachelor Gulch, Colorado
07/01/2003
Snow-laced, sunset-tinged peaks mean clean, dry air, greenery and serenity. Such delights no doubt were on the minds of a group of grizzled ex-miners when they looked up at the Rockies in the early 1900s. After migrating to Colorado in search of silver and finding tuberculosis instead, they settled in a fertile valley 9,000 feet above sea level. They called their home Bachelor Gulch, and they farmed, lived well and died peacefully.Hidden from the valley floor, Bachelor Gulch lay undisturbed until 1995, when the Vail Resorts Development Co. began a master plan for a private community. Nestled on Beaver Creek Mountain between Arrowhead Village and Beaver Creek Resort, Bachelor Gulch Village is built around a high-speed chairlift. The Interconnect, which opened in 1996, allows village-to-village skiing.
Bachelor Gulch’s growth since 1995, when the first homesites were sold, has been intense. The exclusive enclave benefited from the opening of the Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch in November 2002, the first luxury resort to open in the Rockies in more than a decade. Three types of lodging and residence are offered: 237 regular hotel rooms, 23 penthouse condos for sale (only two are left), and 54 fractional-ownership residences for sale at the Ritz-Carlton Club.
All properties come with the option of membership in the Bachelor Gulch Club, which offers access to the Ritz-Carlton’s spa facilities, private clay tennis courts, on-mountain dining at Zach’s Cabin, and two unrestricted annual ski passes also good for Vail, Breckenridge and Keystone.
The area is known for winter sports—85 percent of its residences have ski-in/ski-out access—but it is emerging as a year-round resort. The Lodge at Cordillera has three golf courses designed by Tom Fazio, Jack Nicklaus and Hale Irwin; the Red Sky Golf Club has two new courses, one by Fazio and one by Greg Norman.
Facts & Stats
•Come fly with us: Eagle County Airport can accommodate charter and private jets and is 23 miles from Bachelor Gulch. American and United fly to and from Eagle regularly from Denver. The Ritz-Carlton Club has an exclusive alliance with Marquis Jet Partners, which specializes in fractionally owned jets, to give its members access to private planes with 10 hours’ notice. Shuttle service is available from the airport to Bachelor Gulch.
•Snowed under: Beaver Creek Mountain boasts 300 days of sunshine a year and a phenomenal average annual snowfall of 331 inches.
•Built to last: All plans and landscaping must be approved by the Bachelor Gulch Design Review Board. All buildings are modeled after the great lodges at national parks such as Yosemite and Yellowstone. Design motifs include covered porches and dormer windows, and natural materials—hand-hewn logs, native stone, dry-stacked rock and forged ironwork—are used throughout.
•Real estate: The resort offers a low-density mix of chalets, townhomes and condos. Prices for single-family residences range from $4 million to $10 million and condosare priced from $1 million to $4 million.
Because of condo ownership popularity, another project, Horizon Pass, is under construction at the top of Bachelor Gulch Trail, with prices averaging $1 million; two-thirds of the lots have already been sold.
In 2002, 13 single-family residences were sold. Currently there are 18 active listings, ranging from $3.7 million ($859 per square foot) to $11 million ($1,103 per square foot). A six-bedroom, five-bathroom lodge on Daybreak Ridge is on the market for $5.45 million through Heather Davis at RealEstateVail.net.
In 1996 the average homesite cost $750,000. By 2003 it had risen to $2.6 million. Lot 100 at 109 Horizon Drive in Horizon Pass is on the market for $3.595 million through Whit and Cathy Miskell at Sonnenalp Real Estate.
Opened in December 2002, the Ritz-Carlton Club (970.949.5111) has 54 fractionally deeded (one-twelfth ownership) residences ranging from 1,500 to 2,500 square feet, for $200,000 to $490,000, which entitles the owner access for 21 days a year as well as unlimited access on a space-available basis.
•Realtor 101: Ric Souto, Slifer, Smith & Frampton, 970.845.2300, www.ricsouto.com; Whit and Cathy Miskell, Sonnenalp Real Estate, 970.477.5300, www.sonnenalprealestate.com; Heather Davis, RealEstateVail.net, 970.476.2482, www.realestatevail.net
•More information: www.bachelorgulch.com, www.ritzcarlton.com,
www.horizonpass.com