Location: Steamboat Springs, Colorado
November 1, 2007
Atlanta resident Robert Durham finds comfort in the Steamboat Pilot’s police blotter. "A sheep in the road, dogs barking, a neighbor that isn’t using a bear-proof trash container—these incidents can’t compare to what I read in Atlanta’s papers," says Durham. For years the 50-year-old financial executive has been searching the West for a place to build a vacation home for his family. "We traveled through Oregon, Northern California, Wyoming, Montana and South Dakota. We were thorough," he says.
But then Durham, an avid fly-fisherman, heard about a development in Steamboat that was making a stretch of the Elk River more habitable for rainbow, brown and cutthroat trout. This place also tempted Durham’s athletic side. "I have always wanted to learn how to cross-country ski," he says. When he discovered his guide would be Olympian Todd Lodwick, Durham was sold. He purchased one of the 62 six-acre lots (priced from $2.9 million to $5 million) at Marabou, a 1,700-acre ranch development in Steamboat. The location promised the serenity Durham was looking for, along with the convenience of being able to hop on a nonstop flight from Atlanta to access the destination.
Durham, who is in the process of building his vacation home, can take advantage of the ranch’s master guide program, which pairs owners with Lodwick as well as other experts in snowboarding, alpine skiing, mountain biking, fly-fishing and ranching. Residents can opt to immerse themselves in the ranch lifestyle and help mend fences and harvest hay, and when they’ve had enough, they can hit the spa or gym, then dine in a private wine cellar. "The property is beautiful, the people are more down-to-earth than other places in Colorado," says Durham. "And it’s a good investment."
Steamboat, which has long been recognized for its abundant "Champagne powder," cowboy culture and strong sense of community, is now being admired for its real estate. "To a certain extent, time had passed Steamboat by," says Andy Daly, co-developer of Alpine Mountain Ranch & Club, a 1,216-acre development of 63 homesites (priced from $1.4 million), close to the ski mountain. The resort’s former owners, the American Skiing Company, didn’t have the resources to be competitive with other major ski resorts, says Daly. "But Steamboat was able to sustain itself because it is unique."
Daly, former president of Vail Resorts, the country’s largest ski destination operator, says that resorts with mining roots have not been able to sustain their history as well as Steamboat, which has an agricultural background. Rabbit Ears Pass, where Route 40 crosses the Continental Divide, is a Steamboat icon—the town and county have worked diligently to preserve it, he says. Alpine Ranch is following suit by setting three-quarters of its acreage aside for an agricultural and wildlife preserve.
While Steamboat’s natural playground appeals to a wide range of outdoor enthusiasts, its main attraction is its ski mountain—a series of six peaks (Mount Werner, Pioneer Ridge and Sunshine, Storm, Thunderhead and Christie peaks) that tally up to nearly 3,000 acres of skiable terrain. Last March, Vancouver-based resort giant Intrawest purchased the resort for $265 million and vowed to bring the neglected mountain and its aging base area up to date. On the mountain, $16 million is already going toward improvements.
The news of Intrawest’s acquisition spurred a swarm of new development around the mountain’s base. Hotel operator Starwood scooped up the Sheraton Steamboat Resort Hotel and golf club for $57 million. Timbers Resorts grabbed a prime piece of slopeside land. "I follow my gut more than my brain," says David Burden, president and founder of Timber Resorts, which purchased the land eight months before the Intrawest takeover. "Steamboat had good bones and an authentic feel." Burden’s venture, One Steamboat Place, will harbor 38 ski-in/ski-out residences ranging in size from 2,500 to 4,700 square feet (priced from $2.7 million to $4.5 million) as well as a fractional component, consisting of 47, four-bedroom residences, priced from $625,000 to $735,000 for a one-eighth interest.
Burden also hopes to enliven the base area’s après-ski scene with a new restaurant and gourmet food shop, called Truffle Pig. Owners at One Steamboat Place will also have access to a Zen-inspired spa, private chef and catering services, fitness facilities and membership to the nearby Catamount Ranch, a private club offering a Tom Weiskopf–designed golf course and a 530-acre lake.
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