Home All-Stars: The Sporting Life
01/01/2006
A sporting community begins with a collection of luxury vacation homes that provide owners access to world-class outdoor pursuits, from golfing to skiing to boating. Beyond this, what every true sporting community offers is a way to reconnect with family. Joining the club means creating a home where multiple generations can engage in outdoor games and recreation together. Whether that means convening on a Florida golf course, on a Montana ski mountain or in a Wyoming trout river, the sporting community concept is about interacting with the most important people in your life. What follows is a look at six communities that make it easy to master the art of togetherness.Yellowstone Club
Located in the Montana Rockies near Big Sky, Yellowstone
Club is unquestionably the most exclusive ski and golf community in the world. Founded by timber baron Tim
Blixseth and his wife, Edra, the 14,000-acre compound offers 2,200 acres of impeccably groomed
terrain, an area larger than that found at Deer Valley. Yellowstone Club is a mountain
that could accommodate 20,000 skiers but reserves its private powder slopes for just 864
members. They enjoy more than 60 trails, 13 lifts and trails spread across two mountain
areas. The club’s 130,000-square-foot Warren Miller Lodge will soon be completed.
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In the summer there is hiking, fly-fishing and top-notch golf; former British Open champ Tom Weiskopf designed the private golf course. All 18 holes opened in 2005, and Hank Kashiwa, the former U.S. Olympic skier who is now the club’s vice president of marketing, calls it “the ultimate in private courses. Our members may have originally come here for winter sports, but once they experience Montana in the summertime, their lives are changed forever.”
Membership at Yellowstone Club is by invitation only and requires the final approval of the club’s owners and a $250,000 right-to-use deposit. “It attracts energetic younger families who want a community atmosphere,” Kashiwa says. “They come from 26 states, from Canada, Europe and even New Zealand.”
Members must purchase property at the club. Home sites ranging from one to six acres, some with ski-in/ski-out access, are priced from $2 million to $3.5 million; 160-acre ranch sites start at $8 million. Custom-built homes range in price from $3 million to $13 million, and 5,000-square-foot, on-mountain chalets start at $6 million. Annual membership dues are $16,000. While their homes are being built, members can stay at the cabins adjacent to the Rainbow Lodge, one of four lodges at the club.
Yellowstone Club
888.700.7748
www.theyellowstoneclub.comThe Ford Plantation
Just 18 miles southwest of Savannah, GA., on the banks of the Ogeechee River, is the Ford Plantation. A former rice plantation and winter retreat of automobile mogul Henry Ford, it has been gracefully transformed into a private 1,800-acre sporting community.
“The setting is ideal for active families and couples looking for a refined country club atmosphere,” says Kevin Shaney, president and CEO of the Ford Plantation. “This was envisioned as a second- and third-home community, but we find that many owners are choosing this as their primary residence.”
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The stellar amenities include a Pete Dye—designed golf course. This 7,045-yard course, with its lakes and lagoons, covers more than 600 acres. The equestrian facilities include 22 stalls and more than 20 acres of paddocks. Anglers at the Ford Plantation have a choice of three freshwater lakes, the Ogeechee River and easy access to the Atlantic Ocean, the Intra coastal Waterway and nearby Ossabaw Sound. There is also a full spa and a Pilates studio. The Ford Plantation Club’s Sports Barn is a 6,000-square-foot building with two international squash courts, a basketball/volleyball court and fitness machines.
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Development is limited to 400 homes, and only 70 lots remain unsold, with 125 homes built or currently under construction. The property is divided into neighborhoods, each boasting its own individual character. “The Low Country look prevails in our properties,” explains Shaney, “with tall ceilings and windows and deep porches. We try to make it feel like an old-fashioned Southern neighborhood.”
Home prices run from $800,000 to more than $4 million, and lots from one acre to 15 acres go for $200,000 to $2.6 million. Club members pay a onetime fee of $115,000. Club dues are $11,300 per year.
The Ford Plantation
877.735.8367
www.fordplantation.comThe Greenbrier Sporting Club
The Greenbrier, one of the most venerable resorts in the United States, also is the setting for the Greenbrier Sporting Club. The idea behind the club was simple: It was designed to appeal to devotees of the Greenbrier–guests who had fallen in love with its service, style and setting. The tableau of oaks, maples and hickories in West Virginia’s Allegheny Mountains is best appreciated, many would say, while playing golf on one of the Greenbrier’s three magnificent golf courses: the Greenbrier Course, the Meadows and Old White Course.
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But the Greenbrier Sporting Club takes recreation to another level. Owners have access to all the resort’s facilities, as well as to a host of services and facilities unavailable to resort guests, such as the 32,000-square-foot Members’ Lodge with restaurant and private dining rooms, a 10,000-square-foot spa, tennis courts, a private equestrian center and a private fitness center.
“Our members join because they love the Greenbrier,” explains Patti Spaniak, director of marketing. “We have members whose families have been coming to stay at the Greenbrier for many generations. They come because it’s a different culture here. The service levels are more European in manner. It’s gracious. Most of our owners are members of many clubs and have many homes, but they tell me that they don’t get service like this anywhere else.”
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The Greenbrier is a member-owned equity club consisting of 500 home sites spread out on 2,000 of the resort’s 6,500 acres and organized into 11 different neighborhoods. Homeowners pay a $120,000 membership fee and homes must conform to strict architectural standards, using materials such as stone and clapboards. The Members’ Lodge and the Ananda in the Alleghenies Spa are reserved for Sporting Club members, as is the Snead, the new Tom Fazio—designed course. Prices for home sites start at $400,000.
The Greenbrier Sporting Club
888.741.8989
www.greenbriersportingclub.comSnake River Sporting Club
Few places epitomize the west better than Jackson Hole, Wyo. Here, along the banks of the Snake River, is an ideal site for active pursuits: the Snake River Sporting Club. Like its eastern counterpart, the Greenbrier Sporting Club, the Snake River Sporting Club, scheduled for full build-out in 2007 (the golf course and hiking trails are open now), will welcome families looking to put down roots in one of the most beautiful spots in the country.
“We expect it to be popular with families who want a multi generational home,” says Patti Spaniak, director of marketing. “It will appeal to people who love to ski and hike and fly-fish–who really enjoy the outdoors.”
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Located approximately 15 miles south of Jackson Hole, the club occupies a spectacular piece of property in the Teton Valley. Owners have access to the club’s 61Ú2-mile stretch of the Snake River, with its prime fishing for cutthroat trout. The club is bordered on three sides by 3.4 million acres of the Bridger-Teton National Forest and encompasses 544 acres itself (nearly 90 percent of that land will remain preserved). Some of America’s most well-preserved wilderness areas can be found nearby. Both Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone National Park are within an hour’s drive, and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, one of the best ski mountains in the country, lies a few minutes away.
The members-only amenities will include a Tom Weiskopf 18-hole championship golf course, one of only two private courses in Teton County. There will be a members’ lodge, a helipad, an equestrian center, a sports complex, a spa with natural hot springs and a resident naturalist.
Reservations are being taken for the 60-plus home sites, which range in size from one-half acre to 35 acres. Prices have yet to be announced.
Snake River Sporting Club
888.434.7772
www.snakeriversportingclub.comGolden Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club
An hour north of Orlando, the Golden Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club in Ocala, Fla., sits in the heart of the state’s most desirable horse country: a landscape of rolling hills famous for its horse farms, polo, breed shows and trail riding. Developed by the Roberts family, the community was envisioned as a private sanctuary where families can enjoy horseback riding, spectacular golf, luxury homes and breathtaking scenery. According to Cliff Wilson, vice president of development for the 1,200-acre project, the Golden Ocala is “attracting people from the Northeast, the Midwest and even South Florida. They’re coming here because of the open acres and because this is truly some of the most important horse country in the United States. Many Kentucky Derby winners came from this area.”
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The Golden Ocala Equestrian Center recently opened, offering beautiful paddocks surrounded by large oaks, along with state-of-the-art equipment both outside and inside the stable.
Golf is the other major draw. An 18-hole Ron Garl golf course features eight tribute holes, resembling those found in Royal Troon, Augusta, Baltusrol and St. Andrews. There is also a double-ended driving range and a 77,000-square-foot clubhouse built in the Southern Colonial style. A tennis, fitness and spa center is currently under construction.
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Of the 798 home sites, more than 100 are already sold. Home sites range in price from $300,000 to $1.5 million; homes range from $600,000 to $5 million. The architecture is classical with antebellum touches, and the homes will be spread out among five separate villages: Club side Village, Lakeside Estates, Masters Village, Grotto Park and the Residences of Golden Ocala. Membership fees for 2006 have yet to be announced.
Golden Ocala Golf & Equestrian Club
352.369.6969
www.goldenocala.comThe Sanctuary
The Sanctuary is one of Boca Raton’s most luxurious gated communities on the Intra coastal Waterway, with private docks and no fixed bridges. Privacy is also greatly enhanced because the community is home to a 27-acre bird sanctuary. Security extends into the water, as well, with 24-hour boat patrols. Founded in 1979, the Sanctuary was designed to be the ultimate yachting enclave on the East Coast.
“Yachting is the big pursuit,” says Carmen N. D’Angelo Jr., an owner/broker with Premier Estate Properties in Boca Raton, the leading brokerage for waterfront properties in the Sanctuary. “Right now in the Sanctuary, there is a 125-foot yacht, several 100-footers and quite a few 70- and 80-foot yachts.”
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Top photo: A private residence with adjoining dock at the
Sanctuary in Boca Raton. Photograph by Corey Weiner-redsquarephoto.com (Click image to enlarge)The Sanctuary comprises an eclectic collection of custom-designed single-family homes. It has 107 lots from one-third acre to one-half acre. To date, there are just 82 homes built, some of them occupying two or three lots. Homes tend to range between 6,000 and 12,000 square feet. Each has its own private boat dock. “The look ranges from Italianate to Mediterranean, Tuscan to French Regency and some Palm Beach Georgian,” D’Angelo says.
About half of the owners are year-round residents. No memberships are required. A 20-slip community marina can accommodate boats of 40 to 60 feet in length, and three Har-Tru tennis courts are available.
One of the last lots for sale is currently on the market for $3.9 million. Waterfront home prices generally begin at around $6.9 million, but can go considerably higher. For example, Premier is currently offering a 24,000-square-foot home called the Sanctuary Trophy Point for $22.5 million. It features 410 feet of deepwater frontage, which, D’Angelo points out, “would enable the owner to dock his own personal marina.”
Premier Estate Properties
561.394.7700
www.premierestateproperties.com