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Article
Gaining Altitude : Mountain Homes Heading for the hills has never been more inviting. By: Nick KolakowskiMay/June 2008 , Page 63
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Credit crunches. Global warming. Recession fears. The possibility of yet another Eagles reunion tour. For the successful man of means with a vested interest in investments, 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 of everything except the plane and a sturdy pair of hiking boots and jetting for the high hills. It’s a simple plan, really: Just peruse the following offerings culled from the recent profusion of plane-friendly high-peaks, high-luxury residential clubs. Acquire yourself one of these lofty perches, one with world-class skiing, boating, concierge services, helipads, either on-site or nearby FBO and the requisite contingency of in-house chefs, staff naturalists and fishing guides. Then sit back and peer down upon the world as it wrestles with all those rising uncertainties and sea levels and marvel at the best part of all: You didn’t even need to route through Denver.
The Kootenai
Location: Bigfork, Montana A good secret nook was a lot easier to find back in 1906, when Lewis Orvis Evans and Cornelius Kelley, the brains behind the Anaconda Copper Company, purchased 2,700 acres here along Montana’s Swan Lake for a summer retreat. The years eventually whittled down their spread. By the time business partners/brothers Paul and Robert Milhous purchased the property in 2005, a dozen moldering cabins and out buildings and 42 acres remained. But what a 42 acres. Under the Milhouses’ watch, the original 10 cabins, great lodge and barn have been thoroughly restored and updated, and construction has started on an additional 32 homes. Borrowing in style and materials from the original structures, the new residences mix the best of big-shoulders Western architecture — including giant hearths and raw-timber beamed ceilings — with can’t-possibly-leave-civilization touches such as computerized lighting systems and high-speed Internet.
The lodge will feature a lounge, bar, catering kitchen and media room with giant plasma-screen TVs. And should one get sick of the great indoors (and yes, even with a full-service concierge, that does happen), the Evans Nature Center offers programs including fishing contests, marathon hikes and snowmobile excursions. Whitefish Mountain Resort, featuring 3,000 skiable acres and 93 runs, is less than an hour’s drive away. 406-837-3000; thekootenai.com Grizzly Ranch
Location: Portola, California There are times in a man’s life when what he really wants is a sizable 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 five low-density neighborhoods, each designed to impart a minimal burden on the land, sparing mature trees and moving mere cupfuls of dirt. 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 Grizzly Ranch. “The people coming up here and buying are all about not disturbing the natural beauty.” Well, they do make one (tiny) exception for golf. The resort’s Bob Cupp–designed course is the archetypical mountain course, with 18 pine-enveloped holes traversing the natural contours of the land — making for both critical shots and cinematic views of Beckwourth and Smith Peaks. For pursuits of a less exasperating sort, there’s also skiing at nearby Tahoe, boating Plumas County’s 100 rivers and lakes and hiking the trails of the 200-acre conservancy on site. 866-901-1010; grizzlyranch.com
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