Getting your player ready...
Coming into a holiday weekend when you could pick any of three days to drive up to ski country, Village Homes will give your family two one-day passes to try SolVista’s slopes, 15 minutes beyond Winter Park, just for viewing four large, sharp-looking single-family cabins with attached garages at Granby Ranch. Village has sold so well (fastest-selling project in the entire Winter Park/Grand County area — six more since Thanksgiving) that they’re down to those four final cabins on ski-in/ski-out sites – each furnished, at closeout prices.
“These are click-in, click-out, right off your back deck,” said Village’s Sheila Bailey, as we walked through a couple of inches of new powder to see those homes, their walk-outs and view decks. To prove the point, she phoned John and Amber Stockhausen, who were up skiing SolVista for the day, carrying their two-year-old along with them (talk about family-friendly; how many ski areas could you do that?). Within five minutes the couple shushed in from a nearby lift to join us.
Prices on the four close-out homes at Tall Timbers start at $429,900 — for a 3-bedroom, 1,920 feet with premium finishes – stone fireplace, 5-inch hardwood floors in kitchen and dining room, slab granite and travertine backsplashes. All four of the homes are under $500,000 (the other three have finished walk-outs), tucked into the aspen forest above the base lodge, right on Kicking Horse lift and blue-rated Home Again run. “They’re all furnished, ready to ski out the rest of the season, and the sites are the very best we’ve ever offered,” Bailey added.
“What would you be paying for a new ski-in, ski-out single-family resort home over in Summit County or Vail?” Bailey asked rhetorically. Commuter-wise, she adds, SolVista and Granby Ranch have a leg up on those more westerly destinations – they don’t involve driving through the Eisenhower Tunnel – traffic clogged on Sunday afternoons.
In exchange for the 90-minute trip up, you’ll get to ski SolVista’s thousand-foot mountain, with terrain parks and a renovated base lodge with Seven Trails Grille and private owners’ club where residents kick back as their kids wrap up the ski day.
What’s a little harder to imagine right now is the rest of the amenities that make Village’s Tall Timbers a four-season resort experience, including Headwaters Golf Course, just below the village (along with your family season ski passes and additional passes for guests, you get four golf foursomes as part of your ownership package); a four-mile private trout lease along the Fraser River that winds the bottom of the course; bike trails; and a ‘River Camp’ that residents can reserve to overnight their guests national-park style.
Largest of the final four is a 5-bedroom/3-1/2 bath with finished walk-out plus the attached garage, $499,900. Who’s been buying all of those Village resort-style homes at Granby Ranch? Some, says Bailey, are retirees attracted to ranch plans and to a place to lure their kids and grandkids. …Also some are younger families who see a very inviting ski mountain for their kids to explore and learn on. To visit and collect your day ski passes, take U.S. 40 west from I-70, 43 miles (15 mi. past Winter Park) to Village Road, then east 1.8 mile, over the crest, and watch for the cabin models on your left, before the ski area.
If you go…
WHERE: Closeout Village Homes’ Tall Timbers at Granby Ranch, single-family ski-in/out homes at SolVista; ranch, main-floor master 3- & 4 bed; attached garage, walkouts, ski/golf/fishing membership; coffee & hot chocolate, two 1-day ski passes free this weekend. 108 Fairway Ln, Granby; from I-70 take U.S. 40 west 43 mi. (15 mi. past Winter Park) to Village Rd., right 1.8 mi. to Fairway Ln
PRICE: From $429,900
WHEN: Today, Saturday, Sunday, Presidents Day 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
PHONE: 970-887-0144 WEB: VillageHomes.com
Mark Samuelson writes on real estate and business; you can email him at mark@samuelsonassoc.com. You can see all of Mark Samuelson’s columns online at DenverPostHomes.com
