An evening of whimsy and wonder at the Wheeler Opera House
Hamptons vs. Aspen
A recent article in the New York Times reports that the Hampton’s market has softened. Aspen remains steady. With such limited inventory here, a supply increase almost never happens so one just doesn’t have to deal with significant market swings.
Since the beginning of the calendar year, 6 properties closed over $20M — 15 over $10M.
WATCH: The Whole Bauhaus / Aspen Thing Explained in 7 mins
What Does Queen Anne Have To Do with Aspen's Queen Anne Architecture? Much Like the Monarch, It’s All a Bit ... Squishy
Left: Sardy House ($23M) Center: Olivia Coleman as Queen Anne in "‘The Favourite’ Right: a Queen Anne Cottage for sale.
1702: Anne, Queen of Great Britain ascends to the throne during a period when the whole, “heir and a spare,” tradition was not going well. Her uncle had the thrown (no heir) so then her father ascended (but was overthrown). Then her older sister, Mary, co-ruled with her husband (that would be William and Mary, like the school) — but they never had kids; so it passed to Anne … who had no children.
Left: Poulton House built during Queen Anne’s reign – characterized by strongly bilateral symmetry with an Italianate or Palladian-derived pediment on the front formal elevation. Right: Portrait of Anne, Queen of Great Britain.
Queen Anne Revival: UK Edition. Notice the corner tower and asymmetry.
1870-ish: The “Queen Anne Revival: UK Edition,” is invented by some popular architects around 1870 and its provenance and definition is murky. A potpourri of styles all mashed together, they called it, “Queen Anne Revival,” not so much because it had to do with anything revived from her short reign, but because that first decade of the 18th-century stirred an image of an idyllic English yesteryear. It would be like if today you created a style of house that mixed American Colonial with ‘70s ranch house and called it, “Eisenhower Revival.”
1876: Right around that time, America held its first World’s Fair, and American builders became obsessed with the fancy new style over from England. The Queen Anne Style went off in America like a house on fire, especially in the West.
Queen Anne architecture in Aspen
U.S. architects took the English style and ran with it, creating some truly wild adaptations. America was new-money central and nothing spelled “bling” better than ornamented woodworking. It would make sense that Aspen, flush with silver at the time, would be a Queen Anne town
1900: In particular, the “Queen Anne Cottage” (a sub-genre of the Queen Anne Rival American House) worked well in Aspen, as one can dress up a relatively simple wood-framed house without the intense bother of stone work. Today, the remaining Queen Anne cottages are a far cry from the symmetrical manor houses of 17th / 18th-century England, but we like to think Her Majesty would enjoy their colorful charms nonetheless.
The Parting of The Pass
Read about the Herculean efforts by the Colorado Department of Transportation as they clear Independence Pass. The impressive snow falls didn’t just make for extra plowing (and a special Memorial Weekend of Skiing.) A forest of avalanche debris has to cleared as well:
The road is surrounded on both sides by 10-foot-tall walls of ice and avalanche debris. The air smells thickly of pine from the trees that had been caught up in the slides and whole aspen trees are sticking out of the walls, roots first.”
Cabin Fever: Rare & Renovated Victorian in the Heart of Aspen
One of only five commercial Victorian houses in Aspen, this renovated, impeccably maintained Queen Anne cottage is a rare chance to own a historic ginger bread right in the center of everything.
On a sunny corner lot, just a straight shot to the Gondola, this two-floor cabin-turned office space would be ideal for any number of enterprises from finance to retail to design.
On the main floor you will find a handsomely appointed reception area with fire place, a conference room and five small offices (two with a view of Aspen Mountain.) Downstairs, you have an additional 6 desks, generously sized granite and wood-trimmed kitchen, full bath with shower, ample file storage and additional work space.
Listed at $4,995,000, this type of property only comes around once a generation. Seize the moment! Contact us for more information or to schedule a viewing.
The Ski Gangs of Aspen
The closing day at Ajax is famously marked by the “Buck Off,” a hundred or so people racing down the Ridge of Bell. It was started by one of Aspen’s best kept secrets, roaming groups of ski buddies called ski gangs. For 40 years, they continue to fight for the freshest pow, the prettiest girls (or guys) and the elusive title of, Best Skiers on the Mountain. Now, a new generation keeps the tradition alive.
Basalt Teen Launches Local News Service: Aspen Vibes
If you have seen an email called “Aspen Vibes” come across your digital transom, you have Basalt High senior Bear Matthews to blame. Something of a wire service for the year 2020, Vibes is a daily email service akin to The Skimm, only localized, and skimmier. His custom-built, news aggregator compiles goings-on, weather and a friendly salutation. One month in, the pilot program has been a quick success.
Bear, who was Skippy Mesirow’s communications director for his successful council run, grew up in London and Brooklyn before his family moved to Basalt. He’s still figuring out the next steps for Vibes. Lots to do this summer before he attends Franklin University in Switzerland.
Check out AspenVibes.com to get a sense of the … er … vibe!
Further Thoughts and Numbers on the Market
Real Estate appraiser Randy Gold came out with his annual report and pointed towards a possible down cycle in store for the Aspen market. Gold predicted that overall dollar volume and number of transactions will dip slightly in 2019, coming off of 2018’s decline from 2017.
“If 2019 finishes the way that I am forecasting … then our real estate market will be moving decidedly into the next down market,” said Gold, whose company has conducted over 24,000 appraisals over almost 41 years in business.
That said, home values will be holding steady. Read more in the Daily News. That said, over in Snowmass demand is catching up with all the new inventory. The Viceroy is nearly sold out. Read more here.
Banner Bases, Extended Season and a Resort Report
Sunrise on the Bowl
It’s been snowing pretty much every other day since the beginning of October. There are over nine feet of snow on Highlands (103” have already fallen in March). Of course, that’s nothing compared to the 227”(19 feet) at Squaw Valley, but no complaints here. Aspen Highlands is officially adding two bonus weekends: April 19-21 and April 26-28.
If you are interested in how real estate faired resort-to-resort, click here for the Sotheby’s Resort Report:
