Colorado log cabin vacation home

[MuirWannabe]

I’m going to be purchasing a 2nd home. Our vacation home. Our primary home is in the Dallas area and where we will live much of the year.
But we love the mountains and desire a home in Colorado. Looking for a log cabin style home with probably 4BR, etc. would like some measure of privacy, so ideally maybe on a few acres with trees and mountain views.
Will most likely use the home for a couple weeks in winter months for ski trips. And maybe live there for ~3 months during the summer.
We’ve looked near the Breckinridge area, Alma, and Fairplay. That seems to be the area we are narrowing our search into. It’s high elevation, with lots of nearby 14’ers, great hiking, fishing, cycling, etc. and of course many ski resorts within an hour or so.

Just putting this out there to collect anyone’s thoughts on this area, or others in Colorado we should consider. From Dallas, Colorado seems reasonably close for mountain living. Going too far west in Colorado just makes the drive worse.

Thanks for any comments we can learn from.

 

[zinger1457]

Have vacationed frequently in the Breckenridge area and enjoy it. For the type of place you're looking for it won't come cheap in that area, as I recall 1BR condo's were in the $700K range. If planning to rent out as a vacation rental should also look into if there are local restrictions. The cost for housing/rentals in Breckenridge is unaffordable for most local workers and the local government has been looking at ways to get that under control.

 

[Mark1]

Just remember that remote with no close neighbors, scenic views, etc. can still be only 10 minutes from the hardware store, grocery store, restaurants, happy hours, etc. or it can be a 45 to 60 drive. We have lots of friends with beautiful 1st and 2nd mountain house that are in the 45 to 60 minute category. We rarely visit them as it just too remote.

When we lived in Houston, TX, we rarely did anything with our work friends that lived on the other side of town for the same reason. Too far.

 

[Bamaman]

Buying a mountain home is really nice, but it takes a commitment that many owners are just not willing to do.

My sister had a condo in Aspen for about 15 years, and she often hitchhiked with others in private jets back and forth. She sold the place in 2007 when the market hit a high for enough to buy a magnificent home in the North Carolina mountains in a country club equestrian neighborhood with a Jack Nicklaus Golf Course and 4600' landing strip.

There are other luxury mountain communities that are not nearly as expensive as the communities of Colorado or Utah. I thought those in Dallas often had places around Santa Fe.

 

[Rocky mtn high]

Colorado is FULL! Plus now mini California. Complete blue state.

 

[ziggy29]

Colorado is FULL! Plus now mini California. Complete blue state.

Umm, let's not go there with the politics here, OK? You don't know what the OP values in terms of public policy.

That said -- we are wondering if we will move east when my wife retires from her clergy gig here on the Oregon coast. We love it here, but between the earthquake/tsunami threat here and the feeling that everything in, and west of, the Rockies is in a new permanent drought makes us wonder if we need to go somewhere else.

 

[Rocky mtn high]

Traffic congestion, hiking, skiing congestion. Actually numerous friends have relocated out of Colorado to Wyoming, Montana.

 

[Hermit]

My son-in-law's parents bought a lot south of Breckenridge about 4 years ago with the intent of building when they retired. They retired last year and the price of building a place had risen so high that they could no longer afford it. Then the pandemic hit and building prices really took off. Their plan was to rent it during high season and spend time there in the summer. I don't think the numbers worked even with the rental income. Over the course of the last 40 or 50 years mountain prices went up and down like a yo-yo. I am not at all sure it will be that case in the future.

 

[MRG]

We moved to SWCO 5 years ago and live here full time. The prices have gone insane. We paid $153 a sq ft and now you can't touch anything for less than $300-400 that's for conventional constructionon a .33 lot. The stuff on the market, in this area at least, is pushing what anyone would pay for it.

We looked in Fairplay for a while but nothing really worked out. It's pretty high there are you comfortable with that altitude? I watched a couple move here to discover his issues. It worked out well, just scary for a while.

 

[folivier]

Last year we bought an RV lot in Arrowhead Ranch between Gunnison and Montrose. It's at 9400 ft elevation, 5 miles up a dirt road. It's unique in that the lots are circles which gives green space between lots. Our community has a lodge with rooms for rent, restaurant, bar, bands on weekends, a UTV/snowmobile rental place, Firewise rated fire department, security patrol, and fantastic views. We enjoy it so much we're buying a cabin here. But we're 1 hour from anything which may or may not be what you're looking for. If it sounds nice here are the cabin for sale listings: https://www.tamarackatarrowhead.com/cabins-for-sale-in-arrowhead-cimarron-co

 

[MuirWannabe]

Thanks for feedback so far. And for the encouragement rocky mtn high [emoji4].

Costs are crazy high right now. But we have the money and it’s something I’ve always desired. Guess I’m in BTD mode. I don’t have a sense prices will drop in a big way soon. We want to enjoy mountain living while we can.

I’m thinking through the comments so far and appreciate them.

 

[ivinsfan]

As to your live there in the Summer, with the amount of wildfires that seem to rage all Summer long, the Summer living might not be as enjoyable or carefree as you hope.



How do you and your spouse manage high altitudes? It can be a real problem for some people. My DH never had a problem with it until he went on beta blockers now he would not do at all well in at 9k feet.

 

[street]

Last year we bought an RV lot in Arrowhead Ranch between Gunnison and Montrose. It's at 9400 ft elevation, 5 miles up a dirt road. It's unique in that the lots are circles which gives green space between lots. Our community has a lodge with rooms for rent, restaurant, bar, bands on weekends, a UTV/snowmobile rental place, Firewise rated fire department, security patrol, and fantastic views. We enjoy it so much we're buying a cabin here. But we're 1 hour from anything which may or may not be what you're looking for. If it sounds nice here are the cabin for sale listings: https://www.tamarackatarrowhead.com/cabins-for-sale-in-arrowhead-cimarron-co

That looks like and sounds like a very interesting RV community.

To OP, the most difficult thing for me would be living so far away from your dream, get away home.

 

[Which Roger]

Spent a week in Alma about a decade ago. Since it's on the other side of the pass, it's a different world than Breckenridge. I love the mountains, but since I'm not a downhill skier, I have no use for the amenities of the ski towns, nor the crowds and costs. Isolated Alma is the perfect area for an introvert, although limited access to services is a downside.

 

[folivier]

It is street, RV's are allowed to stay from late May until late October without leaving. The only restriction is once the snows start the internal roads are closed to all but snowmobiles and tracked UTVs. The road from hwy. 50 is plowed up to the winter parking lot where snowmobiles are parked. There are about 300 cabins and maybe 100 RV lots. We also have a vendor that comes up each weekend that sells local produce, cheese, meats, etc. Picked up the sweetest watermelon yesterday. We're excited about the cabin.

 

[Hermit]

Spent a week in Alma about a decade ago. Since it's on the other side of the pass, it's a different world than Breckenridge. I love the mountains, but since I'm not a downhill skier, I have no use for the amenities of the ski towns, nor the crowds and costs. Isolated Alma is the perfect area for an introvert, although limited access to services is a downside.

Alma is turning into a suburb of Breckenridge. I think a lot of the ski area workers live there now and it is growing quite a bit.

 

[sparky08]

I don't know that I'll be much help. We bought a house in CO last year.

We plan to permanently move there some day, so we wanted it located near the I70 corridor. We prefer to ski in Vail, so we wanted to stay west of Vail Pass. (On a snow day, the pass is often closed). Having an airport nearby (EGE) is a nice plus.

It will likely continue to be a hot market, so a good realtor can be a big help. Ours clued us in on a great house that was coming back on the market (previous deal fell through because of financing). We were on a plane the next day and were quick with an offer.

Good luck!

 

[MuirWannabe]

As to your live there in the Summer, with the amount of wildfires that seem to rage all Summer long, the Summer living might not be as enjoyable or carefree as you hope.



How do you and your spouse manage high altitudes? It can be a real problem for some people. My DH never had a problem with it until he went on beta blockers now he would not do at all well in at 9k feet.

Wildfires are a concern, but I think we will press on anyway. It certainly turned me off of considering the west coast, although I love the Sierra and Cascades.

DW & I both do well overall at altitude. The dry lips and dry nose are my biggest source of irritation, but constant chapstick helps the lips and I’ll discover something for the nose probably.

 

[MuirWannabe]

Alma is turning into a suburb of Breckenridge. I think a lot of the ski area workers live there now and it is growing quite a bit.

I don’t know about it being a suburb, but it is true that many Breckinridge workers live over Hoosier Pass.
I should mention we are also looking in Blue River which is on the Breckinridge side of the pass.
There was one neighborhood near Fairplay we really liked, called Valley of the Sun. But it’s 20 minutes of dirt roads just to get from the homes to the hiway. That makes it 45 minutes from Breckinridge in the summer. I’m a little concerned about that distance even though I loved the neighborhood. Also concerned about the accessibility of those neighborhood dirt roads in the winter. We will blow more dough and buy a 4x4, but still concerned about it.

 

[ivinsfan]

Wildfires are a concern, but I think we will press on anyway. It certainly turned me off of considering the west coast, although I love the Sierra and Cascades.

DW & I both do well overall at altitude. The dry lips and dry nose are my biggest source of irritation, but constant chapstick helps the lips and I’ll discover something for the nose probably.

This fire situation is a real problem. My hubby's cousin has a lovely place up by the Canadian border. They left it around early July as they didn't feel safe with fire conditions. Were afraid they would not have a safe exit route if something happened. That's definitely a plus for the rental side.



Good luck with your house hunt...

 

[MuirWannabe]

I don't know that I'll be much help. We bought a house in CO last year.



We plan to permanently move there some day, so we wanted it located near the I70 corridor. We prefer to ski in Vail, so we wanted to stay west of Vail Pass. (On a snow day, the pass is often closed). Having an airport nearby (EGE) is a nice plus.



It will likely continue to be a hot market, so a good realtor can be a big help. Ours clued us in on a great house that was coming back on the market (previous deal fell through because of financing). We were on a plane the next day and were quick with an offer.



Good luck!

We spent a week in Vail recently. Very nice, but it’s getting even further away from Dallas for us. And prices there make Breckinridge look cheap. And as you say, that Vail Pass is impressive and steep. It was my first time to travel over it. But it’s a great area and I hope you are happy with your home!

 

[ivinsfan]

I don’t know about it being a suburb, but it is true that many Breckinridge workers live over Hoosier Pass.
I should mention we are also looking in Blue River which is on the Breckinridge side of the pass.
There was one neighborhood near Fairplay we really liked, called Valley of the Sun. But it’s 20 minutes of dirt roads just to get from the homes to the hiway. That makes it 45 minutes from Breckinridge in the summer. I’m a little concerned about that distance even though I loved the neighborhood. Also concerned about the accessibility of those neighborhood dirt roads in the winter. We will blow more dough and buy a 4x4, but still concerned about it.

Re my comments about fire issues....that sounds pretty remote and not very quick to exit a problem area. If you only wanted to stay there in winter you don't need to worry about fire safety problems. But that's not your plan.

 

[DINKFIRE]

We own a condo near Winter Park Colorado, last year the Troublesome fire passed through Grand Lake and everyone in the building was really stressed out, but fortunately the fire didn't get closer. The insurance premium skyrocketed in the last couple of years. A lot of people prefer tree lots for their homes, but it poses fire risk. Many home owners also are required to do annual fire mitigation which is a lot of work. A friend of ours owns a tree lot he has to chop down many trees every year to keep the fire danger low. We saw a large lot in Granby sold at steep discount this summer after all the trees on the lot were killed by the Troublesome fire.

I also heard some places in the Colorado mountains where the wells went dry this summer, so that's another thing to worry able unless the home is supplied by city tap. The building costs varies, but expect to pay a lot higher near ski towns, the latest I heard was over $300/sqft, and the builders are currently booked through 2023.

 

[Sunset]

Last year we bought an RV lot in Arrowhead Ranch between Gunnison and Montrose. It's at 9400 ft elevation, 5 miles up a dirt road. It's unique in that the lots are circles which gives green space between lots. Our community has a lodge with rooms for rent, restaurant, bar, bands on weekends, a UTV/snowmobile rental place, Firewise rated fire department, security patrol, and fantastic views. We enjoy it so much we're buying a cabin here. But we're 1 hour from anything which may or may not be what you're looking for. If it sounds nice here are the cabin for sale listings: https://www.tamarackatarrowhead.com/cabins-for-sale-in-arrowhead-cimarron-co

Looks nice, very tempting.
Thanks for the link, it was interesting to look at some of those lovely places.

 

[zinger1457]

I also heard some places in the Colorado mountains where the wells went dry this summer, so that's another thing to worry able unless the home is supplied by city tap. The building costs varies, but expect to pay a lot higher near ski towns, the latest I heard was over $300/sqft, and the builders are currently booked through 2023.

In Breckenridge the cost for existing homes on the market is well above that, many are over $800/sq-ft, although the land cost needs to be factored in.