Real Estate 101

West of Aspen

Find families and open space in the several neighborhoods on town's western edge.

By Carolyn Sackariason June 1, 2018 Published in the Summer 2018 issue of Aspen Sojourner

Views here take in Aspen Highlands, Buttermilk, and the Maroon Creek Valley.

Image: Allison Pattillo

Several distinct neighborhoods sit among ample open space, two ski areas, and a pair of golf courses on town’s western side. Benefits of living here include quick access to Buttermilk and Aspen Highlands, the Aspen schools, the Aspen Cross Country Center and other Nordic ski trails, and the Aspen Recreation Center, with its large indoor pool, hockey rink, and playing fields. And if you’re so inclined, you can zip by bike among these areas via a network of paved paths.

West Buttermilk, which ascends one side of the Buttermilk ski area, offers large lot sizes, views, and privacy in spades among a mix of tucked-away older and stunningly redeveloped properties; those new homes will cost you—prices in the $15 million-and-up range are not uncommon. On the mountain’s other side, at the base of Tiehack, country club–style homes that are part of the exclusive Maroon Creek Club sit along the Tom Fazio–designed golf course; some offer ski-in, ski-out living, too.

More populated areas, and ones where you’ll find a greater proportion of full-time residents, include the base of Aspen Highlands (which ranges from completely tricked-out slopeside homes to deed-restricted employee housing units, plus fractional units at the Ritz-Carlton Club), Meadowood (near Aspen Valley Hospital), and Cemetery Lane.

While home prices dipped slightly a couple of years ago, they’re making a comeback because of proximity to town and growing demand, as buyers chased out of town search for pockets of relatively reasonably priced properties.

For real local living, look to the Cemetery Lane thoroughfare and its side streets, some of which border Aspen’s municipal golf course. The neighborhood fell victim to gentrification over the past couple of decades, as houses and duplexes built in the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s were torn down and replaced with second homes that largely went dark. But with families moving back in, albeit ones able to afford a multimillion-dollar home, there’s been a resurgence of vibrancy.

“If I was given a billion dollars, I wouldn’t move,” says Aspen City Councilman Adam Frisch, who moved to the neighborhood in 2007. “We feel lucky to be living in a real, active, full-time community.”