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Step inside 'Billionaire Mountain,' the wealthy Aspen enclave where the Bezos and Dell families own sprawling mansions and homes go for as much as $49 million
Step inside 'Billionaire Mountain,' the wealthy Aspen enclave where the Bezos and Dell families own sprawling mansions and homes go for as much as $49 million
Aspen, Colorado, is America's most expensive ski town - but it gets even pricier the more skyward you get.
Towering over Aspen is Red Mountain, also known as "Billionaire Mountain." It's home to high-end real-estate, complete with sales prices as high as $49 million, staggering square footage, and scenic views of downtown Aspen and the surrounding mountains.
Once a small mining town, Aspen, Colorado, is now the most expensive ski town in America — and only one of four ski destinations in the world where homes consistently sell for over $25 million.
You can find Aspen's one-percent on Red Mountain — aptly nicknamed "Billionaire Mountain" by former Forbes staff writer Morgan Brennan in a December 2012 article. It's well-known as a popular winter destination for the rich and famous.
Divided into upper and lower neighborhoods, Billionaire Mountain boasts views of downtown Aspen, peaks in the Elk Range, and Aspen Snowmass, which comprises all four of Aspen's ski mountains.
Aspen's center is about a five-minute drive down the mountain, which is also situated nearby outdoor adventures, from fishing in Independence Pass to biking alongside roaring Fork River.
Walmart heiress Ann Walton Kroenke, oil billionaire Sid Bass, candy mogul William Wrigley Jr., and casino magnate Neil Bluhm have all had houses there, ranging in price from $7.4 million to $38.4 million, per Forbes' December 2012 report.
Billionaires' family members also call the elite neighborhood home. According to Forbes, as of 2012, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' parents had a 10,600-square-foot home valued at $20 million in Lower Red Mountain, and Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell's grandparents own a $10.5 million 8,250-square-foot home in Upper Red Mountain.
The one-percent pays top dollar for Billionaire Mountain's pricey real estate —properties currently on the market there range from $2.45 million to $33.5 million.
The active average home price on Billionaire Mountain as of June 2018 was $15.8 million, with an average cost per square-foot of $2,225, according to local magazine the Aspen Sojourner.
Billionaire Mountain's real-estate is quite literally record-breaking, especially when it comes to America's most expensive homes.
Here you'll find the 90-acre Hala Ranch, which is larger than the White House. Once the most expensive home in the US, it was listed by Saudi royal Prince Bandar bin Sultan for $135 million in 2006. It sold to hedge fund billionaire John Paulson for $49 million in 2012.
The Summit House sits atop Billionaire Mountain on nearly six acres of land. It was Colorado's most expensive currently-available home when initially listed for $65 million in 2014. Its current asking price is a slightly more manageable $39.5 million.
Bill Koch put his Aspen compound on the market for $80 million, according to Curbed. But that property is "not listed for public consumption" — which means the Summit House is Colorado's most expensive house, reported Realtor.com.
But Summit House is far from the only high-profile, ultra-luxurious property in the area. In March 2019, an $18 million ranch on Billionaire Mountain's largest, most private lot went on the market. Known as Erickson Ranch, it's owned by one of Aspen's founding families — the Paepcke family.
Even the neighborhood's undeveloped land carries a hefty price tag. In May 2019, an anonymous buyer broke two Aspen real-estate records, dropping $24.2 million on an empty 4.4-acre Billionaire Mountain plot.
It was previously part of a massive 40-acre estate owned by Marian Rubey Lyeth Davis, whose family started the company that eventually became Maxwell House Coffee.
Most of these homes are vacation homes. Billionaire Mountain is "best known for large, mostly vacant mansions," Scott Condon wrote for The Aspen Times in 2008.
But resident homeowners also put the land to other use. In 2018, the Red Mountain Ranch Homeowners Association donated a 55-acre parcel to Pitkin County for its Open Space and Trails Program. The parcel extends about 150 yards up the mountain from the top row of homes.
A minority of homeowners wanted to sell the parcel to the highest bidder, Jerry Murdock, president of the Red Mountain Ranch Homeowners Association, told Pitkin County commissioners at the time. But Murdock persuaded the majority to support the donation. He didn't reveal how much the property would've been worth on the open market.
Billionaire Mountain continues to attract new residents. There's a particularly high demand for remodels and new homes there, according to Carolyn Sackariason of the Aspen Sojourner.
Local brokers told Sackariason in 2018 that Billionaire Mountain has an "aging inventory"— but it's still one of the highest-performing neighborhoods on the market. Single-family home sales increased by 100% from 2016 to 2017.
