Aspen
Aspen, Colorado: As of 2012, Aspen’s population is 6,658 people.
ASPEN, mention your coming to Aspen and watch eyes light up. Historic, with the vintage appeal of the world’s distinguished personalities. There is no other place like it. Its the one place on this Grand Earth whereby being cool isn’t defined with a weather.
Aspen is the seat and the most populous city of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States.[1][2] It is in a remote area of the Rocky Mountains‘ Sawatch Range, along the Roaring Fork River at an elevation just below 8,000 feet (2,400 m) above sea level on the Western Slope, 11 miles (18 km) west of the Continental Divide. As of the 2010 census, there were 6,658 permanent residents.
Founded as a mining camp during the Colorado Silver Boom and named because of the abundance of aspen trees in the area, the city boomed during the 1880s, its first decade of existence. That early era ended when the Panic of 1893 led to a collapse in the silver market, and the city began a half-century known as “the quiet years” during which its population steadily declined, reaching a nadir of less than a thousand by 1930. Aspen’s fortunes reversed in the mid-20th century when neighboring Aspen Mountain was developed into a ski resort, and industrialist Walter Paepcke bought many properties in town and redeveloped them. Today it is home to three renowned institutions, two of which Paepcke helped found, that have international importance: the Aspen Music Festival and School, the Aspen Institute, and the Aspen Center for Physics.[3]
In the late 20th century, the city became a popular retreat for celebrities. Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson worked out of a downtown hotel and ran unsuccessfully for county sheriff. Singer John Denver wrote two songs about Aspen after settling there. Both of them popularized Aspen among the countercultural youth of the 1970s as an ideal place to live, and the city continued to grow even as it gained notoriety for some of the era’s hedonistic excesses as well, particularly its drug culture.
Today the musicians and movie stars have been joined by corporate executives. As a result of this influx of wealth Aspen boasts the most expensive real estate prices in the United States[4] and most middle-class residents can no longer afford to live there. It remains a popular tourist destination, with outdoor recreation in the surrounding White River National Forest serving as a summertime complement to the four ski areas in the vicinity.
Aspen is the most expensive place to buy real estate in the US.[8] Aspen is a mixture of high-end luxury estates and condos intermixed with single-family homes and mobile home parks. As of March 2011, the lowest-priced single-family home on the market was a trailer for $559,000.[9] The median listing price for homes or condos for sale in Aspen is $4,229,558 according to Trulia.[10] It is not uncommon to see listing prices reaching the mid-eight figures.[10] As of August 2012, 6 guaranteed weeks of fractional ownership for a 3 bedroom luxury condo in the downtown core of Aspen costs $625,000.
what your money buys in Aspen
$130,000 – Welcome to Buttermilk’s base for wholly owned or a fractional at Innsbruck, St. Regis, Ritz or Hyatt.
$500,000 – $1,000,000 – An elegant Studio or one bedroom with high style and amenities. Properties like the Gant are great examples.
$1,000,000 – $3,000,000 – Roomier two or four bedroom in the heart of Aspen for spur-of-the-moment gondola access, night life and day play.
$5,000,000 – Quit dreaming and find a new home in the famous West End, where the wealthiest mine owners once lived. A nice Town home in the Core also awaits.
$7,000,000 – $20,000,000 – A contemporary home fit for even the most critical eye. Central Core Townhome, West End elegance, Red Mountain majesty, Starwood retreat or McLain Flats paradise.
$47,000,000 – Own one of the most coveted and historical properties in Aspen. An estate worthy of a king or queen. Can you say Willoughby Way?
