The 38th Annual Crested Butte Arts Festival, happening this coming weekend from Saturday, July 31 to Sunday, Aug. 1, will draw top artists from around the United States and there will be several international exhibitors.

The festival was recently ranked the 35th best fine art and fine craft show in the country by the Arts Fair Sourcebook, a definitive guide to art festivals, and is listed as one of the Harris List’s top five fine art and craft shows in Colorado.

Open-air booths line Elk Avenue of Crested Butte’s National Historic District from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. both days, featuring 185 artists who are selected through a very competitive jury process. 

New this year is a culinary arts demonstration tent on both days of the festival, and dinners featuring top chefs from Denver and Longmont on July 30 and 31.

In addition to the culinary art demo tent, there will be 185 visual artist booths with ceramics, drawing and graphics, fiber, glass, jewelry, metal, mixed media, painting, photography, sculpture, wearable art and wood; Art Alley, a hands-on festival all its own for kids 2-12; artist demonstration tent; an art auction tent; a beer and wine pavilion; a culinary court; and the Ragged Mountain Entertainment Stage with magic, music and more.

For  more information and a list of exhibitors and performing artists, call 970-349-1184 or go to www.crestedbutteartsfestival.com.

Thanks for visiting today and enjoy the arts!

Channing Boucher
Visit My Crested Butte Real Estate Guide

Resort towns in Colorado are experiencing similar luxury market conditions. Towns like Telluride and Vail are reporting a serious uptick in luxury home sales. Telluride’s multi-million dollar market has returned. So far this year in Telluride, there have been eight home sales of more than $4 million, including three sales between $8 million and $10.1 million. Vail luxury real estate prices are the lowest since 2004 and buyers have noticed. Year-to-date sales are almost double what they were in 2009.

The Steamboat Springs real estate market saw 29 single-family homes sell in the first quarter of 2010 with an average sale price of $730,000. In Summit County the average home price in the first quarter of this year was $740,000. The average home price in Telluride during this same period was $3.33 million, topping Vail’s average sales price of $1.95 million.

In Crested Butte, luxury home prices starting dropping in early 2008. Many would-be buyers have been sitting on the sidelines, watching prices slip and waiting . Their patience appears to be paying off. Investors are entering the market and getting deals on luxury homes in the process.

Year to date, twenty-six Crested Butte-area homes have sold at an average price of $702,000 with 23% of these homes selling between $1.1 and $1.5 million. And, we have six more luxury properties currently under contract ranging in price from $990,000 to almost $4.5 million. The last sale of a Crested Butte luxury home priced over $3 million occurred in June of 2007 and we now have two homes priced at or above $3 million under contract.

Consider this: Back in 2008, forty Crested Butte-area single family homes sold at an average price of $1,085,000 and seventeen properties traded between $1 and $3 million. Twelve of these sold at $1.5 million or higher.

Last year, fifty single family homes sold at an average price of $865,000. Fourteen of these homes closed above $1 million and six properties sold at values above $2 million.

This represents a $365,000 drop in average sales prices over the last two years. For some, it’s starting to look like the market has bottomed out.

Upcoming Crested Butte Colorado Events:

Crested Butte Arts Festival – July 31-August 1, 2010 – Learn More

Thanks for reading today!

Channing Boucher
Broker Associate
Benson Sotheby’s International Realty

Contact Channing at 970-596-3228 or via his website.
Channing’s Blog: The Crested Butte Real Estate Letter

Benson Sotheby’s International Realty | 433 Sixth Street | Crested Butte | CO | 81224

Reduced $95,000. Now offered at $1,900,000.

Visit this exceptional property’s web site

Located just 4 Blocks from Downtown Crested Butte, at the end of 2nd Avenue, the views from every room at 127 Butte Avenue are stunning.

Featuring 2nd story living, 127 Butte Avenue offers the perfect floor plan for this location and lifestyle.

Enjoy 5 bedrooms, 3 full and 1 1/2 bathrooms and a detached accessory set up as a back office/studio with a 1/2 bath.

The gorgeous vaulted ceilings in the main living room feature hand-hewn, custom scissor trusses. Other features include a rock fireplace, a wrought iron chandelier and French doors that lead to the large second story deck.

The second living room at the southern end of the home is perfect for an office, beds or a study.

Both the main living room and deck showcase stunning, protected views of Mt. Crested Butte and the Slate River Wetlands open space, Teocalli, Whiterock, and Gothic Mountains.

The home’s master bedroom includes tall ceilings, dramatic views, double doors to the awesome flagstone patio and a backyard that includes a garden and back gate to the groomed nordic ski trail that wraps itself around Crested Butte’s coveted Kapushion Annexation.

The kitchen features alder cabinets, concrete counter tops, a apron sink, Wolfe gas range, Bosch appliances & a beautiful custom wood bar.

The large dining area features a copper sink, a wet bar, glass uppers and a wine rack & mini-Fridge.

Thanks for visiting today,

Channing Boucher
Benson Sotheby’s International Realty
970-596-3228
Visit the Crested Butte Real Estate Guide Online

The legislation passed largely along party lines with a vote of 60-39. 

According to the Wall Street Journal, once implemented, this measure will touch all areas of the financial markets, affecting how consumers obtain credit cards and mortgages, dictating how the government dismantles failing financial firms and directing the federal regulators’ focus on potential flashpoints in the economy. 

For a full Wall Street Journal article, click here.   

Thanks for visiting,

Channing Boucher
Benson Sotheby’s International Realty
Visit the Crested Butte Real Estate Guide

Continental Airlines to Serve Crested Butte

Continental Airlines will offer new winter service between its Houston hub and Gunnison Crested Butte Regional Airport in Colorado from December 16, 2010 to April 3, 2011.  

This is excellent news for our resort community. Many of our visitors in both winter and summer are from the Houston Texas region. A direct flight makes getting to the ski slopes in Crested Butte this winter a snap. Gunnison is located a quick 30 miles from Crested Butte.

“The thought of a snowy mountain escape is especially appealing after a long hot summer,” says Jim Ferea, Continental Airlines’ managing director scheduling. “Our new Houston to Gunnison flight joins our growing list of ski destinations in Colorado that are easily reached through convenient connections at our Houston hub.”

The new service will depart Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH) at 11:40 a.m. and arrive Gunnison Crested Butte Regional Airport (GUC) at 1:25 p.m. local time. The return flight will depart Gunnison at 2:15 p.m. and arrive in Houston at 5:35 p.m.

Continental’s flight will operate daily except between January 4 and February 16, 2011, when the service will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays. “We’ve had great success with service to Houston in the past, and it continues to be our number one requested city for added air service,” says Daren Cole, vice president of marketing and sales for Crested Butte Mountain Resort.

Thanks for visiting today

Channing Boucher
Visit My Crested Butte Real Estate Guide

View this property for sale at the Crested Butte Real Estate Guide

Butte Avenue beauty.

Lot 24 in the Kapushion Annexation is one of only two Kapushion parcels available on the market.

Lot 24 offers a coveted northwest location on the fenceline with the Crested Butte Land Trust land.

Enjoy absolutely stunning vistas in all directions from this oversized parcel. The land is bigger than most town of Crested Butte lots at .23 acres.

Ski out the back door, over the fence and onto groomed nordic ski tracks in the winter.

Watch for the elk that graze the Land Trust parcel in the late summer and fall.

Elk Avenue dining, shopping and the free skier shuttle stop are only a few blocks away.

Offered by Channing Boucher of Benson Sothebys International Realty in Crested Butte Colorado.
$875,000

Via the Denver Post today:

Almost 400 acres of scenic open space will be permanently set aside for public use in Crested Butte because of a deal worked out this week.

The property north of Gothic Road between the town and Mt. Crested Butte soon will be available for winter and summer recreation, elk habitat and wetlands while providing spectacular views of the town and mountain, according to the Trust for Public Land, which brokered the deal.

Officials called it the largest land-conservation transaction in the town’s history.

The Kochevar family has owned the land since 1905.

The public immediately acquires 166 acres, paid for with $2 million in lottery proceeds from Great Outdoors Colorado. The town added another $1 million from its open-space fund. Eve Kochevar retains 70 acres through a conservation easement that allows public trails across her property.

Local and national land trusts and the town will raise the money to buy the rest of the property. 

Borrowed from Joey Bunch, The Denver Post

The parcel was listed by Prudential Realty in Crested Butte and it sold for $300,000.

The summer is in full swing in Crested Butte. Many special events and activities are on the calendar for the 4th of July and the weather has been incredible.

Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) has been busy with improvements. The ski company announced recently they will be renovating the Treasury Building to add more seating and new restrooms. The popular Trailheads Children’s Museum has moved across the walkway to the Outpost Building. 

On the ski hill, CBMR is glading different areas to open up some new ski lines and most importantly, the Paradise Warming Hut sewer is being fixed. If you have ever waited in the lift line at Paradise you know what this means! Hooray!

CBMR has also added three new mountain bike trails, a bike skills park and they now offer lessons! Just like skier visits, the resort’s goal this summer is to increase it’s “rider days” from 3500 to 5000 bikers!

On the ever important airline front, it was recently announced that United Airlines will continue operating daily jet service to Gunnison (from Denver) 2-3 times a day. American Airlines will offer twice daily jet service from Dallas for the upcoming winter ski season and Continental Airlines is expected to offer daily jet service to Gunnison from Houston in mid-December. And, the big rumor flying around town? There will be a direct flight from San Francisco to Gunnison this winter! The official announcement will be made soon.

And, since this is a real estate newsletter,  here is some interesting news.

The Tipple House, located high up on the ski slope in the Prospect neighborhood, is under contract. The home is listed by CBMR for almost $4.5 million. This pending sale represents renewed action in the “above $3 million” segment of the marketplace. The last sale of a Crested Butte luxury home priced above $3 million occurred in June of 2007.

Year-to-date we’ve realized 62 residential sales (homes and condos) and $28 million in volume. There are an additional 21 homes and condos under contract set to close soon. ($14 million worth of real estate).

Upcoming Crested Butte Colorado Events:

Crested Butte Fourth of July Celebrations – Learn More

Bearfoot Bluegrass Camp for Kids July 6-8, 2010 – Learn More

Bluegrass in Paradise Music Festival – July 9-10, 2010 – Learn More

Crested Butte Wildflower Festival – July 12-18, 2010 – Learn More

Crested Butte Food and Wine Festival – July 22-24, 2010 – Learn More

Crested Butte Arts Festival – July 31-August 1, 2010 – Learn More

Thanks for reading today!
Benson Sotheby’s International Realty

Channing Boucher
Broker Associate

Contact Channing at 970-596-3228 or via his website.
Channing’s Blog: The Crested Butte Real Estate Letter

Benson Sotheby’s International Realty | 433 Sixth Street | Crested Butte | CO | 81224

Benson Sotheby’s International Realty in Crested Butte Colorado is pleased to announce a new listing in Crested Butte. Newly listed is 873 Skyland Drive, an incredible luxury log home located on prestigious Lake Grant above the Crested Butte Country Club. The property is co-listed by Cathy Benson and Channing Boucher.

Every window and the covered porches feature stunning and protected panoramic views of the surrounding mountains, the valley and 20-acre Lake Grant out the front door.

The home’s entry spills into a spectacular living, dining and kitchen area that features an incredible vaulted ceiling supported by a handsome log beam truss system.

Display your art and collectibles from the gorgeous art niches and generous wall spaces throughout the home.

The log and beam detail and custom ironwork throughout the home is unparalleled in quality and design.

The massive walk out basement/1^st floor features gorgeous tile and wood flooring, a gracious wet bar, a wine cellar and a gas fireplace. Walk out to the large patio and drink in the views of the golf course below and the 12,000 ft. mountains to the south and west.

Special features include an amazing whole house premium sound and intercom system and a heated driveway and front entry. This home will entertain your guests and family in true Crested Butte style and grace – for years to come!

Access to Lake Grant is just across the driveway. Enjoy private boating and trophy trout fishing on this gem of a lake. The national forest access is literally steps away and the Crested Butte Country Club complex and the Robert Trent Jones Jr. golf course is a 2 minute drive down the hill.

The Town of Crested Butte is 5 minutes away and Crested Butte Mountain Resort skiing is about 10 minutes away.

Note: A buyer allowance is built into the offer price for the home’s appliance package, lighting fixtures and carpeting.  Pick your own finishes now, enjoy the property for years to come.

7135 sft. of living.
780 sft. garage
1347 sft. covered porches
.56 acre parcel
5 bedrooms
4.5 bathrooms

Exclusively Offered for $3,990,000

View this fine property online at Channing Boucher’s Crested Butte Real Estate Guide