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The title, "Majestic Mountain Serenity", was given to this house and property
because when you're standing on the top of the mountain, upon which
this house was built ,
you have a complete 360-degree view of Fisher's Peak, the Raton
Mesa, the Spanish Peaks, and the Sangre de Cristo Mountain Range, which many properties
in this area do. However, on top of this particular parcel, you
can easily and clearly see Greenhorn Mountain
, which lies along I-25 between Walsenburg and Pueblo to the north.
Looking to the Southwest, you can see deep into New Mexico spotting two of Northern
New Mexico's prominent peaks. The closest is Little Costilla Peak.
Farther to the south, you can see Truchas Peak.
This parcel
is mostly made up of the side of a steep mountain. The useable land
was pretty much limited to the ridge top, which is fairly wide and
has provided much more than adequate space for a house site as well
as a respectable amount of gentle terrain for walking around and
taking in the breathtaking views from a variety of locations. There
is a small catch pond at the bottom of the parcel along Farview
Rd. This parcel is close to the Long's Canyon Wildlife Watching
Area, and it would not be surprising to see an occasional deer or
elk around sunrise or sunset quenching their thirst at the catch
pond located at the bottom of the property along the road up the
the house..
Since the premier building site for the house was on top of the
mountain, the gift is one of the most awesome 360-degree views we
may have ever had the privilege to list. It's evident that a lot
of thought went into planning how this 3,485 sq. ft., total electric,
Ranch Style home (built in 2001) was laid out. It has a full basement
with about three fourths finished into a den with a full walk-out
with the remaining quarter set aside for storage, as well as housing
the furnace and water softener.
However, this is not your ordinary furnace. The builder's of this
house incorporated an extremely wise ETS (Electric Thermal Storage)
system. This system is designed to store heat in specially designed
thermal bricks by heating them up electrically during "off-peak
hours" of the electric company's grid. The electric company offers
a respectable discount for usage of power in this way. The ETS system
works in tandem with the Heat Pump and Water Heater. When the Heat
Pump has reached it's limit of being able to extract the "cold air
from the house" (or reached its limit of being able to heat above
its design over ambient conditions), the ETS system takes over and
uses the heat stored in the special thermal bricks to heat the house.
Once the heat in the bricks has been depleted, then the unit acts
like a normal furnace and heats the house. This is an extremely
efficient system. Combined with the Pella double paned windows and
house insulation, the highest heating bills during a winter have
been around $150.00, give or take a little. And since this is a
total electric house, that is the bulk of your utility bills. There
are many people who would cringe to find out that the total utility
bills for such a home were that low, and their own so much higher
It's obvious that some very careful planning and very wise choices were made in the construction of this house. The walls of the bedrooms and bathrooms were insulated with R-19 for sound barrier reasons, just to make things a little more quieter and private. There are also high quality speakers wired into the ceilings of the living areas upstairs and down to be used for music or the television, however one would want to use them.
The floor plan upstairs is one of openness. This engenders a feeling
of vast peaceful space, which is exactly the feeling you get walking
around outside. Not too many people get to experience the sense
of limitlessness that comes from standing on top of a magnificent
mountain and feel what it is like to literally be on top of the
world. The layout of this house has done a magnificent job of maintaining
the continuity of this feeling, begun outside, as you transition
indoors. This is especially true when you consider that your sense
of space indoors is tremendously enhanced by looking out of the
Pella windows at the Spanish Peaks, Greenhorn Mountain, the Sangre
de Cristos, and miles upon miles of open land inbetween.
The front porch is highlighted with log columns and an open log framework
supporting the roof over the entryway. As you enter the house through
the front door, on your left you will find an informal dinning area
highlighted by an antler chandelier over the table.
Adjacent to
the informal dinning area is the kitchen. In the kitchen you will
find top of the line appliances and plenty of beautiful cabinet space.
There is also a breakfast bar/island to give you plenty of countertop
space to prepare those holiday meals, or to take a quick break.
Immediately to the north of the kitchen is a formal dinning area,
also highlighted with an antler chandelier, and then sliding glass
doors that lead out onto one of two balconies on the north side
of the house. We'll get to these balconies and the incredible north
side of the house in just a little bit. The informal dinning area,
kitchen and utility room all have wood flooring, while the remainder
of the house is carpeted with high quality long-life Berber carpet.
Just to the right, or east, of the formal dining area, is the main
family living area. Seeing this main living area would be your line of sight
looking straight ahead as you walk through the front door, and then
of course, those glorious Spanish Peaks through the windows located
in this main living area. Semi-separating the main living area from
the entry way and informal dinning area, is a beautifull log-rail
protected staircase that leads down into the basement.
On the east wall of the main living area is a wonderful partially rocked portion,
consistent with the rock design and style on various outer sections
of the house. This rock wall accommodates a Harmon wood burning stove, for that mountain ambience. Rounding
out the description of the main floor, you will find the hallway
to the bedrooms and the remainder of the upper floor at the edge of
the rocked portion of the east wall.
At the end of the hall is the main bathroom, and just before this on the left, through beautiful French Doors, is the master bedroom.
With the exception of the master bedroom, the remainder of the upstairs doors for the bedrooms, closet, bathroom and
utility room are solid 6-panel stained wood.
Attached to the master bedroom is a full bath with a shower. There
are sliding glass doors on the outer wall of the master bedroom
that lead out onto a private balcony. The view through these sliding
glass doors is the same as the windows in the main living area,
except to see the totality of the Sangre de Cristos you would need
to go out onto the balcony. There are two other bedrooms in this
wonderful house, both located on the opposite side of the hallway
from the master bedroom.
Going down stairs, you find yourself in a very sizeable den area,
similar to the main living area just above it. The sliding glass
doors providing access to the "walk-out" are located immediately
below their counterpart upstairs. So access to the "backside", or
north side of the house is gained by either walking out of the sliding
glass doors upstairs and descending the stairs off the balcony,
or simply walking out of the identical sliding glass doors downstairs
and straight out into a very nicely landscaped "backyard".
Before we get into the description of the wonderful area outside
of the house, let us finish up the few remaining details concerning
the house itself. Just off the south wall of the upstairs open living
area, between the kitchen and the formal dining area, you will find
a door that leads into the utility room, which has full hook-ups
for a washer and electric dryer, and a very useful utility sink.
Beyond the utility room, is the access to the three-car garage,
which has within it a very nice separate work area great for setting
up equipment and tools to support whatever mechanical, crafts or
art projects one feels drawn towards. There is also a separate access
door from the garage to the outside rear of the house. There is
also a sidewalk from the front of the garage to the front door.
Water must be hauled to the property as is common for a great many
mountain homes in this area of Southern Colorado. There are local
services that do this for a very reasonable fee. There are also
many individuals who perform this chore themselves, either bringing
it up in tanks in the beds of their pick-up trucks, or in tanks
mounted on flatbed trailers. The seller of this property is including
a flatbed trailer and water tank he has used to haul water, with
the purchase of this house and property. It is but a small inconvenience
and generally a well accepted trade off for the privilege of living
in such a unique place. There are two 1500 gallon underground cisterns
where the water is stored. It is fed into the house via pump and
pressure is maintained via a pressure tank exactly the same way
it is for systems based upon a well. This system also includes a
water softener to ensure that glasses come out of the dishwasher
spotless, and that showers and baths are as relaxing and renewing
as they can be.
There is pre-fabricated metal storage shed on this property providing
plenty of room for all of your maintenance equipment, including
a 4-wheeler, if you so desired to purchase one, or already have
one. They are extremely useful tools for mountain living.
The drive up to the house is quite a spectacular one. You can see
the house sitting far atop the mountain from quite some distance
away. Though the road is well maintained, you will definitely need
a four-wheel drive vehicle to get up and back during times of the
year when the road is very wet. We visited the property a couple
of days after a healthy snowstorm, which made everything in the
entire area very wet from the melt-off, and we had no trouble driving
up or down. The road has high quality road base and the drainage
is excellent. Still, a good reliable four-wheel drive vehicle is
pretty much commonplace among those of us who love dwelling in the
peace and tranquility of the mountains of Southern Colorado. Long's
Canyon Ranch is protected by a locked gate, which is opened only
by those who know the code for the keypad. So you will not be getting
any unwanted sightseers intruding upon your peace and quiet.
The very first thing we noticed as we stepped out of the car, even
before we were blown away by the view, was the sweet scent of the
Piņons and Junipers that totally surround this house and property.
The pine aroma was intoxicating. If it weren't for the unbelievable
view, we could have simply closed our eyes and deeply inhaled that
wonderful pine scent for hours.
Something else we noticed as we walked around the house was that
many of the Junipers are very old. It takes many years for the Juniper
trunks to grow as thick as these have as well as into their characteristic
twisted shapes. Juniper is part of the Cedar family and in Native
American lore, the Juniper/Cedar was considered to be extremely
sacred and was revered for its cleansing and purifying properties.
Legend has it, that the Utes, Jicarillo Apaches and Comanche who
migrated through, and lived in, this area often used the Juniper
bark for the soles of their moccasins, or often for their bedding.
At times, they would also use the wood from the Juniper to build
their lodges. There were many uses for the Junipers. Even today,
there are very accepted healing characteristics for the Juniper
berries and leaves among modern day naturopaths as well as the Native
Americans.
The Piņon trees, that grace this property in abundance, produce
a nut that is somewhat of a local delicacy and has been scientifically
proven as being a food source to the Native Americans for over 6,000
years. Many of the local stores, as well as roadside stands, sell
Piņon nuts every fall. Be prepared, however, for a pound of them
fetches a respectable price. I have met few who did not find the
taste of Piņon nuts quite pleasing and subsequently more than willing
to pay the going price for a pound of these natural delicacies.
Piņon trees produce these nuts only one out of every seven years.
So though there are always some trees producing in any given year,
finding just which ones are producing can be somewhat of a challenge
and require a fair amount of hiking. Of course, if, over the course
of several years a person was to identify a series of trees to visit
each year on a rotating basis, it could turn out to be quite a profitable
affair, since people often pay anywhere from 8 to 10 dollars a pound
for the nuts.
The front of the house sits facing the south. This
is great for keeping the snow melted off the circle drive in the
winter and early spring. There is a cul-de-sac just beyond the circle
driveway providing plenty of parking for any kind of entertaining
you might want to do, or to park the family's cars for those holiday
feasts and get-togethers. There is also a service road, which goes
completely around the house allowing access to the basement
and the rear of the house.
The landscaping at the back of the house is just simply beautiful,
that is - both simple, and beautiful. On the corners and a couple
of other places along the front of the house, rock similar to what is
found native to the area is used to accent and highlight the house's
exterior. This same type of rock is used on the east wall of the
main living area behind the wood stove.
The back of the house continues the use of the natural rock in a
way that blends in perfectly with the nature of the mountaintop
on which the house is built.
Exiting out of the sliding glass doors in the basement, or exiting
out of the sliding glass doors of the upper floor and then descending
down the wooden staircase, you are merely steps away from a very
nicely set up viewing area near the edge of the ridge.
This is a fantastic spot from which to view the sunset, or to simply
just gaze out over the Creator's magnificent creation. Walk around
on top of this unique mountain, with its spectacular and rare views,
let the fragrance of the pines intoxicate and carry you away, and you
will see why so many people have so often said, "that this is beyond
a doubt, God's country!"
This fabulous 53.9 acres of nature's tranquility married to an impeccable
3,485 sq. ft. house, are only about 25 minutes away from what some
call, "civilization", which is just far enough away to get the full
feeling of living deep in nature, yet at the same time remain close
enough so that all the amenities of "civilization" are simply a
short drive away. It truly is the best of both worlds.
For more information
e-mail us @
info@coloradomountainspirit.com
or call
Steven Kelly @ 719-846-0359 - Office
or
719-859-0359- Cell
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