BOX CANYON FEVER
Serving you, homeowners in the Telluride Valley, with insights highlighting the abundant happenings and hidden surprises of this wonderfully remote mountain community which we call our year-round home
What’s happening this season in Telluride and the Mountain Village?We are all excited to welcome winter into our little corner of paradise here in the box canyon. As we transition from summer into what we hope will be another epic winter season we have a few more hands on deck to handle regular line maintenance items in-house- see below. Yet there will still be the same familiar faces walking through your homes each week; primarily; Sheilagh and Freddie Roufa and Marc Lange. There has not been any changeover whatsoever in our cleaning crews, window washers and service providers as we maintain excellent relationships with them year after year. For this we are very fortunate indeed. We look forward to seeing you later this fall season.
Homeowner Alert: Save $298/per personon ski passes!
**Offer good till October 30th, 2009**
Offer is: $998
The Telluride Ski Resort has offered a reduced price on 2009/2010 ski passes when four people buy together as a group. Call us if you have fewer than the four person requirement and we will coordinate the logistics of getting you partnered up with others seeking to take advantage of the deal. After 10/30/09 the price goes up to the regular pass price of $1,198 pp www.tellurideskiresort.com
AIRPORT CONSTRUCTION FALL 2009 Update:
An asphalt batch plant has been producing truckloads of asphalt daily to the tune of 3 to 5 per hour, 6 days a week, in order to complete the runway improvements at TEX. Currently the batch plant is shut down, the airport has been paved and they are in the process of “dressing it up” for the November 4th opening. It looks great! For an update as to the status of the Airport Improvements please visit: http://www.tellurideairport.com/new.html
*** Private jet service resumes this coming November 4th, 2009 ***
2010 Air Service Map to Telluride (TEX)
Mountain Lifestyle –AUTUMN. The fall equinox is approaching and the seasonal change of autumn is in the air. For the kids and yourself; we have a link to a hip and techno screen play of the photosynthesis process click here.
Abruptly we have felt the need to break out our cozy “feel good” sweaters from the winter clothes storage box. This seasons leaf color change went by so fast we barely had time to enjoy the transformation. It began in earnest during the last week of September and had run its course October 2nd! At the homes we have already started dragging in the summer hoses, blowing out water from the irrigation systems, cutting back the flowerbeds, gathering lawn furniture and thinking about the myriad of measures necessary to switch over from summer to winter in our high alpine community. Give us a shout if you have any concerns beyond our normal procedures in this regards.
This leads us to share our current predicament with you; mice activity. The mice influx this season is especially noticeable regardless of a home’s location, age and condition. Maybe they know something we humans don’t about the severity of the upcoming winter? We are aware and diligently on top of eradicating any mice at the residences. House by house, room by room we are treating the situation as it occurs and following up in a well orchestrated fashion. We are also seeking to find their access point.
Out & about in the Mountains; Arbor glyphs: Basque tree carvings are abundant in the Telluride areaView more aspen art arbor glyphs:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fultxo/sets/72157594266395165/
We took a short hike with Kendahl in the rolling hillsides of our Aldasoro ranches neighborhood. Vestiges of the area’s ranching lifestyle pervade these foothills which are at the base 13,000’ mountain peaks. There are wonderful samples of aspen art, worm style fencing, broken down farm equipment, stone chimneys of homesteader’s cabins and so on. We were lucky enough to chance upon an original lambing pen used to temporarily retain livestock in the early settlement days. A stand of small trees had grown in a circular pattern about 20’ in diameter. This had created a natural barrier which some enterprising herder augmented with additional twigs and branches to create a secure fortress.About this subdivision- In recent history the Aldasoro Ranches had been a full blown sheep herding operation for the pioneering Aldasoro family. In the early 1900’s, two brothers, Serapio and Joaquin departed the Basque Pyrenees in Spain for the United States and eventually transplanted themselves in the high alpine foothills above Telluride.
Over the years they purchased 11-homesteads and gradually formed the Aldasorso Ranches. Later in the early 1980’s Albert Aldasoro, son of Joaquin, in an effort to cover the tax liability made the decision to develop a portion of the ranches’ 4,500-acres. The 166-single family lots of Aldasoro offer exceptionally sunny, large parcels a decisive option for people seeking some extra roaming room, far reaching views in a natural setting. It has the lowest density of any regional subdivision with 620-acres of open space and oodles of private hiking/biking trails. The original county suggested density was set at 1,600+ persons. The Aldasoro family thought that was way too much and down zoned the density to 644 people. Sheep still graze on portions of the ranches high country while residents plod along the trails and take in the scenery from their home sites.
We often play in the upcountry on our bikes or run the elevated trails. We have to say that we have noticed that the black bear’s staple food, choke cherries, is very moderate this season. This is worthy of mention as we prompt you and your guest to be especially diligent about trash bins, birdfeeders, food left in vehicles, lower level windows and locking, not only just closing, lever type door handles. For more info see: http://www.telluridenews.com/articles/2009/09/14/news/doc4aaef3ba544fc246350045.txt
Town News- Commercial Core Vitality program – a survey taken of tourists generates results overlap with economic downturn pressuresMost tourists come to T-Town for an escape and a look see at a ‘real mountain town’. After a quick morning hike many may consider doing some light shopping. A few years back that might have meant you had to hike another block and a half just to find a nice shop to stop and browse. According to tourist survey cards Telluride had “too many” real estate window fronts, banks and uninteresting offices at the street level. For visiting tourists this shaped a rather lackluster downtown experience. After all, how many tourists can actually afford the median price of $2.2-2.7M for a posh, remodeled Victorian?
As controversial as it may be the town council in 2007 inserted language into the town’s zoning regulations limiting the ratio of commercial services (banks/insurance/real estate) to the retail/restaurant mix. The goal being to create a stronger downtown economy, via increased vitality and a stronger sense of animation within the core. That lingo translates into an 80/20 ratio. Not only did the diversity of the downtown get the appointment for a makeover but we think it is actually happening. Since the new regulations have taken effect, no less than 31% of commercial service businesses in the corridor have either shut down or moved their locations. Recently five real estate firms closed their doors. The laws of natural market selection have done all the footwork for the town officials. A few shops have re-emerged here and there in several but not all, of the recently vacated spaces. In a town with a history of having boom and bust cycles transition and change is nothing new yet it will be interesting to see how the new regulations impact the feel of Telluride’s downtown in the years to come. New enterprises downtown:
The Chocolate Shop features the well known Telluride Truffle, ice cream and homemade cookies. This shop is located around the corner from the Nugget Theater on Fir St. Black Bear Trading Co. has expanded their home furnishings selections. There are several coffee shops offering free WiFi; The Between the Covers has limited seating and the Steamin’ Bean. You can also get WiFi at the Library inside as well as on both of it’s outdoor terracesMountain Village News. The New Bike Park- TMHOA and many other entities including Telski recently overhauled the ski resort’s existing bike rails. The objective here was to attract the niche market of adventure seeking destination mountain bikers. Discussions continue with regards to building an outdoor performance Amphitheater on the slope sides above the gondolas base area. Thankfully there will be another Pay-To-Park option available this winter underneath the Capella Hotel. All summer long there have been open house style visioning forums
discussing ideas of what TMV should look like in the year 2025.
Marketplace. Real estate news
We have recently been made aware of a spike in sales activity in Vail, Co. Approximately 77 residential properties were contracted in the month of August according to a Vail title company. Here in Telluride we seem to be seeing more properties contracted as well. Many more offers come to the table here in Telluride than are accepted. Because our sellers are so strong and buyers are looking for tremendous deals, “blood in the water”, many of these offers never lead to a satisfactory conclusion for either party.
IN YOUR HOUSE: How Kastle Keepers, LLC “Anticipates your needs”:While there is nothing that we as a service company can do to stop the overall effects of the recession we are striving to lessen the severity of its impact upon our clients. Lee has been encouraging vendors to give homeowners value pricing whenever possible.
In-The-Field. A change in perspective.
We hit the “carpets” running this past summer. As the heavy smog of the recession seeped into our box canyon, local contractors and vendors were a little sluggish to react. Fact is, they were too busy working! Then in early summer, Lee started getting a lot of atypical phone calls from providers seeking work to schedule out beyond the next month or so. The pressures of the slump had finally reached into our box canyon. Now for the first time in a long, long time, in this valley anyway, there may not be enough work locally.
Everyone’s perspective shifted. In the early winter Lee anticipated this shift in values and perspective. He adapted his outlook about how our clients would take delivery of our range of services. We examined every service we provided, from the dry cleaner charges to the contractor’s bid on a deck remodel. He has had discussions with each vendor about:
>Leaner profits, better service, tighter bids from service providers
>We have adjusted our bid procurement, our vendor selection and our policies to reflect what is happening in the field here in our remote corner of Colorado as well as the national economy. Prices need to be flexible and reflect a shift in demand/availability.
>We have even brought some line item maintenance operations in-house to control quality, costs and scheduling. Small home improvement projects and construction, snow removal, lawn maintenance, honey-do’s and much more are now managed with our highly capable staff.
Any one of the four guys, Lee, Trevor, Marc or Heinz can guide you and assist you in discovering how you may be able to take advantage of the current resource wealth.
A better base camp experience: Contact any one of us at Kastle Keepers regarding ski instructors, fishing guides or computer technicians. We are dismayed to hear negative feedback about “professionals” found independently by our homeowners. We don’t want you to feel like you have to book the engagement with us (although we are really good at it) but we want to make sure you have a great experience. We are here to FACILITATE and these services are GRATIS!
This October we will be busy bees tending to our homes in preparation of the winter season. Marc and Freddie walk thru the homes 365-days a year continually checking on their monitoring systems, operations and condition. So there are no maters of concern with regards to integrity and consistency at the base level of house checking you should know that it is always the same people each and every week, year after year.. ?There are major and minor construction projects underway and getting wrapped up as we speak by Heinz and his team of carpenters, electricians and tile setters. This is a good illustration of how Lee has taken the pressures of the economic recession and created a better line of attack for our homeowners. ?Trevor is out-in-the-field as on-site field manager scheduling, bidding and securing services, meeting with home owners everyday- efficiently producing work at the ground level. ?Lee continues to work hands-on, focusing on the efforts of the team, client services and how to make the ship run cleaner, smoother and more effectively for all concerned.October into wintertime- We will be sending out your Christmas-Holiday Request forms anticipating your families’ needs during this active season. Give the holidays some thought and consideration now before caterers, top ski instructors and services you may desire are already booked. We have been reconfiguring and restringing Christmas tree lights so that our foot tracks are not visible in the snow beneath your exterior trees. There is so much work to be done on the inside and the outside of the homes- let us know if you have any questions or concerns.
You First Daddy!Happy trails and enjoy the autumn weather!
Lee, Sheilagh, Freddie, Trevor, Marc and Heinz
