There’s a meadow in front of the house, along with beaver and trout ponds, elk habitat, natural springs, and forests of spruce, aspen, and scrub oak. Wildlife regularly crosses the property, and the wildflowers that first enchanted the Paepckes over a half-century ago. still bloom. The house is designed to soak all this nature in, with massive windows that provide panoramic views, from Independence Pass to Mount Sopris.
The House
Zurcher was friends with Teague, who’s designed civic, commercial, and residential architecture in the area. She liked his work and requested that he build a house that could showcase her collection of African and pre-Columbian art, be maintained fairly easily (the house is made of old barn wood, rusted metal, stucco, and glass, all of which require little upkeep), and accommodate her four children and many grandchildren.
To that end, the massive family room has a stage the family used for charades, songs, and performances. At her granddaughters’ behest, two secret rooms are hidden behind bookcases. Unsurprisingly, she says, “All of the grandkids wanted to sleep there.” One of the rooms is large and has a full bed; the other, hidden behind a tapestry, is more cramped.
The house has also been battle-tested when it comes to extensive entertaining. Zurcher and her family are still involved in the Aspen community, and she hosted a range of parties—Halloween, birthdays, and otherwise—along with fundraisers for Zurcher’s favored charities, including the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies.
Time to Sell
Zurcher enjoyed the sprawling home for more than a decade. But after an accident, she decided it was time to sell. She initially put the house on the market in 2015, listing it for $23.5 million. It’s since been on and off the market with a series of price cuts. This is fairly normal for the Aspen market, which has sagged for several years. In the fourth quarter of 2018, the average price per square foot in Aspen luxury homes continued to slide, according to a report by Douglas Elliman Miller Samuel, while houses took an average of nearly 47 months (nearly four years) to sell.
The house, Zurcher says, “is for someone who wants to be apart from Aspen and its fanciness but still be able to come down to town in five or 10 minutes.”
She adds that after 70 years of gradual development, this is it: The property can’t be subdivided further.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.