Vail opened in 1962 (with just a
gondola and two lifts); making 2012
Vail's 50th year as a ski resort. Back when Vail was only a vision, in order to promote development of the resort, property was offered to investors at ridiculously cheap rates with the stipulation that they would build a house within three years. (Check out what it looked like to
build a house in Vail circa 1962). But since the future of then unknown Vail was uncertain, many of those initial property owners built the least expensive house they could, just in case Vail didn't succeed. Consequently, many of those original Vail ski houses have not survived fifty years of use. According to the
NY Times, these original Vail houses have outlived their economic life. Many have been razed so that condos could be constructed in their place. It seems a slow and sad disappearance of ski house history. So it was extremely heartening to me to discover one such house that has survived the test of time. Today's
Ski House of the Day is this vintage Vail original (built in 1965, just within that stipulated three year window of Vail's opening). It is a beautiful, historic link to Vail's past:
Its central ski-in location is a primary feature, but some of its other striking features are that both the living room and the master bedroom each have a beautiful huge stone fireplace for apres-ski relaxation:
It's unique in that it is an
historic home rarely available in Vail; and although updated nicely, the nearly 50-year old house still retains many architectural and design echoes of the 1960's ski house that it is.
While this house is a typical design of Vail ski houses built at the time, it is now quite unique because if offers a real sense of Vail ski history, something that no matter how elegant a newer house might be it can never match. To whomever renovated rather than ripped-down this vintage original, thank you for preserving a piece of Vail's vanishing ski house history; hopefully then next owner will follow your lead.
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