Warm Up in $52M Ski Home: Unreal Estate

ASPEN, Colo. (TheStreet) -- For North American ski enthusiasts snowed under by the global economy, this season will be reminiscent of the time they rented a ski house with 15 other friends to save money.

For those willing to take risks during this double-diamond downturn, however, there are some plush properties in the high powder. The real estate market may be showing signs of life again, with the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller's U.S. National Home Price Index surging 3% from the first to second quarter, but ski housing reached rare air in July when a 21,000-square foot home on five acres in Aspen, Colo., sold for $43 million in cash.

The off-market home was the most expensive property sold in the U.S. this year through July, but was in no way reflective of the Aspen and Snowmass markets, where local brokers say homes are selling for 75% to 85% of their original listing prices. Such is the case in resort towns from Whistler, British Columbia, to Woodstock, Vt., where sale prices have tumbled from higher elevations, but are getting a lift from bargain hunters.

For $14 million, a ski enthusiast can buy a home with an indoor waterfall and a steam room in Whistler, British Columbia.

In adamant Aspen, there are still two homes listed for north of $43 million. A 16,000-square-foot, seven-bedroom estate in West Buttermilk features a pond with its own 15-foot waterfall, a living room the size of a ski lodge, a private theater, a library, an outdoor kitchen with 625-foot arbor and separate lodging for the help. At $43.8 million, this off-slope property still places a distant second to its $52 million neighbor, the Elk Song Ranch in Owl Creek. This 20,000-square-foot snowbeast doesn't need slopes or a resort; Guests can ski on its 67 acres, party in its billiards and pinball room, drink at the bar, work out in the gym, swim in the pool or play hockey on the pond. Where's the owner while his buddies are scuffing the 100-year-old oak floors? He's in a private wing with a separate entrance, full kitchen and office space.