A Gathering Place
We had a big vision for Heavenly Retreat. In addition to being our vacation home, it was designed to be a gathering place for meetings, retreats and special events.
Heavenly Retreat combines a deep sense of pristine Nature with all the amenities of sustainable luxury living including plenty of fresh air, plenty of space, great food, great music, and lots of quiet time. Guests have fun and enjoy feelings of increased well-being and the sense of “awayness,” leaving their worries behind. Over the years, guests have commented on the wonderful, relaxing, expansive experience they enjoyed.
A retreat group’s circle in the second floor living room – framed by Wheeler Peak through the clerestory windows.
Raising the 18’ tall tipi with spruce poles harvested from our land – erected over the center fire pit.
We worked with the traditional tipi design company – Nomadics Tipi Makers – to hand-paint authentic symbols of mountains, the zia and a raven on the east gate.
A formal dinner – the second floor living room, off of the chef’s kitchen can be set for up to 20 guests.
The lower atrium hot tub is ready to soothe the body after a day of outdoor recreation on the mountain.
Income-Producing Potential
At the time of building the home, we also founded Solaria, a solar technology company and got called away from completing our vision. We continued to buy more lots to protect the meadow and create a private land preserve, but left the rest of the project on hold.
After stewarding the property for many years, we now see all of the land as a unique, natural getaway from the stressors of everyday life. With all of its unique features, Heavenly Retreat can be developed as an income-producing “Destination” to hold events, such as corporate offsite meetings and retreats, and special events. There are plenty of nearby Airbnb rentals, condos and hotel rooms to handle additional guests. Heavenly Retreat has plenty of room for future expansion of the guest facilities – to increase revenue opportunities.
Also, in the past 5 to 10 years, the vacation rental market in Angel Fire has grown significantly and is now organized.
Private Land Preserve
Heavenly Retreat began with the intention of buying lots over time, to preserve the beautiful 6 acre meadow for wildlife habitat and to preserve the seclusion of the house and property. Since then, we have purchased and combined 14 lots to accomplish our purpose. This has resulted in a total of 44 forested acres traversing the mountainside and surrounding the house on all sides.
The Back Basin Road is the property’s boundary on two sides and the 130,000+ acres family-owned, working CS Ranch forms the entire north side. Elk migrations and other wildlife come across from the ranch. These two boundaries further protect the seclusion that we value for the privacy, quiet, and the “Nature experience” it provides.
The property is currently For Sale with the Home and its surrounding 10 acres. The remaining contiguous 34 acres can be purchased separately.
Future Expansion
Our vision included building one or more guest houses to expand the number of overnight guests that could be accommodated. The building site is south of the walled organic gardens. Although we did not build those facilities before putting the project on hold, water and electricity lines are already in place there.
There is also a potential second studio apartment (sixth bedroom) on the first floor of the house, ready to finish out for a bedroom, living room, galley kitchen and bathroom. It has a private entrance out to the forest, on the north side and has plumbing, electric, water and gas lines, floor drains, as well as radiant floor heating installed. This space is ready to finish out according to the design preferences of the new owners, which will bring the “official, counted square footage to 8,074 square feet.” SEE COMPLETE FLOOR PLANS
The geodesic dome which is currently being used as an attached 2-car garage was also set up to be either another studio apartment (7th bedroom) or for other uses which utilize excellent acoustics. It has plumbing, electric, water and gas lines, and floor drains in anticipation for a galley kitchen and bathroom as well as radiant floor heating. It is also wired for a recording studio. Again, the new owners will be able to decide the ultimate use of this extraordinary space.