LIVING IN HEAVEN
Close to the Sky
by Sabina Dana Plasse
When you arrive at 70 Cold Springs Gulch, you have reached a place of beauty, especially if living in the mountains fulfills your dreams of skiing your own secret stash of powder or being in harmony with nature. This property satisfies a craving for fresh mountain air with views to calm the soul and peaks to conquer in any season.
As Sun Valley’s popularity continues to rise, the search for a mountaintop oasis to have for your own can be realized at this exclusive property with its priceless views. Adjacent to the newly opened Sunrise zone at the Sun Valley Resort in Idaho, named the Top Ski Resort in the West from SKI Magazine’s revered Annual Ski Resort Awards in the Resort Guide for the 2022-23 season, this lodge-style retreat in the woods is a unique find.
A 205-acre, single-family home built in 1992, 70 Cold Springs Gulch is a legacy property, and sits above the Wood River Valley with expansive 360-degree views. The 5,471-square-foot home has four bedrooms, three full baths and one half-bath, two kitchens, and a three-car garage with shop space. Spacious bedrooms include sizable walk-in closets with plenty of space. The master bedroom includes a walk-in shower and jet tub with a beautiful picture window view to the west with dual sinks, giving the main suite a unique appeal. In addition, this expansive room offers a sitting area of its very own—an extra level of comfort in the inviting main quarter.
Loaded with windows upstairs and downstairs, built-ins, shelving, and exposed logs, the home also has a downstairs sitting room that provides exquisite western views for sunsets. An even larger open and comfy living room with an enormous river stone wood-burning fireplace opens to a mountain meadow with plenty of patio seating just beyond two sets of French doors.
“…it was built for comfort and ease, where everyone can have a place but never feel isolated.”
-Randy Flood, Windermere Real Estate
No view is lost anywhere at this mountaintop retreat, especially from the eastern-facing second-floor catwalk and balconies, making every sunrise an event and a ritual never to be missed—imagine holding your favorite mug of coffee or tea while welcoming the day. Another river stone wood-burning fireplace is the centerpiece of this cathedral-like second-floor study and sitting area, where the views are the heart of the home, especially from the balcony, where a set of French doors look out upon the property’s well-placed and excavated pond, which is front and center among the high meadows and stunning views of the Pioneer Mountains. The upstairs hideaway provides extra comfort to start the day and offers exotic winter alpenglow at sunset or a reprieve from an afternoon winter storm. A fully functional second-floor kitchen can easily double for a caretaker’s quarters or an extended family area with bedrooms, a bathroom, and a sitting area above the garage—it’s a sacred space for extended hosting of friends and family.
Crafted cabinetry, wood finishings, a mix of wood floors, Spanish tile, and cathedral-beamed ceilings provide comfort and ease in this appealing dwelling, bringing the outdoors in for summer and offering plenty of warmth and coziness for winter. Appointed tile is well situated at entrances and around the dining areas, with a sizable chef’s kitchen that includes an industrial stove with hood and a large kitchen island for prep and storage. A European-style tiled kitchen downstairs with a very sizable breakfast nook large enough for a family of six features expansive views for a different extraordinary mountaintop feel no matter the time of day. And the dining room, just off the kitchen, is a celebration of space that enjoys the full height of the house.
A 700-foot plunged water well supplies plenty of water, and a xeriscape property is wildfire preventive and easy maintenance for high-desert living in south-central Idaho. And the original owner’s well-attended walled-in garden beds for produce and flowers are a gardener’s delight, along with a fully functional greenhouse, which produces seasonal items, especially with the warm summer sunsets. A stone wall protects plants from wind gusts and wildlife while maintaining the sun’s heat. It’s healthy living at its best.
Yet what makes this house unique and special beyond its privacy and locale is that it was built for comfort and ease, where everyone can have a place but never feel isolated. It is spacious and solid, with a flow for all seasons. This high-in-the-sky playground begs for the sportsman and outdoor lover who wants to entertain company for days and have solace when needed.
Although it is only two miles from town, the property feels like its own country. Once past the entrance, a mountain wonderland awaits where you forget the hustle and bustle and life’s pressure for the chance to enjoy your place in nature, away from it all. Surrounded by mountain meadows with an inviting pond near trails and access to Baldy to ski in and out from 6,500 feet, this estate has all the desired luxuries and amenities that make it a natural mountain home in the Smoky Mountains.
To learn more about 70 Cold Springs Gulch, contact Randy Flood at Windermere Real Estate in Sun Valley direct at 208.720.0776 or call the office at 208.788.1700. Email Randy at rflood@windermere.com or visit randy-flood.com/70-cold-springs-gulch.
