Glacier Club
Durango, Colo.; 888-382-7888
TheGlacierClub.com
Just north of the historic mining town of Durango, nestled in the ultra-scenic Animas River Valley and surrounded by snow-capped peaks that rise to 14,000 feet, is the Glacier Club. In transforming a property once known as Tamarron Resort Durango, Glacier Club now exists as a private real estate and golf community with the aim of offering a mountain lifestyle without equal. So far, so good, especially when it comes to golf: The new owners spent millions elevating the original Arthur Hills 18-hole course to a new standard, and added a third nine holes. The result is 27 holes of classic mountain golf, with expansive views in every direction. Starting with a 190-foot drop off the first tee, the Glacier nine is a splendidly rugged routing through forested slopes of rock and pine. The Hermosa nine (Spanish for “beautiful,” and named for the postcard-worthy Hermosa Cliffs that sidle along the property) takes you up, down and around gently rolling terrain. The Cliffs hugs the beautiful you-know-what and threads its way around meadow ponds.
Designed by award-winning architect Jon Pomeroy, the massive ski lodge of a golf clubhouse overlooks this landscape of wetlands, meadow and fairway, with cliffs and towering peaks above. Inside the views are memorable, too: The club boasts a remarkable collection of fine western paintings, photography and sculpture.
You’ll be tempted never to leave, but then again, there’s no end of things to do in and around Durango: There’s trout fishing in clear, cold waters, plus hiking, biking, river rafting, kayaking, horseback riding and 4-wheel-drive expeditions. Just up the road is Durango Mountain Resort, one of the West’s premier ski mountains.
Limited to some 400 residences, Glacier Club’s community ranges from Club Cottages and Townhomes to expansive custom homesites and single-family homes. ?>
Mountain Air Country Club
?>?>?>Burnsville, N.C.; 828-682-4600
MountainAir.com
About the only thing that can top Mountain Air Country Club is Mount Mitchell, at 6,784 feet the highest point in the eastern U.S., and it’s directly across a valley from this 1,000-acre mountain community just 35 minutes from Ashville, N.C. At 4,910 feet above sea level, Mountain Air boasts the highest clubhouse and amenities for 1,000 miles in any direction—not the least being a paved 2,875-foot runway used by scores of the private-equity club’s members. It’s set alongside the community’s new Settler’s Edge neighborhood, which includes 26 trophy homesites and 36 grand condominiums in four mountain lodges designed by Cottle Carr Yaw, the firm that conceived the community’s award-winning Falling Leaf Members' Lodge. The gathering spot for members and their guests, the Lodge features a spacious great room with soaring vaulted ceilings and a massive stone fireplace, with wall-to-wall views that can only be described as “peak.”
The facility also houses the golf shop for its 6,425-yard, ruggedly splendid course. What it lacks in length it makes up in the challenge of blind tee and approach shots, and panoramic views, courtesy of more than 1300 feet in elevation change. It will be joined this fall by the Banks Creek Nine, located just down the mountain.
The Mountain Air master plan encompasses a variety of developer-built residences, including deluxe single-family homes, cabins, villas and condominiums. Among the latest developments are the Waterfall Cabins, a collection of rustic homes along a tumbling stream that feeds into the community’s award-winning Creekside Park. Timber Sky, an exclusive collection of 15 custom homesites, extend from the Old Growth Forest Preserve and boast stunning panoramas from near the mountain’s highest point. And the new Logging Horse Villas will feature three bedrooms on one expansive level and screened living areas with outdoor fireplaces, to enjoy views of the Banks Creek course and sunsets al fresco. Mountain Air just keeps topping itself.
