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Business Monday: Redstone Castle comes room to build on and a $19.75 million price tag

Charlie Wertheim
Glenwood Springs Post Independent
The Redstone Castle
Courtesy photo from Redstone Castle

The Redstone Castle could be yours for less than $20 million.

Coldwell Banker MasonMorse is currently offering the 153-acre property for $19.75 million.

Owners Steve and April Carver bought the property at auction Nov. 7, 2016, with a bid of $2.2 million.



The Carvers undertook extensive restorations on the iconic Crystal River Valley property over nine months, opening for business in 2018.

“It was in quite (a state of) disrepair when they took possession of it, and now it looks, as the owner said, as good as the day it opened,” listing agent Chris Souki said. “The amount of thought and effort the Carvers put into restoring and bringing (the castle) back to its former glory is second to none.”




Souki, who is sharing the listing with Realtor Jeff Bier, wouldn’t disclose how much the renovations cost, but said “far more than one would think.” Steve Carver declined to comment for this story.

“If the improvements or the land didn’t justify the price, then I probably wouldn’t have taken the listing,” Souki said.

The castle website offers nine suites starting at $425 per night, until the castle closes for winter Oct. 13. With COVID-19, private castle tours are offered at $150 for four people. Factoring in expenses such as staffing, maintenance and $73,165 in property tax (according to the MasonMorse page for the castle), who would be the buyer for this property?

“I think it’s probably someone who appreciates the history of the property … and then someone who wants to have a unique investment. … They probably would want to run it as an experiential hotel,” Souki said.

Wikipedia defines experiential travel as “a form of tourism in which people focus on experiencing a country, city or particular place by actively and meaningfully engaging with its history, people, culture, food and environment.”

One way to increase the revenue is through approvals the Carvers secured from Pitkin County for 14,500 square feet of additional buildings, including four 1,800-square-foot, three-bedroom cabins and four 1,200-square-foot, two-bedroom cottages. The approvals also allow for a 2,500-square-foot staff housing unit.

“It’s very rare for a lodging operation in Pitkin County to have more development rights,” Souki said. “You can’t quantify how valuable that is.”

The cabins and cottages cannot be sold individually, Allison Goldberg of MasonMorse said in an email.

The new buildings would add on to the castle’s current 11 suites and four bedrooms in the carriage house.

Another value of the property is 2,000 feet of Crystal River frontage, Souki said.

There is some discrepancy regarding the size of the castle, originally known as Cleveholm Manor. The castle website refers offhandedly to builder John Osgood’s 23,000-square-foot mansion. Data obtained from MasonMorse define the castle more precisely at 19,495 square feet.

While the round number of 23,000 square feet is likely an estimate, it may also include the carriage house, which MasonMorse data say is 5,944 square feet.

The data list 10 buildings: castle, carriage house, hose house, garden shed, gazebo, dog kennel, riding area and barn, pole barn, garage and shop.

The MasonMorse page for the castle lists 29,632 square feet of living space. It’s not clear which of those buildings are included in living space.

For more information, contact Souki at 970-948-4378 or Bier at 970-379-0523.

cwertheim@postindependent.com

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