Aspen

Welcome to Aspen

No other mountain town in the world offers a lifestyle that Aspen is so famous for. The great outdoors is replete with every imaginable recreational endeavor, and cultural opportunities are in abundance involving all the arts.

The music scene presents all genres to please the soul, while intellectual stimulation is plentiful, and Mother Nature is resplendent every season. All pursuits can be fulfilled in this most beautiful setting.

Aspen real estate is like no other, and those lucky enough to live here all concur. It is a haven in the Rocky Mountains where sunshine prevails and a community thrives. Contact Erik Berg to find luxury condos, houses and ski-in\ski-out homes for sale in Aspen, Colorado.

Altitude: 8,000′
​​​​​​​39.1911° N, 106.8175° W

Discover for yourself why the world comes to Aspen. No other mountain town in the world offers the lifestyle that Aspen is so famous for. Aspen’s great outdoors is replete with every imaginable recreational endeavor, and cultural and artistic opportunities abound. The music scene includes all genres, intellectual stimulation is plentiful, and Mother Nature is resplendent no matter the season. The historic city of Aspen is like no other, as those lucky enough to live or visit here can attest. It’s a haven in the Rocky Mountains where sunshine prevails and a friendly community thrives.

History

Aspen’s rich history is unlike that of any other modern-day Colorado mountain town. First named Ute City after the native American Indians who inhabited the region for more than 800 years, the area was renamed Aspen soon after prospectors discovered large silver deposits there in 1879. After the Sherman Silver Purchase Act passed in 1880, Aspen was catapulted into a mining boom that lasted 14 years, bringing great prosperity and growth to the town. Industrialists and capitalists such as B. Clark Wheeler, Charles Hallam, David Hyman, and Jerome B. Wheeler brought an infusion of ingenuity and capital into the community. By the late 1880s, Aspen had an electric company, a city water system, a railway, and an opera house, and the population swelled to more than 15,000.

The repeal of the Sherman Act, which demonetized silver in 1893, brought an end to the Aspen boom. The Quiet Years ensued up until the mid-1930s when Aspen was a ski town in its infancy. During World War II, the 10th Mountain Division, an elite corps of mountain men from around the world, trained in and around Aspen to fight in the mountains of Europe. After the war, a cadre of these veterans returned to the area to promote skiing and help develop what is now a world-famous four-mountain ski area. 

Walter Paepcke, a Chicago industrialist, was pivotal in launching the Aspen Ski Corporation in 1946. He and his wife Elizabeth, however, left an even more indelible mark on the history of Aspen. They ultimately realized their vision of making Aspen a gathering place for thinkers, artists, leaders, and musicians from around the world. The Paepckes’ Mind, Body, Spirit philosophy is embodied in the very institutions the couple helped create: The Aspen Institute, the Aspen Music Festival and School, the International Design Conference, the Aspen Center for Physics, and the Aspen Center for Environmental Studies. 

During the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, Aspen grew into the international destination it is today — a place where one can indulge in an abundance of year-round recreational activities, an array of cultural and intellectual events, and a lifestyle that can’t be found in any other mountain town.

Present Day

Facts: The City of Aspen rests in the White River National Forest at an elevation of 7,900 feet. It’s surrounded by the Elk Mountain Range, which has many peaks that rise more than 14,000 feet. The city itself is 3.6 square miles, has a population of approximately 6,700 residents (which swells to an average of 20,000 people in peak seasons), and enjoys an average of 300 days of sunshine. It is located in Pitkin County (population approx. 17,400) and is on the easternmost end of the 50-mile long Roaring Fork Valley, which has an estimated population of 35,000.

Today Aspen is a city known around the world as a premier tourist destination and a place where there are more second and third homes than permanent residences. The words “luxury” and “world-class” define many local hotels, restaurants, and shops. Some of the most exclusive residential properties in the country line in-town neighborhoods or are perched high on mountainsides with top-of-the-world views. 

Every season, people — the rich and prominent, athletes, intellectuals, food and wine aficionados, music lovers, literature, art, and nature, and the curious — flock to Aspen to partake in its lifestyle, unmatched beauty, and outdoor and cultural activities. Champagne snow covering four ski mountains, magnificent sunsets, unending trails for hiking and cycling, world-class music and ballet, gold medal rivers, premier golf courses, and public discourse addressing science, politics, and global issues — all of these qualities draw residents and visitors who feed their minds, bodies, and spirits with the abundance Aspen has to offer.

Music of all genres fills the air. Aspen is home to the Aspen Music Festival and School, where accomplished musicians, conductors, and composers perform throughout the summer months. Jazz Aspen Snowmass, now in its 26th year, continues to host major music festivals in early summer and at summer’s end. Its JAS Café features the best of the best jazz performers, who take the stage in an intimate venue at the five-star Little Nell Hotel. Outdoor concerts abound from June through August, while Belly Up brings a spectrum of live music acts to Aspen on more than 300 nights a year. 

The art scene in Aspen features some of the world’s finest galleries as well as the spectacular new contemporary Aspen Art Museum, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Shigeru Ban. The Aspen Institute, the Aspen Center for Physics, and Aspen Words all draw U.S. Presidents, international political figures, Nobel Prize winners, best-selling authors, and poet laureates to Aspen all year long. The city attracts international speakers as well as visitors from Europe, South America, Asia, Australia, and Africa, bringing cultural diversity to all corners of Aspen life. Indeed, the world comes to Aspen.

If Aspen sounds like the idyllic mountain town, it is.