By Libertina Brandt
A newly completed property on "Billionaire Mountain" in Aspen, Colo., has sold after going on the market for $45 million last winter, while it was still under construction.
Completed in March, the modern spec house went into contract in August. The price was $37.75 million.
The sellers are father-daughter developers Robert Scannell and Lauren Scannell Cooke, who bought the property in 2017 for $8.4 million. Cooke declined to comment on the identity of the buyer.
Buyers are no longer snapping up homes at the same pace they did during Aspen's pandemic boom, according to Lane Johnson of Compass, who had the listing with colleague Steven Shane. Still, Scannell said she is happy with the sale price, which works out to about $5,260 a square foot. In December 2024, she told the Journal that after initially hoping to get around $4,000 a square foot, they felt compelled to increase the asking price to more than more than $5,600 due to rising construction costs.
While many high-end Aspen homes have heated outdoor pools, Scannell and Cooke decided to include only a hot tub. "Aspen is a very dog oriented town, so maintaining yard space for people's dogs is actually quite important," said Cooke, a dog-lover who has two of her own.
With views to Independence Pass, the house is on Red Mountain, otherwise known as Billionaire Mountain. Last year, casino mogul Steve Wynn and financier Thomas Peterffy paid $108 million for an estate at the base of Red Mountain, setting an Aspen record.
Scannell and Cooke have developed another home in Aspen's West End that is on the market for $29.5 million and recently received an offer, Cooke said
Market snapshot
There are a variety of reasons for Aspen's slower-paced market, Johnson said, including global economic uncertainty. But while buyers are approaching purchases more deliberately, he said, the ultraluxury market is still seeing deals. In early September, a home in Aspen sold for $58.25 million.
Write to Libertina Brandt at Libertina.Brandt@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 26, 2025 19:44 ET (23:44 GMT)
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