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970.728.6629 | catsman@catsman.com
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TELLURIDE REAL ESTATE BROKER - STEVE CATSMANTHE LOCAL SOURCE FOR TELLURIDE REAL ESTATE
Telluride’s Steve CatsmanWorking With All the Right Elements By Kay Bjork Great Lakes Airlines Peaks and Plains Newlyweds Steve and Terry Catsman pulled into Telluride, Colorado in 1972 in a Ford van stuffed with a random collection from their young lives including a treasured rocking chair. Self-professed ski bums, they came from the thriving ski town of Aspen expecting to catch the surf of another up and coming ski town. When they entered the town they discovered something quite different. Steve said, “It was a boarded up old mining town.” Nevertheless, the couple was struck with the magnificence that surrounded the town of Telluride. Thrust deep in a glacial carving of the rugged San Juan Mountains, the town is wrapped by the San Miguel River and cascading waterfalls. Steve said, “It reminded us of Yosemite. The scenery blew our minds.” With nary a ski area or an airport when they first arrived, Telluride didn’t boom for another 20 years, but Steve and Terry didn’t really mind. Steve says, “We had a great time waiting,”
After Steve’s first job erecting Telluride’s ski lifts in 1972, Steve established a gourmet restaurant; founded Telluride Real Estate Corporation, the area’s largest real estate company; designed and developed Lawson Hill, an affordable residential community; helped launch the luxurious Mountain Village; created Gray Head amidst a wildlife preserve; and raised two successful sons. Steve’s current projects are Element 52, a unique ski-in and ski-out housing development right in downtown Telluride and its Mountain Village counterpart, a luxurious log and stone enclave, Townhomes on the Creek. Catsman’s foresight and sense of responsible development was evident when he and a few partners started Lawson Hills subdivision in response to a need for ownership opportunities for the local working population and the establishment of a commercial hub away from the tiny downtown area. This project earned him the first Governor's Smart Growth Development Award in 1995. Steve was also instrumental as both developer and Telluride real estate broker in the success of the European-styled Mountain Village located in the ski resort. “It is the ultimate ski-in and ski-out village,” says Catsman. Mountain Village is linked to downtown Telluride by a free gondola or by a short drive, which helps preserve a sense of unity within the Telluride community. The Townhouses on the Creek project in the Mountain Village is comprised of classic mountain home with log and stone construction. Catsman was excited to continue his involvement in the area’s future when he was asked to form a partnership for the planning and development of Gray Head, a community of 35-acres parcels located on hillside benches eight miles west of Telluride. Gray Head’s unique design included establishing homes within a 16-mile trail system. The hand-laid stone trails were inspired by the Catsman family’s trekking adventures in Bhutan and Nepal and wind past streams, waterfalls, ponds, cliffs, and a historic cabin that has been restored for homeowner use. Steve and partners are developing the equivalent of Element 52 in another prime location in the Mountain Village. Complete with a private ski lift and bridge Townhomes on the Creek is an enclave of handsome mountain log homes tucked into the conifers and aspens along Prospect Creek and Falls. Catsman’s partners in this project include long-time local developers, Steve Finger, Ralph Finger and very successful Manhattan businessmen. The group came up with the name Element 52 as a spin-off of the name Telluride, coined from tellurium, mined here at the turn of the century and the 52nd element on the Periodic Table. Gray Head, Townhomes on the Creek and Element 52 are today’s mother lode of golden lifestyle choices. But it is more than names that tie the many faces and places of Telluride. It is a common love and a common history shared by people like Steve Catsman, who has not only grown Telluride - he has grown up with Telluride. |
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 Steve Catsman, Owner/Director Telluride Real Estate Corporation 970.728.6629 · Fax 970.728.4917 EMAIL: catsman@catsman.com · WWW.CATSMAN.COM 137 W. Colorado P.O. Box 1739 Telluride, CO 81435 |