A top-floor penthouse combines the privacy of a standalone house with hotel-style service, a pairing rarely found inside Telluride’s town limits.
By Chris Caggiano
The morning starts in the building’s ski lounge, where the valet has your boots and skis waiting. From there, a private funicular carries you up to the Telluride Trail. There’s no shuttle and no walk to a lift line, and your skis are on before you reach the snow. By late afternoon, you’ve skied back down to the building. After a soak in one of the heated outdoor pools, dinner on Main Street is a short walk away.
In July, the same address works in the other direction. The lifts give way to the San Miguel River trail, which runs from the property to Town Park and the summer festivals.
That kind of day is harder to find in Telluride than it sounds. The resort has two bases: the historic town at the bottom of the mountain and Mountain Village, a gondola ride over the ridge. Most of the full-service, ski-in, ski-out lodging is in Mountain Village. In town, ski access exists at a handful of condominium complexes and a small hotel near the lifts, but ski access paired with full residential service is rare.
Element 52 is one of the few places that offers both. The 48-residence building sits along the San Miguel River, and its Southwest Building penthouse, Unit SW402, shows most clearly what that pairing is worth.
Just a Few Blocks Away
The funicular covers the daily run to the slopes, but the rest of the mountain is a short walk away. The free gondola and Lift 8 both start at the Oak Street plaza, a few blocks from the building. The gondola climbs to Station St. Sophia, where Allred’s serves lunch at mid-mountain, and continues on to Mountain Village. Lift 8 is the quicker route to advanced terrain. It connects to the high-speed Plunge lift, Chair 9.
In summer, the building’s location matters for a different reason. The river trail leads to Town Park, which hosts the Bluegrass and Blues & Brews festivals. The Telluride Film Festival spreads across venues throughout town, one of them in Town Park. Main Street, with most of Telluride’s restaurants, bars, and galleries, is close enough to reach on foot any time of year.
That combination is what separates the address from most ski-town real estate. Slopeside properties tend to be isolated in summer, and walkable ones tend to lack real ski access. This building has both.
A House Inside a Hotel
The location gives the residence its access, and the penthouse adds what the location can’t: privacy. Listed at $8.1 million, it sits at the top of the Southwest Building, with a single neighboring unit. “While it’s located in a full-service hotel, this unit lives like a single-family home on the slopes,” says Rick Fusting, the listing broker.
The penthouse’s position explains how both halves of that statement can be true. In a building organized around shared amenities, this residence gets the quiet of a standalone house without giving up the service that gives Element 52 its value. That service is extensive. A year-round staff runs the front desk, a ski valet has gear ready each morning, and the concierge team handles grocery stocking, dinner reservations, and a local car service.
In practice, the concierge’s reach extends into town, where much of Telluride’s dining sits within a few blocks of the building. Near the gondola, 221 South Oak serves chef Eliza Gavin’s New American menu in a converted Victorian house. On Colorado Avenue, the town’s main street, the Chop House occupies the historic New Sheridan Hotel. For nights in, residents can have sushi from Kazahana or Thai food from Siam, on Davis Street, picked up and delivered.
Afternoons follow a similar pattern. After skiing, owners can walk over for après at Oak, at the base of Lift 8, then return to the on-site spa or one of the building’s two heated outdoor soaking pools. For an evening out beyond dinner, the historic Sheridan Opera House, one of the Film Festival’s venues, is on North Oak Street.
Two Floors at the Top
The penthouse’s layout is what makes the single-family comparison hold up. Its 2,797 square feet are spread across the top two floors of the Southwest Building, which gives the residence the vertical separation of a townhouse rather than the single-level plan of a typical condominium. The unit shares only five feet of wall with one other penthouse and none with any other unit.
The materials follow the building’s mining-era design. Stone and plaster walls are paired with walnut and stained-concrete floors, and radiant floor heating runs throughout. The kitchen has a gas range, and the unit includes three full baths, one with a steam shower, and a half bath. Because it’s a corner unit, light comes in from two sides. The residence also has mountain and town views and a deck for outdoor living.
The bedroom plan reflects how ski-town homes are typically used. Three bedrooms handle the owners and adult guests, and a bunk room takes the overflow: the children or friends who come along for a ski week or a festival weekend.
The residence also solves the everyday logistics of a mountain home. An elevator runs directly from the residence to the garage, where the unit has two heated, covered parking spaces. A snowmelt system keeps outdoor surfaces clear. The home is offered fully furnished, with custom selections and paint palettes by the design studio Tweed, so a buyer can move in or begin renting immediately. Rentals would run through Auberge, which manages the building’s rental program, though the unit itself has not been rented.
A morning ride up the funicular, an afternoon in the heated pools, and a walk to dinner on Main Street depend on all of these pieces being in one place. Ski access, full service, and a walkable address each exist elsewhere in Telluride. Inside town limits, they rarely come together in a single building, and even less often in a residence that lives like a house. That’s why this kind of day is harder to find than it sounds, and why this penthouse offers it in July as much as in January.
About the Expert: Rick Fusting is a real estate broker with LIV Sotheby’s International Realty. He has represented buyers and sellers of residential and commercial property in Telluride, Colorado, since 1999.
This article is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, financial, or investment advice. The views and opinions expressed herein reflect those of the individuals quoted and do not represent an endorsement of any company, product, or service mentioned. Readers should conduct their own due diligence and consult qualified professionals before making any investment decisions.
