Former JCPenney executives Peter McGrath and his wife, Janet Fox, transformed a Pitkin County property — once filled with dirt, debris and an abandoned train caboose — into an upscale home with modern amenities and features. The property, known as Sage Ridge, is now on the market for $30 million.
Breathtaking views, privacy and luxury are the hallmarks of Sage Ridge, according to the property listing. The newly built single-level modern home of 5,750 square feet sits on more than 38 acres of land in Snowmass. The four-bedroom and five-bathroom home, which was designed in collaboration with Aspen-based architect Luis Menendez, features 16-foot triple pane windows, a professionally designed gym, office, state of the art sauna, hot tub, fire pits and a complete outdoor kitchen.
McGrath said it took the couple a year and a half to name the estate, ultimately going with his wife’s idea of “Sage Ridge” because of the abundant sagebrush on the property and being located on a ridge.
With features like 16-foot triple pane windows, McGrath spent hours browsing designs online and working with Aspen-based architect Luis Menendez to build the home. (Photo provided by Michael Brands/Mountain Home Photo)
“When you go to ranches, or you start listening to the names of ranches, a lot of them are descriptive of the land that they sit on like twin creeks or big sky,” said McGrath.
On the outside, the property overlooks the Elk Mountain Range and the entire Snowmass valley from Mount Sopris to the Continental Divide. McGrath said focusing on the view was the “greatest thing” they did for the property.
“I created an infinity line lawn,” said McGrath. “So it’s this lawn that looks out over this gorgeous valley. I cannot describe it and give you the impact of it. It is mesmerizing as well as it’s humbling to be able to look out over the vastness of this valley. It’s just incredible.”
But it wasn’t always like this, according to Ann Abernethy, who is the broker associate with Compass Real Estate Aspen. “There was a caboose on the property, a real train caboose on rails that had to be removed,” Abernethy said. “Just tons of debris and barbed wire that had to be cleaned up.”
There were also two buildings, one being a 1980s slant roof style home, farm structures, a metal sculpture of an airplane and an old paddle tennis court left to despair. All of it had to be torn down and it would take an enormous vision to see what could be created there, Abernethy said. It sat on the market for several years because cleaning up the site was a daunting and expensive task that kept many would-be buyers away, according to Abernethy.
Abernethy said she sold McGrath and Fox the property back in 2020 for $2.3 million and it took them over three years to get the property cleaned up and build the new home.
“It’s been a very long term project. It’s very difficult to build in Pitkin County because there are very restrictive building regulations that limit growth and limit what you can do,” she said. “This house was built under very restrictive energy requirements. So all of that just causes it to cost more and take longer.”
The home was built on a plateau on a hill and has a view that stretches from Mount Sopris to the Continental Divide. (Photo provided by Michael Brands/Mountain Home Photo)
The property has 40 solar panels on top of the house, including five Tesla Powerwalls in the garage. According to Abernethy, the Powerwalls are batteries that store the solar power.
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“They capture energy, and then that energy goes back to Holy Cross energy,” she said. “There they sell it back to the grid, so, the cost of operating this house is very, very efficient.”
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