Windcliff Vacation Homes Blog

The article “What to Consider Before You Buy a Vacation Home” recently appeared in The Wall Street Journal. In it, writer Jeff Brown, writer in Livingston, MT highlighted both the pluses and minuses of owning a vacation/rental home. Here is his article, edited to be most relevant to owning a home in Windcliff with personal comments inserted by Rich Chiappe of Windcliff Homes.   Chiappe first rented a Windcliff vacation rental home with his family and another in 2007, became enamored with Windcliff, purchased a 3-bedroom condo exclusively for vacation rental (investment) in 2011, sold it in 2014, purchased a...

Call me an eternal optimist, but there could quite possibly be no better time to buy or build your mountain home dream than right now. Buying a Lot or Land in Windcliff The old adage that land doesn’t get any cheaper applies.  Granted, land in Windcliff isn’t “cheap.” In fact, it’s very expensive.  But where else can you invest in something that is only getting BETTER with time?  Remember, the land to the West and South of Windcliff is the Rocky Mountain National Park.  The land to the East is the Roosevelt National Forest.   The land to the North...

Since the first time I brought my wife to Estes Park, I’ve enjoyed experiencing my hometown through her fresh eyes. She didn’t grow up here like I did, so places locals take for granted are new and exciting for her. We mostly visit at Thanksgiving or Christmas now, so the summer hikes and seasonal attractions just aren’t available to us. But what we’ve discovered is that Estes is a romantic, inspiring getaway for us every single winter. Every site on this list has to meet a certain standard: Would I go there if it were in my hometown? Back in...