Malia Cox Nobrega hit the ground running early in real estate and was named “Outstanding Rookie” by who’s who In luxury real estate in 2016 and has now been with the Sotheby's International Realty Brand for nearly 5 years. Barbara Scrivens spent many years running a high-end boutique real estate development firm in Vail Village, but was attracted to the strength of the Sotheby’s brand and made the transition to LIV Sotheby's International Realty 3 years ago. Malia and Barbara's sales production consistently ranks within the top 2% of all agents in the Vail Valley. Malia sat down with Haute Residence to discuss their recent sale -- the highest price home sold outside of the Vail and Beaver Creek resort areas in nearly 10 years.
What is significant about this sale prior to the ones made before?
This home took a total of 8 years to come to fruition from the inception of the design to completion. The sale was significant in that it set the benchmark for the highest priced residence ever sold in the town of Edwards, CO and the highest price home sold outside of the Vail and Beaver Creek resort areas in nearly 10 years.
What were prospective buyers seeking when viewing this home?
Huge views, acreage, privacy, and something truly unique that is also relatively close to two of the most iconic ski resorts in the world.
Describe the architectural qualities this home possessed?
The Sellers felt the land always resembled Tuscany with green hills, lush verdant valleys and three-hundred-sixty degrees views of majestic, snow-capped mountains from New York Mountain and the rest of the Sawatch Range, the Gore Range or Castle Peak, depending on the direction of your gaze.
Gordon Pierce (architect) had a vision for a noble, Tuscan-style home that would be the perfect, timeless legacy estate for the Rothkopf family. The goal of the design was to create an estate that would be comfortable and just as gorgeous today as it will be many generations from now. For two weeks, through Umbria and Tuscany, from hill towns to seaside cities and from Florence to Positano, Joseph Abbott (builder) trailed the couple, seeking inspiration. On that trip, they found raw materials they would use to erect their masterpiece; they shipped 9 cargo containers backfilled with supplies (toy boxes stocked with intricately carved fireplaces, pale terracotta, hand-hewn limestone, and marble salvaged from manses and estates, some centuries old.).
The living room’s centerpiece is the centuries-old Tuscan fireplace. The stone flooring is from Padua. The herringbone wood flooring was also created using the materials sent from Italy. The movie screening room was a small replica of the Cinema Rialto in Rome. The kitchen maintained an authentic Italian feel with a wood-fired pizza oven.
There are too many details to mention. It was timeless and breathtaking, but it was also not the typical ski residence.
What was the key selling factor?
I believe the appeal of this residence is that it has a truly timeless quality and with regular maintenance or minor changes over time, it will be just as gorgeous 200 years from now as it is today. Despite being a huge estate, it definitely has an atypical style for our ski country geographical location but is a destination in itself.
A huge factor in selling the home was also focusing on the land and lifestyle the estate offers. The family that purchased the estate has a unique background and an energetic spirit. Once they were intrigued by the beauty of the residence and the views, we invited them back for breakfast in the informal dining area overlooking the incredible Sawatch Mountain views. We then took them sledding down the mile and a half private driveway that the estate caretaker prepped for the occasion. The previous owners have done this for years and it was a huge hit with their friends and family. The buyers enjoyed the experience so much that we set up another experience and invited them back for a snowshoe on the private trails. This gave them time to take in the beauty of the landscape and set a foundation for the intimate family memories to come.
Originally the buyers were looking at ski-in/ski-out residences that were more typical in the area but were drawn into this one-of-a-kind home after getting a glimpse into the lifestyle the estate offers. La Favorita is truly a destination in and of itself.
How does this sale impact the future of your team?
Despite being such an incredible home, it was thought of somewhat as tough sell in the marketplace because it was connected to a golf community where the highest sale is not within a comparable sales range and because no buyer had ever spent nearly this amount of money for a residence that was not in the Vail or in Beaver Creek resort neighborhoods. Some felt it was a large price tag given that distance.
Unlike some ski resorts, we don’t have huge acreage of this magnitude located within only a few miles to the ski areas. La Favorita took a bit more creativity in marketing the home to bring the right buyers in. We were able to fully immerse ourselves in the estate because we were fortunate to work with such incredible homeowners that truly partnered with us to make sure we properly understood the residence and portrayed its story. We wanted to make sure that we brought the homeowners and our passion for the estate to the brokerage community and potential buyers.
