When you get a once in a lifetime invitation to visit Kevin Costner's 160-acre estate in Aspen, Colorado - an opportunity that's typically reserved for Hollywood elite, billionaire CEOs and royal families - you get on a plane and go!
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That's exactly what I did.
As a producer for the CNBC's prime-time series, "Secret Lives of the Super Rich," I've been in some of the most exclusive and expensive mega-mansions on the planet. But I was excited about this assignment because I'm a big Costner fan. Plus, over the phone, Costner's real estate broker, Amy Mottier, told me the star built a private baseball field on his property, an homage to his famous movie, "Field of Dreams." I was dying to see it and run the bases in person.
When I arrived in Aspen, one of the wealthiest zip codes in America (my first time there), the autumn foliage was at its peak and the drive to Costner's compound took my breath away. It may have also had something to do with the air: Aspen sits at about 8,000 feet above sea level.
The first glimpse you get of the estate is are the understated and highly secure front gates. (That's where I met Mottier, a friend of Costner's wife who was Aspen chic in tall leather boots and a custom Charlie Tweedle cowboy hat, some of which can cost thousands of dollars.)
From the gates, a private drive extends into a giant valley and Costner owns all of it. There's a forest of perfectly golden birch trees that collide with a wall of bold green pines at the bank of the Roaring Fork river that runs through the valley.
On the property, there are three lodges that can sleep 27, according to Mottier, and our tour started at the multi-level main home.
When you walk in it feels like you're entering a cozy Four Seasons lobby complete with a wood burning double-sided fire place.
Mottier called the aesthetic, "comfortable like grandma's house." It must be someone else's very wealthy grandmother she's referring to.
My first thought was that there are touches of Kevin Costner everywhere. The animal skin rugs and fur blankets reminded me of his movie, "Dances with Wolves."
In the master bedroom, a massive mountain lion is mounted above the bed.
I was kind of obsessed with the cat until Mottier asked, "Do you want me to show you the trap door?"
Clearly, yes, but before I could answer, Mottier was rolling up the carpet at the foot of the bed. It revealed a door in the floor boards that opened to a wooden staircase leading down to an incredible hot tub that overlooks the river and mountains. I literally gasped when she pressed a button that turned on a waterfall from the stone work over-head into the tub.
Why go to all the trouble to build a trap door? Simple, she said. Costner has a flare for the dramatic (plus it creates private access to the hot tub).
Even more amazing than the main house were the grounds. There are sledding hills and two ponds stocked with trophy trout. Then there's the lake house and the river house.
But all I wanted to do was go straight to the baseball field. Unlike in "Field of Dreams," the diamond is not bordered by cornfields. The view from home plate is of the golden forest and snow-capped mountains.
Costner's been in four baseball themed movies, so he's had lots of inspiration for designing the field of his own dreams. Massive speakers mean you can enjoy music from every base, an automated ball machine pitches strikes over home plate and stadium lighting that allows for games day or night.
I take a quick iPhone picture in front of the field and my tour is complete.
If you want a field of dreams selfie of your own, it's possible, but it's going to cost you; Costner rents the property with a one-week minimum stay that costs $250,000.
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I spent 2 days at Kevin Costner's Aspen compound with its own 'field of dreams' - take a look inside | CNBC Make It.
4 окт 2024
