Crestone vs Westcliffe

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Reg0928
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Re: Crestone vs Westcliffe

Post by Reg0928 »

justiner wrote: Thu May 06, 2021 8:53 pm What is the deal with the buying property there? Do you need to be a spiritual group? I heard the property taxes are really cheap to start off with, then get more and more expensive - or am I completely off base?

I've been binging on LoveHasWon stuff - were they actually based down the road in Moffat? That's where The Ascended Mother God was found.
From what I understand they were based in or right outside of Crestone. I've got a buddy that lived out there for a few years and he'd mentioned them to me before. He actually just sold his house and moved to Alamosa this week coincidentally
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Jim Davies
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Re: Crestone vs Westcliffe

Post by Jim Davies »

I've read a few things about Crestone over the years. I guess there was a real estate development in the 80's that wasn't doing well, so the developer started giving land cheaply to religious groups as a promotion, which led to a bunch of various groups moving there. Here's one article that talks about that a little bit at the end: https://gazette.com/life/peace-love-and ... 3a2ec.html
Come the '70s, Colorado was the place to be, thanks to promoters such as singer John Denver, whose "Rocky Mountain High" served as an anthem for homesteaders on the move. The Arizona-Colorado Land & Cattle Co. bought up ranch land, subdivided it and sold the lots to people outside the state. The promised infrastructure of about 75 percent of those developments never came to fruition, however, and a scandal ensued when buyers realized they had bought a slab of land in the middle of nowhere.

Enter Maurice and Hanne Strong, a Canadian couple who reinvented the troubled Baca. Strong took control of the company that owned the 146,000-acre Baca Grant Ranch and 14,000-acre Baca Grande development, and he decided to deed the unbuildable foothills areas to endangered spiritual groups. The Zen and Tibetan Buddhists arrived first, followed by Hindus and Carmelites. By 1990, Crestone's reputation had turned around, earning notoriety as a spot for enlightenment seekers.
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wineguy
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Re: Crestone vs Westcliffe

Post by wineguy »

I stayed at a vrbo cabin in the Baca Grande development with some friends on a trip to tag Challenger/Kit Carson and Crestone Peak via Cottonwood Creek. We drove by several of the spiritual enclaves, which often had beautiful landscaping and architecture. Among the more impressive was the Shumei Institute:
https://www.shumeicrestone.org/
We were thrilled to see that there was an evening concert on the property, though were rising too early the next day to attend. Instead, we used the concert as a ruse to explore the property and the buildings. Unfortunately, our ploy was intercepted by two Japanese monks, who insisted on giving us a tour, reading from a script in heavily accented English, I'm not even sure if they understood what they were reading. They were more difficult to shed than a Colorado tick, but were very friendly and enthusiastic. It's a beautiful property in a stunning setting, and I would recommend it for a spiritual retreat, if you are into that sort of thing.
"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters." - Norman Maclean
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astrobassman
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Re: Crestone vs Westcliffe

Post by astrobassman »

I took my family on a 4 day trip to Crestone a few weeks ago. We did a similar trip a year ago. Did airbnb in the baca both times. Really enjoyed it, the kids love the hiking, Alligator farm, UFO lookout tower, the sand dunes, the swimming pool, etc.
I really liked getting up early and going for long trail runs up Cottonwood or Willow Creek.
We also really enjoyed the restaurant "Our food is art". We intended to go there one night and the Brew Pub the other night a few weeks ago. However the Brew pub is closed. WE didn't mind going back to Art restaurant as the food is really good.
Crestone is quirky no doubt. But also really cool.
There are freaks everywhere.
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