Skiers' dream home

DEER VALLEY — The idea was to build the ultimate ski home. A home designed by skiers for skiers.

Joseph Ballstaedt believes his new "Dream Home" is just that — a skier's home, albeit a home few skiers could afford and most can only dream about.

Asking price is $19 million. Shorter visits are $10,500 a night, going to $13,000 during Christmas and certainly the Sundance Film Festival.

The starting point of the home goes back several years when SKI Magazine asked its readers for their views on the ultimate ski home.

It found, said Ballstaedt, CEO of Resorts West and one of the home's owners, "that real estate, particularly buying real estate in and around ski areas, was of great interest. In fact, it found it was actually becoming a part of the sport."

The magazine came up with the idea of building the ultimate home for skiers. Deer Valley, which had just been named the No. 1 resort in the country in 2001, was chosen as the location and Resorts West the developer.

Ballstaedt said he took of all the information submitted by magazine readers, then formed a committee of property managers, Realtors, guest-services representative, housekeepers and maintenance experts and came up with the elements, which were then given to an architectural firm to incorporate.

The results:

• A 14,000-square-foot home with an additional 4,500 square feet of outdoor patio/deck space heated by outdoor fireplaces or gas fire pits.

• A home with six bedrooms and 10 bathrooms, with fireplaces in all of the bedrooms and several of the bathrooms. A TV screen that reflects through the large mirror in the master bath to keep bathers up-to-date on all sporting events. In all, there are 15 interior and exterior fireplaces.

• An entertainment area with a DJ booth, dance floor, pool table, 550-gallon native-trout aquarium, an indoor golf-course simulator and a 124-inch high-definition screen in the grand theater.

• A large outdoor pool, with air jets, that serves as a hot tub, with a cascading waterfall and a constant water temperature of 104 degrees. There is also a smaller hot tub away from the pool placed to gather in views of Park City, Deer Valley and Jordanelle Reservoir.

• A day spa with sauna, steam room, treatment room and a nearby fitness room behind a large bank of windows overlooking Jordanelle.

• An elevator, secret room behind a bookshelf and a multi-vehicle garage with car wash and dog spa.

• Radius African mahogany stairs and Brazilian walnut floors and onyx, marble, brunello, granite and glass tiles and countertops and floors.