Dercum's Dash is a celebration of uncommon pursuit. The exclusive community of luxury mountain estates rests on the last land of its kind…on the mountain.

It was 1946 when Max Dercum, a champion skier, engaged six partners to purchase the 80 acres that would become Arapahoe Basin ski area for $3,000. In its first year of operation, A-Basin attracted 1,200 people each paying $3 to take the towrope to the top of the slopes.

Dercum had his heart set on founding yet another ski area—this time an entire mountain. It simply made sense that his focus would be on the very mountain where he lived at his beloved Ski Tip Ranch, today one of the fine dining venues in Keystone Ski Resort. Dercum partnered with his neighbor and fellow visionary Bill Bergman to make Keystone Ski Area a reality. Seven miles and 3,148 acres large, Keystone covers not one, but three mountains. Dercum managed the installation of lifts and the ski school while Bergman handled the business side.

Dercum skied well into his 80s and died at age 99. His legacy, acreage at the foot of Keystone Ski Resort, is the newest luxury community to be developed by Crestwood Homes. The eponymous Dercum's Dash is a straightaway from doorstep through the protected marshlands to the ski lifts. Carved into the mountainside and surrounded by dedicated national forest land, this is the last great place in Colorado's Rocky Mountains.

Crestwood Homes, fine builders for generations, offers 24 exclusive residences in Dercum's Dash. Tucked into the panoramic surround, these exceptional semi-custom homes feature regional-influenced architecture with majestic resawn timber and native stone finishes, soaring two-story, two-sided fireplaces and arched 21-foot-ceilings. The generous-sized rooms and open floor plans are the perfect backdrop for abundant family gatherings that last the weekend or the season. And the private quarters are intimate retreats, a place to regain your balance, soak away worldly concerns and to hear the mountain breathe.