THE LONG GAME
The Novaks: They bought on the golf corridor back when Eagle-Vail was the affordable compromise, raised two ski racers in it, and woke up decades later owning prime fairway frontage in a valley that had grown famous around them. The compromise had become the asset. When knees and winters argued for down-valley, I ran the whole trade from inside the valley: their home prepared and priced for the locals and second-home buyers who compete for the corridor, their single-level in Eagle financed against the projected proceeds by the same person running the sale. The long game paid out exactly the way patience deserves — completely, and all at once.










