After living and working in Los Angeles for 18 years, Tim Beene relished the idea of having some privacy. He sold his yacht repair business and, in 2001, discovered a subdivision tucked away at the end of a long dirt road mostly consisting of summer homes with sweeping views of the Sneffels Range.

He liked how Elk Meadows had its own water and sewer systems. The roads were plowed in the winter. The price wasn’t bad either; he bought a thr...