Rick Evans - Sandpoint Idaho Real Estate Waterfront, Ski, and Resort Property

We found an amazing waterfront property in Garfield Bay on Lake Pend Oreille for a client of mine, and I've been spending quite a bit of time in that area lately. The perception by some is that Garfield Bay is too far from Sandpoint, however the actual distance to the Long Bridge of Sandpoint is only about 15 minutes.

Garfield Bay in my opinion is one of the most amazing, and as yet mostly undiscovered and under-valued, lakefront communities in the Northwest. THere is a real 'throw-back' atmosphere, and you just can't find places like this very often anymore. The natural beauty of this part of Lake Pend Oreille is absolutely stunning, with mountains that drop into the water, hiking trails and campgrounds everywhere, and panoramic vistas overlooking the lake towards the stunning Green Monarch mountains.

While Garfield Bay is off the radar for many visitors to the area, there are some things happening that bode very well for values in the future. Most notable is the opening of Garfield Shores Marina & Resort, thanks in large part to one of my associates at Sothebys, Lawson Tate. He and his partners have done a tremendous job in building a brand new, state of the art marina, which will offer condominium type boat slips for sale. There is a new restaurant, market, bar, and recreation area that is sure to be the center of actiivity in Garfield, which has its grand opening today (May 23, 2009). The plan is to offer activities, music, and a central gathering place for boaters in the area.

THere have been a few builders that have taken some run down properties and really transformed them or simply built nice product on some of the raw land facing the bay. Plans exist for new condos that also overlook Garfield Bay.

The hiking and mountain biking trails of Mineral Point start essentially from Garfield Bay, and these are as beautiful and as fun to ride as anything I've ever seen. The trails meander along the cliffs overlooking Lake Pend Oreille and facing the Green Monarchs. There is a fantastic beach called Green Bay which is in the heart of the Mineral Point area, and this offers an amazing place to park a boat for the day. The campground that is at Green Bay is also incredible and a great place for families.

This area still feels like you are in the middle of nowhere, maybe in New Zealand because of the majestic nature of the lake and surrounding mountains. Real estate values are very low right now but won't remain that way forever. I have a client that is under contract to purchase a 2700 square foot waterfront home for under $500,000. You truly cannot find a better view than this property offers, and you are walking distance to Garfield Shores Resort, another market and bar, a great public beach and beach park, and then 2 miles from the start of Mineral Point and Green Bay.

As proof that this is one of my favorite areas, I've chosen Green Bay beach as the main photo on my website's homepage: http://www.SandpointResortRealty.com. You can link from there to many other photos of this area.

Although there are not many properties on the market there are still some exceptional values available right now. I welcome the opportunity to introduce anyone to this little gem of a beach town. Send me an email or call if you'd like a tour: Rick@SandpointResortRealty.com 208-304-5665.

Perhaps the Inland Northwest's top music festival, the Festival at Sandpoint takes place again from August 6-16, 2009. The Festival is definitely one of the premier events in Sandpoint, and anyone that can possibly plan a visit during this time should do so.

The event is very uniquely Sandpoint. It takes place near downtown Sandpoint at Memorial Field, under the stars along Lake Pend Oreille. You'll find hundreds of bicycles tied up outside as most of the locals will walk or bike to the shows. Its unique in that you can bring your own beverages or picnic as you would for any smaller weekly music event. However the concerts are the real deal. We always get big name performers and they tend to love the energy of the Sandpoint crowd. Concerts take place on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday for two successive weekends. There is typically a mix of genres, with country one night, a rock night or two, reggae, folk/americana, etc. The highlight for me last year was Ziggy Marley, who ended up hanging out around town at places like Three Glasses after the show.

This year's lineup is:

Thursday, Aug 6 Firefall & Poco

Friday, Aug 7 Blues Traveler, with JJ Grey and Mofro (pretty excited about this one)

Sat, Aug 8 Boz Scaggs, with the Subdudes

Sun, Aug 9 Family Concert with Spokane Youth Orchestra

Thur, Aug 13 Jonatha Brooke and Michelle Shocked

Fri, Aug 14 'Phat Friday' -- Keller Williams and Donovan Frankenreiter -- will be another crowd favorite

Sat, Aug 15 Clint Black (of Celebrity Apprentice fame )- my wife is excited about this one

Sun, Aug 16 Swing Swing Swing -- a final night tribute by the Spokane Symphony to Benny Goodman

Definitely a little something for everyone in this lineup. Its sure to be a great time!

Another fantastic event came to the Panida Theatre in Downtown Sandpoint last night. It was one of the few times that my wife and I have been able to stay out late (together) since Trace was born, and we both had a blast!

(If you'll allow the indulgence, here is my Rolling Stone Magazine style editorial review....).

Jackie Greene 'rocked the house' with another inspired performance in one of his favorite places to play. The highpoint for me was when he covered the Grateful Dead's 'Shakedown Street' in his own bluesy rock folk americana blend. You could tell that these guys love the Sandpoint crowd, when they came out for 30+ minutes of encore, topping it off with a solo acoustic song from Jackie that almost brought tears to your eyes.

This was only the second time I've seen Jackie Greene, although he has been playing Festival at Sandpoint and the Panida for years now. His lyrics and melodies, inspired in large part by Bob Dylan, are the kinds of tunes that sound like you've heard them 100 times. One of his new songs, 'Animal' is already one of my favorites, and I've heard it twice.

Jackie did make an appearance at the 3 Glasses after-party, which was pretty cool. Sandpoint's own Shook Twins got together with their band, including Kyle on upright bass and Lane on cello, for a really fun time, all on a 'school night' no less. We are really lucky to have the Shooks, along with Stoney of Three Glasses. Not only do they play some fantastic music, they are friends with so many great musicians who often come to town to play much smaller venues than normal. A great example was the Elephant Revival Band playing a house party at the Shooks home in downtown Sandpoint last week, where anyone was welcome to come out.

The Panida Theatre is also a venue that I'm really thankful we have, along with the people involved that make it work and bring in such great performances. Last week was another great music concert by The Gords. There are always plenty of adventure type films such as the Mountain Bike festival, Warren Miller films, and the Banff Film Festival adventure series. The Panida brings in great comedy and stage shows, all in all a great variety of culture for such a small community.

It still feels like Winter on Schweitzer Mountain, which is easy to forget after having 70 degree days last weekend around Sandpoint. This aspect is one of the things that makes this place so cool. The climate of Sandpoint, at around 2000 feet, is very moderate in comparison to most ski towns. Schweitzer could easily stay open through the end of May based on their typical snow load, with the top of the hill at just under 7000 feet (relatively high for this far North). Its pretty cool to be able to mountain bike and ski in the same day! In fact I'd like to water ski and snow ski on the same day sometime soon, just to say I've done it.

With a few fresh inches falling on Schweitzer overnight, my brother and I skinned up for a Ridge Run this morning, along with my dog Bentley. He does pretty good for a shitzu, but needed a little help on the down hill (the snow was very wet).

You can see their is still a ton of coverage on the mountain. I imagine we'll be able to ski well into June!

The Evans family had a great Mother's Day in Sandpoint. Being a new Mom this year, it was a pretty special day for my wife (and for me).

We spent a good part of the day on a nice family hike. The Evans family, including Mandy, Trace (our little boy) and I, my brother, his wife, and their two daughters, all got together and decided to hike to a beautiful beach on Lake Pend Oreille called 'Evans Landing'. It was the perfect family hike on a gorgeous spring day.

The hike was just a couple of miles, leaving from a forest road about 20 miles south of Sandpoint. We hiked down to the beach from the woods and spent a couple hours just hanging out. We found a great rope swing, the kids played in the rocks and tried to eat the little pebbles, we had a picnic lunch, and I even went for an early season swim. (Couldn't get anyone to dare me so I jumped in anyway).

This beach was such a neat spot, and truly felt like the 'Evans' beach, with noone in sight on either side of the lake. It gives you a perspective on just how large and uncrowded Lake Pend Oreille really is. We all love discovering these great gems of our area and it makes it all the more special with the little ones along with us. We are looking forward to a summer of discovery with many more memories.