Those who are lucky enough to live upvalley jokingly refer to Gypsum as “Gyptucky” both for its remoteness (nearly 40 miles west of Vail Village) and for its less-than-polished downtown (or lack thereof), as well as the fact that the area draws its name from the massive, steam-belching drywall plant on the banks of the Eagle River at the center of town. But that’s about to change. The town’s new master plan calls for transforming Railroad Avenue into a mixed-use neighborhood, with street-level shops and restaurants and live-work space above.

Then there’s Stratton Flats, an affordable housing project that’s currently under construction and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2021. Within weeks of being released, all but one of 15 single-family homes (starting in the low $400,000 range) were under contract, with a similar rush on 40 townhomes (priced from $339,000 to over $400,000)—offers were being made even before the homes were listed. 

Who’s buying?

“It’s mostly locals, first-time homebuyers jumping in,” says BHHS’s Rick Messmer. “Gypsum is quieter than Eagle but is the boom zone of the valley. This is some of the only flat and developable ground left. If the renaissance of Gypsum happens, it’s going to be a really cool town.”

For those who’ve discovered the Brightwater Club, a gated golf development on 973 acres in the hills four miles south of town with a course designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., it already is. Eileen Duke, a LIV Sotheby’s broker and Gypsum resident, rattles off a bevy of addresses in the neighborhood, homes in the $1 million range, that have sold here in recent weeks, as well as in another upscale local development, Sky Legend in Cotton Ranch.

“Sky Legend has the best views in the valley,” she says. Like the setting sun, in this market they’re going, going ... gone.  

Number of active listings on the market, at press time: 11

Median home price of active listings: $369K

Number of homes sold in 2020: 99

Median price of homes sold: $465K

Average number of days on the market: 58