On the windswept Dean Stone Drive, the for-sale signs push up from the snow like hillside sentries.
Developer John Felton, who started the 158-home subdivision at the top of Whitaker Drive in 1998, put the last phase of 30 lots on the market in November.
"We're concerned, but we're going to market it practically," said Felton, 85. "You've got to get your money out of it."
Mansion Heights is Felton's first development project. Early on, people said building on the steep hills, which have an average 16 percent grade, couldn't be done.
Felton walked on the property on Sundays and eventually negotiated to purchase the land for $230,000 in 1976. He figures it is worth about $10 million today.
The housing development is unlike the road, deep excavation and utility work Felton's diversified company does in Washington, Oregon and Alaska. Felton already owned excavation equipment and had ability to make serpentine roads and level driveways on the slopes.
"This isn't below ground. It's been an enjoyable job building up there," Felton said. "It's like artwork."
But he remains optimistic that the acreage will sell and is eager to complete the project. The lots, which average about one-third of an acre, have price tags of $130,000 to $285,000.
Felton said he isn't in any rush to sell.
"This kind of property is not available in other parts of Missoula. It isn't a bargain, it's a beauty," Felton said. "I can wait a couple of months or a couple of years. I wouldn't want to sell them all right now - it would be a hell of a tax problem."
Grandson Charlie Felton said the architectural guidelines for the development are "very strict."
Real estate broker Lewis Matelich, who has sold Mansion Heights property since its inception, said prospective buyers are business professionals, retirees, people who desire a new home in the Farviews area of the city, out-of-state residents and others.
"Mansion Heights, I don't want to call it exclusive, but it is more high end," he said. "He (Felton) wants people who have money and can afford to build a nice home."
Matelich said one lot has sold on Dean Stone Drive. Thirteen lots remain unsold from an earlier portion of the eight-phase subdivision.
The parcels haven't received final approval from the Missoula City Council. But under state and local regulations, developers can set up escrow accounts, and take contracts and earnest money on lots while the final plat is approved for recording, according to Denise Alexander, a principal planner for the city's Office of Planning and Grants.
Suzanne Peterson, the outgoing president of the Mansion Heights Homeowners Association, said she hadn't heard any concerns from residents about growth-related issues such as noise, traffic or construction debris.
She said her family, who has lived in the development since 2002, has purchased a lot on Dean Stone Drive. She said she enjoys overseeing the building process and they plan to erect a larger house with a three-car garage.
"We love it up there," she said. "The view's incredible; you have all the city services and feel like you're in the country."
Carol Seim, a retiree who lives on Spanish Peaks Drive, said she enjoys walking on the trails in common space of the development.
"It is always very quiet and lovely up here," Seim said. "It ended up as a more dense development than we might have chosen. But I understand why, because a lot of people want to live here.
"I personally would much rather see us develop the communities on the hillside and quit paving our beautiful valley and tillable land."
Felton chose to raise his prices to cover the costs of excavation, drainage, grading, engineering and other costs. Ten years ago, some lots sold for about $65,000.
"Each phase got a little higher and higher," Matelich said. "He needed to move his prices up to recoup his costs."
Reporter Pamela J. Podger can be reached at 523-5241 or at pamela.podger@missoulian.
com.
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