Barter’s Role For Entrepreneur Building World’s Most Expensive Home

Timothy Blixseth, 55, is a most interesting guy. Recently he and his wife split, doing so by sitting down over a glass of wine and dividing up their assets. What a novel idea for a couple with over a billion dollars to share.

He’s also the founder of Yellowstone Club in Big Sky (MT), it’s the only private resort community in the U.S. with its own ski mountain and world-class golf course. Mostly wilderness, it’s a haven for the super rich who pay an initiation fee of $250,000 and are required to purchase property of $1 million to $10 million, plus pay annual dues of $16,000.

The Yellowstone Club has 200 members, and exists because of two barter deals that Blixseth executed in the 1990s, when he and his timber-business partner made a trade with federal officials. They provided 164,000 acres adjacent to Yellowstone National Park in exchange receiving 100,000 acres in the Bozeman/Big Sky area.

Of the 100,000 acres the partner took the timberland, leaving Blixseth and his wife with a stretch of undeveloped land they originally intended to turn into a family compound. After the newly built cabins and chalets became wildly popular with their friends, they decided to create a country club for millionaires looking for an alternative to pricey, pretentious, and over-crowded destinations such as Aspen.

Thus, the development of Yellowstone Club occupying 22 square miles. With an eye toward natural beauty, only 20% of its acreage is slated for development...and the rest remains untouched.

Blixseth’s latest announcement is his plan to build and sell a home there for $155 million. The 53,000-square-foot stone and wood mansion will have 10 bedrooms and sit on 160 acres. A private gondola-like chairlift will carry residents to Yellowstone Club’s private ski slopes. Fully furnished, it will have an indoor/outdoor swimming pool and a home movie theater.

The timber and real estate baron is confident it will sell, suggesting that price is not an issue with the world’s richest who insist on having the best.