This post is about a new profile of mountain residents and the co-primary home phenomenon.
When we lived in Italy, we loved meandering through the pastures of the mountain town we frequently visited. It’s a quaint town below the Alps where Luca’s extended family has resided for generations. Occasionally we hiked trails at higher elevations and even snowshoed during the winter. But mostly, we just hung out and delighted in the majestic scenery of the mountains and valleys. We weren’t experts but we knew the place and the culture well.
The mountains in Southern California on the other hand were unknown to us. So we heavily counted on the Internet and our realtor for education. None in our network of friends had yet bought a home in the San Bernardino Mountains. We certainly hadn’t and never expected we ever would.
Google reliably turned up some articles and websites. Surprisingly though, we found limited information about mountain life, mountain living, and all variations of that topic that suited us. And even less information about Southern California mountain life.
Who Typically Buys a Mountain Home?
Much of what we found chronicled the restless soul searching for solitude far away from city life. Bloggers also targeted the adventure seekers highlighting the playground of forests to explore or peaks to scale. And fishing. I came across a lot of fishing information when I got more specific about lake towns in the mountains.
At the time we did our research, the information we had gathered online implied that there are four main categories of people typically interested in mountain life, and we were the anomaly. At least until the pandemic gripped the world in 2020.
The avid outdoor sports fan
If you do your own Internet search, you’ll find enviable bloggers who document the perfect blend of living and playing in the mountain escape they call home. By design, they go from their front door to the slopes or hiking trails in minutes.
Their main reason for taking up residence in the mountains usually revolves around all the fun adventurous things you can do in the mountains, especially resort mountain lake towns. And there are plenty—all year round! Hiking, rock-climbing, mountain-biking, fishing, swimming, boating, skiing, snowboarding and more depending on the season. Activities abound!
Even visitors come with often the sole purpose of doing some sort of outdoor activity. They work hard all week in the city. And they may even surf many mornings, but trek up to the mountains on the weekends to reap the rewards of the snow during the winter. Living in Southern California offers this type of option.
Are we outdoor sports enthusiasts? We’d love to say we are but not really. When the first big snowstorm hit, we appreciated having snowball fights and making snow angels while the true enthusiasts braved the traffic and crowds on the ski slopes.
We do enjoy a good walk around the lake. And when restrictions lift, we look forward to exploring more of the outdoor activities we can do in the mountains.
The recluse wanting to live “off the grid”
Living off the grid, especially in a tiny house trends pretty high in Internet searches. The more remote and tinier the house, the more the appeal.
And while only a small population does this, it draws a large curious crowd. Many bloggers and YouTubers inspire with their ability to make do with minimal amenities. Often they leave the “rat race” and luxuries of city-living behind to show us that extreme simple living is possible and even desired.
But not only do these people live introspective lives with birds chirping in the background and water rippling at their feet. They also seem to have the ability and resources to build their own home in the middle of seemingly nowhere. It’s fascinating.
Did we buy our property with the intention of living off the grid? Yeah, no.
We very much live on the grid and love the grid. Our chances of survival without power and high-speed Internet would be nil since we continue to work and learn remotely. In fact, when a planned power outage is announced, we prepare to return to our primary home hoping not to find the same situation. Planned power outages occur on occasion when high winds threaten the possibility of wildfires from downed power lines.
The wealthy real estate investor
I must say, the bulk of the information we found honed in on the opportunistic investor looking to expand their portfolio to vacation rentals. Real estate agencies often include a blog on their website. So if you search “second home in the mountains”, guess what pops up in abundance?
In fact, whenever a search turned up something other than an article for the outdoor lover or nature recluse, it was from a realtor. There is plenty of real estate advice about all the advantages and disadvantages of buying a second home, particularly in the mountains.
Depending on the popularity of the mountain town, home prices vary. But each has its own charming characteristics that draws different types of people. Astute investors realize that the San Bernardino Mountains have something to offer to a wide range of visitors and possible first and second homeowners looking for reprieve from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Are we investors looking to expand our investment portfolio? We bought our second home with the intention of using it as a second home and to share it with family and friends. So officially no, but technically yes. We did do our due diligence to determine if this purchase would be a wise investment in the long run. For example, if we see our usage decrease considerably, we would prefer to open it up to short term rental rather than have the cottage sit vacant. But that was not the original intent of our purchase.
The retired couple or almost retired couple
During the pandemic, we have lived in our mountain cottage almost more than we have in our city home. Several of the folks we meet during our walks around our neighborhood don’t live here, but their parents do! Or at least the parents own the cabin that the kids and grandkids enjoy on the weekends.
We even met some sellers during our second home search. Either they represented themselves or they happened to be home when we stopped by. Both were couples well into their retirement years. The main reason for selling their home was their declining health. It prompted them to be closer to their children and health care provider.
Are we ready to retire anytime soon? Not at all. We are in the sandwich generation where we are still caring for our kids (two though are independent but one is still in high school) while beginning to care for our parents. I feel like we can never retire at this point. I exaggerate. But when we finally do, I hope to still have this home for us to use more long term.
For now, it is home, plain and simple. Our children often join us at our cottage. And my parents remain in our primary home. We have found it healthy for our two families–my parents and us–to have some physical space in separate locations during this period where home also means office and school. We fully recognize how fortunate we are to have these two options during a time when home has been redefined by the pandemic.
The Locals or Year-Round Mountain Residents We’ve Met
A common theme I have found among the self-professed locals is that they do in fact enjoy the nature and serenity of mountain life. Of course they do. They are regular people who prefer to live full-time a more rural life than what the city or suburbs has to offer.
Although you may not find them on the slopes tomorrow if it snows, they do enjoy living in a beautiful place in the midst of nature. Nor are they the type to keep to themselves. In fact, the majority of them are very friendly. And I feel like I, the city girl, am the introverted one among them.
To be fair, there are many who do own homes in the mountains that fit one or more of the profiles mentioned above. And that is why the Internet caters to these populations. In fact, the bloggers and YouTubers that author the various blogs and videos have found their niche in these populations.
Not feeling quite represented, we created ours.
Our Niche: People Who Desire to Live in Both Their City Home and Mountain Cottage
We didn’t resonate completely with any of these scenarios mentioned above, not even with our “regular” mountain neighbors. They live in the mountains full-time. That’s not us. We cannot just transplant our family from the city to the mountains completely.
But that did not prevent us from giving mountain living a try anyway. We desired a place close to our primary home that offered a change in scenery and lifestyle. Ample space for us to work remotely with Internet access, particularly during the pandemic was also very important. Those criteria satisfied our needs for a second home in the mountains.
Two blogs (maybe three) somewhat reflected our reality. But not really. What I did find to determine if mountain living suited us I had cobbled together from different sources. This confused me as I was 100% sure others just like us exist out there.
So what’s our profile? We’re a midlife couple with kids and careers looking for a getaway in the nearby mountains with no intention of leaving the primary city home. The outdoor activities, the isolation, the investment and preparing for retirement are great, but currently only a bonus to us. We just want another home away from home. And we don’t intend on leaving one home completely for the other.
On our street, several of our neighbors have their second home. And during the pandemic, they too are using it quite often and for longer periods of time. They, like us, have the mandate to work from home during the pandemic.
Some of these neighbors have preceded us by years of experience. Only now are they able to enjoy their second home more like a primary home. Some came up one weekend and stayed when “stay home orders” went into effect. We often look to them for some insight into mountain life.
For our newer neighbors that have just purchased their second home, they seem to have the same questions and “lessons learned” that we have had. As they walk their dogs and find us outside doing some DIY project, they stop and ask for advice on this and that. It feels good that now we are in the position to be able to pass along valuable information from our experiences.
This lack of readily available information prompted me to start this blog. I wanted to provide information to others who also do not fit perfectly into any of the typical four profiles mentioned above. But they have now found themselves living in the mountains more than in their city home. It’s also for others who might be considering this option in the future if workplace practices change to accommodate working remotely.
When we finalized the purchase, it didn’t dawn on us immediately that we had actively contributed to the making of a new profile of mountain residents. And that our little cottage overlooking the dazzling lake would also be defined as a co-primary home because of the way we have decided to utilize it.
Why? Because this phenomenon is rather new and still emerging.
The Co-Primary Home Phenomenon
If you read my post, Weekend Home Inspiration from Living in Tuscany, you’ll know that we had always dreamed more than planned to own a second home. When we lived in Italy, our middle class neighbors from Florence demonstrated that it was possible to retreat to the marvels of the Tuscan hills each weekend without abandoning their weekday city life. It inspired us to dream big.
When our dream became a plan and that plan became reality, it occurred during the pandemic. Our necessity to work from home allowed us the opportunity to live in our mountain cottage more than at our primary home.
All the while, I thought we were one-of-a-kind. We weren’t. At all. A very recent search on the Internet revealed a new phenomenon called “co-primary home” was an emerging real estate trend in 2020.
According to a Bloomberg podcast, a co-primary home is basically a second primary home that during COVID, many families are using equally as much if not more than a primary home. Somewhat relieved by the affirmation there are others like us shaping the new generation of mountain homeowners, we also feel accountable to do it well. Calling the mountains our co-primary home is a responsibility we take seriously. Which is why we’d like to learn how to live in the mountains as harmoniously as the locals do.
The New Profile of Mountain Residents
Co-primary homeowners seem to be surfacing across the country. They join the outdoor sports enthusiasts, the self-sufficient homesteaders, real estate investors, retirees, and the ones fleeing from city life. This new breed of homeowners propelled by the pandemic are atypical mountain residents. Many are like us–regular city folks looking for the opportunity to live and work remotely in the beautiful surroundings of nature but still close to home and the physical office.
Without even realizing we were contributing to the trend, we were. It makes sense. We are a family of five but there are seven of us living in our primary home. About 16 years ago, we built a granny suite for my parents when they came to live with us. So we are considered a three-generation household.
We have space for everyone. But when the pandemic hit, just like everyone else, our home suddenly became our offices and classrooms. And the space we had seemed to tighten. Grateful to still retain our jobs working from home, we realized our mountain cottage could serve truly as a second primary residence. And this is how our weekend/second home became our co-primary home.
Will this emerging trend continue? Only time will tell. However, the secret is out and the San Bernardino Mountains have garnered a lot of recent attention from Southern California families looking for a convenient location to call their “home away from home.” The Mountain News, the local newspaper cited unprecedented interest in mountain homes resulting in upwards of 38% in sales in 2020. As of this writing, there does not appear to be waning interest.
This emerging profile of the type of people who buy a mountain home leads me to believe that besides our newest mountain neighbors, there are more of you out there just like us. Or perhaps you’re thinking of a possible purchase in a location close enough to home to be convenient, such as the San Bernardino Mountains.
Hopefully this site can help you as you make this important decision.
10 Important Mountain Living Characteristics
Weekend Home Inspiration from Living in Tuscany
Kitchen Tools and Equipment: Get Organized and Cook at a Furnished Cottage
