The Great Outdoors
Near the western base of the Grand Tetons, Tributary shines as an exclusive enclave of homeowners devoted to outdoor pursuits.
by Shaun Tolson
Living the Western Dream
Avid golfers with an affinity for being challenged and for the great outdoors would be wise to purchase a home at Tributary. The 1,500-acre gated community in eastern Idaho, about an hour’s drive from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, centers on a championship-caliber golf course designed by David McLay Kidd. The 7,621-yard layout of wide, contoured fairways has the potential to frequently position golfers in uneven stances for approach shots. Aggressively sloped greens play incredibly fast during the peak summer months, and many holes are interwoven around native areas punctuated by tall fescue grasses that gobble up not only wayward drives but shots that flirt with the edge and are doomed by an unlucky bounce. To use a boxing analogy: If Tributary is your everyday sparring partner, you’ll be aptly trained for any title fight. Multiple rounds will challenge—and subsequently strengthen—all aspects of your game. “This golf course can be as difficult as you want it to be,” says Jeff Heilbrun, Tributary’s director of real estate. “It’s fair and very playable for all levels, you just need to make the right tee choice. If you want to make this a world-class challenge, you can do that by moving to the back tees.”

Currently, the private club’s real estate offerings, which include three-, four-, and five-bedroom homes, carry listing prices between $2.25 and $4.5 million. Under construction (and available for sale) are the Tributary Cabins ($2.75–$3.25 million), averaging 3,500 square feet of living space. Despite the rustic-sounding name, these sophisticated homes, which the club describes as “mountain-modern,” are elegant and refined and feature floorplans accentuated by broad windows and large sliding or folding glass doors that blur the boundary between indoor and outdoor living. The largest layouts can be enhanced by second floors, toy barns, three-car garages, and multiple, larger communal living spaces.

In addition to golf, the club is a draw for warm-weather activities such as mountain biking, fly fishing, hiking, and boating down the Teton River. In the winter, residents can enjoy exceptional alpine skiing at Grand Targhee Resort less than 10 miles away. “We’re not a golf development,” says Heilbrun. “We’re a lifestyle development with a great golf course. People here share this youthful exuberance and excitement and love of the outdoors and fresh air and clear streams—everything that you dream of when you think of the West.” tributaryidaho.com