The homes being built by Pine Butte Builders are adjacent to The Resort At The Mountain, located in the unincorporated village of Welches, Oregon which is sixty miles east of downtown Portland. (The postal zip code is 97067.) Welches is a part of a larger community of several small unincorporated villages along Highway 26 that are generally known as "The Mt. Hood Corridor". According to the latest census, approximately 8,400 people live full-time in the corridor, which begins a few miles east of the incorporated city of Sandy, and proceeds east to Government Camp. Our neighborhood is part of a PUD (Planned Unit Development) complete with restrictive covenants, conditions, and restrictions that assure a commitment to high quality construction and living environment.
Welches, which is near the junction of the Sandy and Salmon rivers, (both rivers are Federally designated "Wild and Scenic" rivers) is at an elevation of thirteen hundred and fifty feet, which is only two hundred feet higher than the highest hills in Portland. Timberline Lodge, a popular ski resort is only twenty five minutes further east, but is at the six thousand feet elevation on the southern flank of the eleven thousand foot Mt. Hood. While snow can be 15 feet deep only twenty five minutes away on Mt. Hood, Welches only gets a few snowfalls that accumulate each year, and the snow is generally gone in a few days. A ninety minute drive east of Welches puts you in the heart of central Oregon and the high desert with many more natural attractions and resorts centered around the Redmond/Bend area.
Historically, the area was based on a tourist and logging economy. However, now logging has been reduced dramatically in the adjacent Mt. Hood National Forest due to environmental concerns. Today, people living in the area tend to fall into five categories. They are nursery or tree farmers, those working in the tourism business (in addition to The Resort At The Mountain, there are three ski areas within a range of 10 to 26 miles of Welches), people who have purchased a second home here that live throughout the Northwest and as far away as Florida, retirees, and a growing number of people who make this their primary residence and make the daily commute to their jobs in Sandy, Gresham, or the greater Portland area.
The Welches area is the only area in the corridor that has a sanitary sewer system, a water company, a local post office, a small shopping mall and an elementary and middle school. In addition, a twenty-four hour fire station is located less than two miles from the subdivision.
Whether the home you purchase is your primary residence or a vacation home, living at the mountain offers the wonderful opportunity of having The Resort At The Mountain and all its amenities, as well as the vast array of recreational activities which are available throughout the Mt. Hood Corridor, in your own back yard. At the same time, it is 15 minutes from Sandy (which has a pharmacy, physicians, and an urgent care facility, as well as additional shopping) or you can take the scenic 30 minute drive into Gresham, a bustling city with a population of approximately 95,000, where you can find all the necessities of life such as shopping, movie theaters, hospitals and physicians. Easy access to I-84 from Gresham, enables you to be in the heart of downtown Portland in another 30 minutes.
A full service resort featuring extensive conference facilities, two restaurants, and its' 27 hole golf course known as The Three Nines. The Resort offers numerous recreational and dining opportunities.
Snow capped Mt. Hood offers year-round skiing. During the winter, skiing can be enjoyed at Mt. Hood Meadows, Timberline, and Mt. Hood Ski Bowl. During the summer months, Timberline offers skiing on the Palmer Glacier.
There are numerous small streams in the area that support trout and steelhead. The nearby Sandy River is a favorite spot for fly fishing and offers steelhead, salmon, and trout. Less than an hour away, east over Mt. Hood, the Deschutes River offers a pleasant day-trip for those avid fishermen. Trillium Lake and Lost Lake are a short distance away for those who prefer lake angling.
