12 March 26 - April 8, 2021
REGIONAL
Explore Big Sky
Housing rush leaves some locals behind BY MIRA BRODY BOZEMAN – Andrea Hawthorne was walking her dogs down Cottonwood Canyon Road on the south end of Gallatin Valley when a man pulled his car beside her. He rolled down his window and asked if there was property for sale in the area. They were visiting from Oklahoma, he said, and they intended to move here. “Just the way he said it,” Hawthorne said of the exchange, “So definitive.” She went back up the road to her own home, one of two employee housing cabins on the property of Yellowstone Alliance Adventures, a Christian youth camp, where she and her husband Jim have lived since they moved here in 1995. Since then, the Hawthornes have raised five kids in this canyon—Jessica, Ellie, Robert, Brianna and Keegan. “Encroachment has been a real issue,” Jim said. “When we came 25 years ago, there was quite a bit of open space with several neighbor residents. Now, we’ve just had a neighbor sell a two-acre piece of land with a 900 square foot home for $600,000. So when we think of the nonprofit reality, it’s just …” “ … the future is uncertain,” Andrea finished the thought. Much of the Hawthornes’ personal and professional lives are riddled with ironies. They don’t own any portion of the nonprofit they’ve devoted their lives to and although they’ve been provided housing and help with their children’s education, homeownership has always been out of reach, even as they approach retirement. The Hawthornes met in Wheaton, Illinois and spent the first years of their marriage in Wisconsin. Faith runs deep in their family tree and they wanted their professional endeavors to follow the same path. Andrea’s father, a pastor in White Sulfur Springs at the time, encouraged Jim, who had earned a master’s degree in educational ministries, to interview for an
Yellowstone Alliance Adventures serves surrounding communities such as Townsend, Helena and Billings, but about 60 percent of camp-goers are from the Gallatin Valley. PHOTO BY MIRA BRODY
executive director position with a nondescript camp south of Bozeman owned by the Christian Missionary Alliance Church. YAA sits on 80-acres of land and was established in 1961. Its decrepitude made them almost turn down the job, but the board knew it had potential and the Hawthornes were inspired. Today, YAA offers day and weeklong camps for kids from first grade through high school, including a college councilor program. Andrea calls her husband a “visionary,” and through his eyes they’ve built the campus up to the full-service establishment it is today. Their programs draw neighboring communities such as Townsend, Helena, Great Falls and Billings, but the Hawthornes estimate 60 percent of their kids are from Gallatin Valley. Some families have been coming for generations—some parents rely on it for daycare. Regardless of reason, everyone who arrives finds in it a sense of community and treasured memories. “A lot of what I call blood, sweat and tears has gone into this place and into this valley,” Andrea said. “All the people, hundreds … of people that go through here, we get to serve and give a good week. Our goal is to give kids the greatest week of their life.” Bozeman is no stranger to the glossy pages of destination and real estate magazines. The pandemic, however, has caused what many call “resortification” to reach a new velocity. In 2020, according to the Gallatin Association of Realtors, inventory for single-family homes was down 67 percent, average price was up 25 percent and 99 percent of sales received the listing price or more. These are trends the realtors association expect to continue as more people seek the lifestyle and landscape Montana offers. Jim and Andrea have spoken to a realtor about the realities of buying a home nearby. They learned that anecdotally there are often more than 40 people lined up behind a single offer. One house is on the market every seven days and it’s usually gone in under three. Andrea said they’ve all but lost the energy to peruse.
Sean Hawksford took to the streets in search of a seller that would sell their home to a local. The competition for home ownership is one many are losing the energy to fight as the Gallatin Valley experiences an influx of wealthy out-of-staters. PHOTO BY ELI KRETZMANN
“That was a rude awakening, to realize that where we’ve invested 26 years of our lives is not likely to be the place that we’ll be able to retire,” Jim said.
