When 39-year-old Cabletron co-founder Robert Levine retired in 1997, newspapers called him “eccentric” — he did, after all, wear ostrich-skin boots and chase off a pizza delivery boy in his armored tank, as he told it — but he was just getting started.
In retirement, Levine built a Colorado mega-mansion with unheard-of amenities, including an ice cream parlor, two shooting ranges and a Western town with a sheriff’s office, to name a few.
The 30,000-square-foot glass and stone home has eight bedrooms, 10 full bathrooms and six powder rooms — and that doesn’t include the 28,000-square-foot amenities lodge and the almost 10,000-square-feet of guest lodging. The one-of-a-kind estate is now up for sale, listed for $44.2 million.
“You never really even have to leave the estate to have fun. I don’t know of another place like it,” co-listing agent Barbara Scrivens of LIV Sotheby’s International Realty told The Post.
The ice cream parlor has a curved polished marble bar, copper walls and antique ice cream dishes displayed on the walls. Toppings are stored right in the counter of this room, made specifically for cold, sweet treats, photos show.
“The ice cream parlor is a fun little room that is themed, with old-fashioned ice cream glasses mounted on the gold mica flaked walls and ice cream parlor decor. There is a curved seating area and an area for toppings to have an ice cream party,” co-listing agent Malia Nobrega of LIV Sotheby’s International Realty told The Post.
!["They're [the owners] all about creating experiences, and because we're in Colorado, that Western theme came through," Scrivens told the Post.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/colorado-mansion-38.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1998)
There are two Wild West guest suites, one with a pretend “prison.” Guest accommodations also include a caretaker’s home, a non-West-themed guest suite and three guest houses, according to the Castle Creek Retreat website.
The estate also has a full-on Western town setup, including a sheriff’s office, a working old-timey gas station (pumps gasoline and diesel) and a Silver Dollar saloon based on the historic Silver Dollar Bar in Jackson Hole, agents said.
“They’re [the owners] all about creating experiences, and because we’re in Colorado, that Western theme came through,” Scrivens told The Post.
The 25,000-square-foot recreation center called “the Lodge” includes a five-story rock climbing wall, an elevator, an indoor shooting range, a teppanyaki (similar to Hibachi) dining area, a full kitchen, a massage room, a gym, a spa, an Olympic-sized pool and a hot tub, according to the Casteel Creek website.
“The owner was trying to make it so that whenever you come around a bend, or wherever you turn, or whenever you peek inside a door, you discover something you wouldn’t expect,” Scrivens told The Post. “It’s very playful and all about discovery.”
The amenities lodge is attached to an indoor sports field primarily used for baseball, said the listing agents.
Outdoor amenities include a stocked trout pond, a playground, 12 snowmobiles, three all-terrain vehicles, snowplows and a 10-seater Snowcat. There is also an outdoor shooting range and groomed paths for snowmobiling, skiing, horseback riding, hiking and biking, according to the Casteel Creek website.
Perhaps the most stunning and understated amenity is a 200-foot steel viewing bridge over the forest. The approximately $1 million bridge provides views over the Rocky Mountains’ Sawatch mountain range and hundreds of acres of forest, said the agents.
“It feels like you are all on your own in the middle of the forest. It is just gorgeous out there with the purple-pink peaks,” said Nobrega.
The Vail Valley home was listed for $78 million with 430 acres in 2019 and is now being re-listed at a lower price with only 250 acres attached. The estate borders two million acres of national forest, creating vast views. The owners plan to keep the remaining 180 acres of the parcel for themselves, listing agents told The Post. They were not at liberty to discuss the sellers further.
![“[Levine's] eccentric management style has contrasted sharply with the usually conventional world of computer-networking equipment,” the Wall Street Journal said upon the announcement he would retire.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/colorado-mansion-23.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1999)
Levine purchased the land for $3.32 million in 1996 and delivered the house in 2000, according to Eagle County property records. He arranged to give the U.S. Forest Service 301 acres of land in exchange for a smaller, 119-acre parcel in 2002, local reports show. The Post attempted to reach Robert Levine, 63, for comment.
Levine was a Forbes 400 member with a net worth estimated at $625 million by Forbes in 2001. He shared the title of Inc. Magazine’s “Entrepreneur of the Year” with his co-founder, Craig Benson, in 1991.
Recently, he received $40 million in compensation from Merrill Lynch after accusing them of “churning,” or excessive trading to generate commissions against the best interest of their clients.
Aside from that, Levine has mostly stayed out of the public eye since his time as a big-shot tech entrepreneur — apparently, he’s been well-entertained.
“[His] eccentric management style has contrasted sharply with the usually conventional world of computer-networking equipment,” the Wall Street Journal said upon the announcement he would retire.
