In Ironwood, a nature lover’s paradise in Billings, Montana, the families are friendly, the homesites are oversized, the sunsets and mountain views are spectacular, and deer and other wild animals take leisurely strolls down the streets.
Billings is in the southern part of the state on the Yellowstone River, and Ironwood is in a cove sheltered by the Rimrocks, the city’s iconic sandstone formations.
Ironwood is the kind of place where people come to get away from it all knowing that civilization and all the cultural comforts it offers are merely a short drive away.
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Boundaries
Located off State Highway 302, Ironwood is bounded by Autumnwood Drive on the south and east, Canyonwoods Drive on the north, and Woodcreek Drive on the west.
Price Range
The average price range of single-family homes in Ironwood is $400,000 to $700,000, according toDana Wagenhals, broker/partner at Real Estate Hub, who added that the high end tops out at around $2 million.
He noted that of the 24 homes sold in the last 365 days, prices ranged from $425,000 for a 4,478-square-foot home with six-bedrooms on one-third of an acre to $1.4 million for a 10,865-square-foot home on an acre that has seven bedrooms.
Lauren Aja Bond, broker/co-owner of THE Agency Montana, said the “cost difference relates to the home size, garage count, lot size and location and characteristics and finishes. On the lower end, you get roughly 3,300 square feet of living space on a 15,000-square-foot lot; the higher-end homes are 7,000 to 9,000 square feet on lots of a half acre to just over an acre.”
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She added that the median price for sold properties in the last six months was $510,000 and that for current active listings, the median price is $749,500.
The current highest-priced listing, $13.95 million, is for what she said is commonly referred to as the Castle—a 30,843-square-foot custom home built in 2019 that’s on 98 acres. It has a variety of amenities, including a 14-car garage, three pools, an indoor shooting range, a bowling alley, a gym with a golf simulator, a turret, a moat and a drawbridge.
Housing Stock
The 312-acre community of Ironwood was established 15 years ago, and it has only 350 homesites.
The housing, some of which is still being built, is new. “Most of the homes are custom,” Mr. Wagenhals said. “And the styles range from basic ranch to ultramodern and craftsman.”
Typically, according to Ms. Bond, the homes’ amenities include a chef’s kitchen, a theater room, a bar, a wine cellar, a multi-car garage/shop space, a home office, outdoor entertaining areas with a kitchen, a fire pit and sometimes even a swimming pool.
What Makes It Unique
Ironwood’s master plan was designed to take advantage of the great outdoors and the area’s recreational activities.
“The community is surrounded by miles of hiking/biking trails that wind through our ‘Rims’ or Rimrocks, which are scattered with boulders and pine trees, making it especially popular with mountain bikers,” Ms. Bond said. “It offers homeowners a country feel while still being within 10 minutes of shops and dining, with the convenience of city services for utilities.”
Unlike the flatter prairie landscape that defines Billings, Ironwood is perched on a high elevation that offers, on the southern side, views of the Beartooth Mountains, some 65 miles away, and of the valley the city is in.
Noting that it’s protected on the north by the Rimrocks, Mr. Wagenhals said that “there’s a lot of wildlife—you’ll see deer and antelope and birds. And it has 30 acres of parkland.”
Realtor Robin Hanel, executive vice president and owner of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Floberg Real Estate, said buyers also are attracted by the wide variety of activities that are available in Billings. “From formal and white tablecloth events to rodeos, you can have it all,” she said. “You can ski in Red Lodge and catch a round of golf in Billings an hour later. Or, instead of golf, you can go fly-fishing,”
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Luxury Amenities
Although Ironwood is exclusively residential, restaurants, shops and cultural amenities are close by.
“You can be anywhere in 10 minutes,” Mr. Wagenhals said.
Ms. Hanel noted that it’s adjacent to the 330-acre Yellowstone Country Club subdivision, which has an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones Sr. as well as a new clubhouse, a new outdoor swimming pool and six racquet courts.
Phipps Park, which is a half-mile from Ironwood, has a 2.5-mile-loop trail and offers “gorgeous scenery,” Ms. Hanel said.”
Meanwhile, the Yellowstone Art Museum, which has 7,400 works in its permanent collection, is the largest contemporary art museum in the state. It and the Alberta Bair Theater, a performing arts center, are in Downtown Billings.
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Other downtown attractions include the Western Heritage Museum, a 1901 library that has a collection of artifacts detailing the history of the Yellowstone River Valley; the Moss Mansion Museum, a 1903 residence on the National Register of Historic Places that celebrates the accomplishments of its original owner, entrepreneur Preston Boyd “P.B.” Moss; and the Billings Public Library, which is housed in an award-winning building completed in 2013.
ZooMontana, the state’s only zoo and botanical park, is 10 minutes from Ironwood. The 70-acre wildlife park houses nearly 100 animals.
“The Yellowstone River winds through the southern border of the town, where you can boat, float or enjoy world-class trout fishing,” Ms. Bond said.
Ironwood itself also has considerable green space, including five miles of trails and 30 acres of parkland.
There also are several private schools that are a five- to 10-minute drive away. They include Billings Christian School, for students in preschool through high school, and the two Billings Catholic Schools—Billings Central Catholic High School and Saint Francis Catholic K8.
Mr. Wagenhals said there are two city hospitals about an 18-minute drive from Ironwood: Billings Clinic and St. Vincent Healthcare.
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Who Lives There
The community has a variety of residents—from retirees and families to lawyers, doctors, corporate leaders and people involved with the agricultural industry.
“And there’s a regional Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints nearby, so the community attracts a lot of its members,” Mr. Wagenhals said.
Ms. Hanel said that many of the residents work for the largest employers, which include Exxon and Conoco.
Ms. Bond added that the residents include “locals, people who are moving back from going to school or building a career elsewhere or people who are relocating for work. There are a lot of business owners and CEOs and higher-up corporate employees along with medical workers, engineers and attorneys.”
Interior of a luxury, $1.5 million home in Ironwood, Billings, Montana.
Cinematography & Production by HammondVisualMediaNotable Residents
According to Mr. Wagenhals, Ironwood residents include Montana State Sen. Cary Smith; retired Boston Orioles baseball pitcher Jeff Ballard; former Denver Broncos football fullback Spencer Larsen; Billings Clinic neurosurgeon Dusty Richardson, who collaborated on a 3-D printed surgical mask in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic; and dancer and choreographer Betsy Harris, who was featured on the 1980s musical TV show “Solid Gold.”
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Outlook
While the median price of homes in Billings appreciates at a rate of 3% to 4% annually, according to Multiple Listing Service data, Ironwood houses, and higher-priced properties in the local market, are appreciating at a 1% to 1.5% rate in the long term, Ms. Bond said. He added that the median price per square foot in Ironwood was $129.75 three years ago and $133 last year.
She pointed out that the city’s diverse economy—the recent entry of more big-box retail stores, and the medical, energy and green-energy industries—is a stabilizing force that will keep the community on the same course in the future because it is “bringing many people with higher-paid jobs to our area.”
The fact that there’s no state sales tax also is a key driver in attracting new residents and businesses. “The culture has been changing over the last 10 years, focusing mainly on local enterprise: There are a lot of breweries, local dining and small boutiques that have taken over the bigger chains,” she said.
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The city’s improvements to infrastructure also will buoy the Ironwood market, she said, adding that Billings is “improving trails, expanding bike paths, creating downtown walkability, rejuvenating low-income neighborhoods, creating alternative routes for ease of traffic within the city and expanding the airport,” all of which make Ironwood a more desirable place to live.
“In the crash of 2008, we saw a two- to three-year drop in value, but we were back to par in only two years while the rest of the country took much longer to recover,” Mr. Wagenhals said.
He added that in January, before the coronavirus pandemic in the United States was at its peak, the median list price in Ironwood was $749,500 and that the median turnaround time was 30 days. In April, the turnaround time was 193 days and the list price was $717,4540.