Member-only story
The Masque of the Red State
How Jackson Hole could turn into a story by Edgar Allan Poe
Guess which county in the U.S. is the wealthiest?
No, it’s not New York County or any of the surrounding boroughs’ counties. It’s not San Francisco County, despite the Google busses and the insane real estate prices, nor is it Santa Clara County, the cradle of Silicon Valley. It’s not Santa Barbara County either, even though the median home price there is over $1.1 million.
It’s Teton County, Wyoming. In a state with less than 600,000 people and a population density that ranks 55 out of 56 U.S. states and territories, Teton County — or at least its major city, Jackson Hole, is also the playground of the ultra-wealthy.
The rich like a home where the buffalo roam
And who can blame them? Jackson Hole, surrounded as it is by wide-open spaces framed by the jaw-dropping Grand Tetons, is one of the most scenic places in the U.S. if not the world. It’s the kind of place where billionaires, weary of the urban rat race they dwell above in their multiple city digs, can really stretch out and relax.
Amidst Jackson Hole’s rugged beauty, the far-more-than-comfortably-well-off can get in touch with the spirit of the Old West…
