'Recently purchased a kayak from a retired physician from the Bay Area, who moved to Montana several years ago. He and his wife embraced the outdoors, designed and built a really cool secluded place in the hills of a gated rural community. However, they have now sold the place and are returning to an urban condo back in San Francisco. I think you are correct; the winter and wind "erode" the enthusiasm for the Montana adventure after a few years. That is likely why there are so many mega million dollar mansions on acreage for sale as retired folks build their huge dream house "cabin-in-the-woods" only to realize the hardships of winter and spring runoff in Montana. What seems wasteful to me is that those "estates" often sit on the realty market for long periods, because if one has that kind of wealth why would they buy someone else's dream when they can clear another forest lot and build their own mega millions mansion dream?!