New England has a rich history in the outdoors; from lumberjacks to lobster fishermen, the first settlers based their roots in the diverse landscape. Matt MacMillan of North Conway, New Hampshire, found himself skiing the woods around his hometown from a young age. With mountains like Attitash Ski Area and Cranmore Mountain Resort, he had multiple options of where to perfect his S turns on skis. In the summer months, Matt often spent the early mornings and late afternoons angling in the creeks that slither their way through New England. His father and uncle introduced him to harvesting whitetail deer as an early teen. The outdoors played a large role in Matt’s young life and continued when he decided to study at the University of New Hampshire.
His years spent in Durham, NH, consisted of studying within his wildlife management degree and ample skiing. By this time, he and his friends were tired of the resort skiing in the Northeast. They started skiing notorious expeditions, like Tuckerman’s Ravine. Matt has pride as he claims, “we skied tucks in 203 slalom skis and hiked up in Dunham boots with white cotton socks.” Spring of 1996, marked graduation for Matt, and in November of that year he and four friends made the perpetual move of east coasters to the West.
They ended up in Vail, Colorado, where they were “blown away” by the powder that he had dreamt of for some many years. When the spring skiing hit Vail, they decided to pack up into a car to explore the other mountains in the Rocky Mountain West. One of their stops was Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Matt fell for the western lifestyle. He went back to Vail that summer and worked at a landscaping company where he met a woman who would one day become his wife.
November of 1997, Matt and his friends found themselves packed into a small condo in Jackson Hole, WY. Matt had the two-year plan of living out West skiing powder, harvesting elk and fishing the rivers around Jackson. This was Matt’s lifestyle until the spring of 1999, when he obtained his real estate license. He worked in the residential sales and development business until 2005.
One of his UNH friends, Tate Jarry, started working at Live Water Properties, and Matt quickly joined the team in 2005. Matt has been with LWP for 14 years now and has enjoyed himself, “the nature of the business and the product we deal with is inherently interesting, we get to deal with incredible properties, and we get to meet exceptional people through that process.” Since joining Live Water Properties, Matt has averaged an annual sales volume of $20 Million and is credited with over $240 Million in sales during that time. He was awarded the top producer in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2017.
Matt claims that it is too difficult to say what his favorite transaction has been over the years as each is different with its own specific beauty. “One really rewarding aspect of the business for me is getting to truly understand a buyer’s vision for his/ her perfect ranch and finding that property. Oftentimes a property is more about the ‘feel’ that it gives a buyer, which is hard to measure and equates to much more than acres or river miles.” His goals for the next year are to help the sellers that he is currently representing to find buyers that will carry on the traditions that they have instilled on their properties. A few to mention are the Sixty Six Farm, Silvertree Ranch and 3 Bar H Ranch.
Matt currently resides in Jackson Hole, WY with his wife, Sarah and three daughters. Matt and Sarah have successfully instilled the love for the outdoors in the girls. Matt took Avery out last year and watched her harvest her first bull elk, a highlight of Dad’s hunting season. Avery, Kylie and Hadley are all avid skiers with the older two girls alpine racing with the Jackson Hole Ski Club. “The girls rip on skis, my only chance to keep up these days is with the five-year-old but my days are numbered with her too!”
Matt has a lot of sayings that he likes to throw around the office. His mantra for 2019, “keep hammering.” He hopes that in the future it may be more along the lines, “more fishing and more skiing,” but time will tell to see where he is by then.
