MyTownCryer

It feels like home!

One of the great things about Denver’s Residential Real Estate is its “Hidden Charms”. Scattered throughout the Metro Area, residential enclaves surprise the adventuresome house hunter. Denver, Lakewood, Aurora, Broomfield, Golden, Littleton, Englewood, Cherry Hills Village, Greenwood Village, Parker, Castle Rock and Morrison all enjoy their own little slices of heaven.

As Centennial matures into a safe, respected and highly accessible city, it too enjoys its own slices of residential heaven. In the early 1970s when Centennial was unincorporated Arapahoe County, some of the most respected names in residential construction sought their fame and fortune along what are now the Streets of Centennial. Writer, Sanford, Celebrity, Hallcraft, Richmond and many others staked their claims along the grids created by Arapahoe Road, Dry Creek Road, S. Holly Street and S. Quebec Street.

One community created by Sanford Homes gave residents 8 tennis courts, 3 community pools, an intertwined greenbelt system allowing kids to walk to a neighborhood elementary school and an interior core which became Willow Springs Open Space. With kids walking to Homestead Elementary School during the school year and neighborhood pools in summertime, it didn’t take long for the summer swim team to start feeding Cherry Creek High School with State Champions year in and year out. With the competitive nature of surrounding communities like Heritage Greens, Foxridge, Willow Creek, Cherry Park, Heritage Village and Heritage Place summer competition is still churning out championship swimmers 30 years later.

It takes more than a swim team to make a neighborhood however, and Homestead enjoys a diversity that really allows a ladder of ownership supporting first time buyers to “I’ve Arrived” homes to empty nest opportunities. Homestead in the Willows enjoys the benefits of a large Single Family Detached enclave, the Homestead Villages tend to be focused retirement enclaves, Sturbridge reflects the colonial townhouse rows often found in and around Boston, Olde Mill condominiums and Mill Creek paired homes offer very affordable entry points. But the jewels of Homestead, Willows End and The Parkway secretly enjoy a market fanaticism that seldom occurs.

People routinely ask, “What is it about those parkway houses?” Once you drive through and see the advantages of the access to pools and schools, the bucolic serenity of the open space, the architectural conformity, the pride of ownership and one of those sunsets, most people “shop ‘till they drop” to get into Willows End or The Parkway.

Homestead @ Willows End enjoys 17 perimeter custom home sites and 16 interior patio home style sites with a private street and 2 acres of common area that is always immaculately groomed. Tree lined white railed fences, define the enclave’s special status within the community. The abutting open space allows it to have a perception of very low density. Right next door along Homestead Parkway is Homestead on the Parkway. Not much bigger with only 45 custom home sites, The Parkway has 20 perimeter open space sites. The fact that there is only 37 perimeter sites on 120 acres of natural open space fuels the constant market demand from the surrounding community. It is not uncommon for these locations to sell by word of mouth.

Many of the current and past Parkway and Willows End owners have had 1, 2 and even three other homes in Homestead before arriving on “on the parkway”. “It’s just that type of community.” Although many of the original owners have been lost to other worlds, they always seem to be back for Christmas parties, summer BBQs and that “little slice of heaven” they once called home. It’s true what they say, “You can take the person out of Homestead, but you can’t take the Homestead out of the person”.