Getting your player ready...
In a market where too many buyers are chasing too few houses, no other homes are in higher demand than ranches, and no neighborhoods are more sought after than ones for age-55-plus buyers who want ranch style single-level living. But when you meet the people who were lucky enough to buy those ranches in 2013 or 2014, you find that what they really like about what they have now isn’t the homes, but the people.
“The thing about this neighborhood is we pass information to each other,” says Jim Chisel, sitting with four other guys at Fairway Villas’ new clubhouse at Green Valley Ranch. The group meets to chat over drinks every weekday afternoon – a short walk from the ranches Oakwood Homes created around their age-55-plus preferences. Sometimes the talk is about politics, but today it’s NFL football, with former Atlanta Falcon’s defensive back Al Lavan giving recollections of Dallas Head Coach Tom Landry. Lavan, who bought here with his wife last year, went on to coach for Dallas, Atlanta and Delaware State after an injury took him off the NFL roster. Lavan began talking about coming to Colorado 15 years ago, and he’s now a typical Fairway Villas buyer – from out of state, moving to be near family, or just wanting the active lifestyle here. He shopped numbers of communities but didn’t feel comfortable with a builder until he worked with the Oakwood team you’ll meet today: “We talked to the people here and it was like night and day,” he recalls. Lavan and other guys are back from hosting a Valentine’s Day pancake breakfast; and with their wives are regulars at a non-stop lineup of other events – including a Fish Fry planned at the clubhouse this coming Friday (You can ask an Oakwood sales rep about getting tickets — $10 each – and a chance to meet the people here). Fairway Villas has a full-time activities director, Lindsey Petersen, who coordinates events ranging from painting classes to water sports in the indoor-outdoor pools, to a hiking club, to cooking classes, to a knock-around golf group. Residents get reduced green fees and advance tee times on Green Valley Ranch’s pretty championship course, arrayed among cottonwoods behind the club – and play the par-3 course there for free. You’ll also get to see Oakwood’s very creative ranch plans – all with an added ‘Smart Space’ second level for a guest suite or library/hobby space, or home theater. “You have time to plan your move now,” says Oakwood’s Trishell MacDonald, noting that Oakwood’s build-time for a ranch to your order is right around six months – in by fall, plenty of time to plan the sale of the old place. Meanwhile, Oakwood’s prices at Fairway Villas start from the upper $200s – for big single-family ranches, not duplexes or townhomes – becoming a standalone value in a market where retirement-type homes are getting very expensive. To visit, take Peña (DIA freeway) north to E. 56th, then east 1.2 miles to Dunkirk and right to 54th Place. WHERE: Fairway Villas, Green Valley Ranch Golf Club by Oakwood Homes, 55-and-older enclave, clubhouse with bar, workout area & pool, 3 ranch model homes. 19394 E. 54th Pl., Denver; take Peña Blvd (DIA Fwy) north to E. 56th, east 1.2 mi. (past Tower) to Dunkirk, right to E. 54th; or from Green Valley Ranch Blvd, take Himalaya north PRICE: Golf community living from $294,900and business; you can email him at
mark@samuelsonassoc.com. You can
see all of Mark Samuelson’s columns online at DenverPostHomes.com
