Getting your player ready...
Three years ago, Loveland and Windsor were hot spots in Colorado’s housing market, when Denver was lagging. Now Denver’s prices are soaring – and Windsor east of Loveland is a place where you can find deals on the kind of low-maintenance, single-family patio ranches that are commanding small fortunes now closer to the Mile High.
If you haven’t been up to see Windsor, you’re going to be amazed what’s waiting over the hill when you head east from I-25, five miles to the town’s Water Valley master planned community, wrapping 27 holes of championship golf and five large lakes linked by trails. Lennar Homes roared through 21 sales here since last summer, and has a half dozen patio ranches near-ready now for what’s expected to be a high-demand market this spring – at prices that look very appealing. That includes a 1,749-square-foot Oxford ranch that Lennar’s Tiffany White will show you, on a site that backs to a putting green commons. The home has full hardwood floors covering the full kitchen and great room area, everything but the carpeted spaces; along with granite counters, a fireplace, and an oversized covered deck big enough for a party – 10 x 27 feet. The two-bedroom-plus-study plan has a full basement under nine-foot ceilings for future expansion. The price is $384,900, and there’s another ranch ready nearby at $366,900. “It’s a beautiful home with glass-block backsplashes and lots of natural light,” says White. Better yet, homes in Lennar’s Stonewater enclave in Water Valley include front-and-backyard landscape fully maintained for a monthly HOA of $150. That includes private tennis courts – and Lennar will offer you a one-year free golf membership at Water Valley’s top-rated Pelican Lakes Golf Club, with a lodge-style clubhouse with resort pool and restaurant/sports bar opening to a view of the peaks behind Loveland. If you want to keep that membership next year, you just pay the monthly; the initiation fee is waived. All of this sounds age-restricted, but Lennar’s Stonewater is open to buyers regardless of age – also attracting younger ones that want low-maintenance as much as the empty-nest crowd does. “Windsor exudes a Colorado lifestyle,” White told me, showing off the trails and lakes in Water Valley – some with 25-foot depth and sand beaches, wrapped by 7.5 miles of trail. Rather than mowing and raking, buyers here have that waiting, along with a funky downtown restaurant scene in Windsor, and Northern Colorado’s easier access to fishing and hiking up Big Thompson and Poudre River canyons. You can explore that today or tomorrow, five miles east of I-25 just north of Centerra. If coming from Fort Collins, just head east on Harmony, past I-25 another four miles to Hwy 257/Rd 17 and turn south, through Windsor, to New Liberty Road. Or from Denver take I-25 north, past the U.S. 36 Loveland exit, to Crossroads Boulevard, head east to New Liberty; turn left a few blocks to Vineyard Drive. WHERE: Stonewater at Water Valley by Lennar, low-maintenance patio ranches in master-plan with lakes, trails, 27-hole golf course, year membership included, Otis Spunkmeyer cookies today. 2098 Vineyard Dr., Windsor; take I-25 north past Loveland to Exit 259/Crossroads Blvd, east 5 mi. to New Liberty Rd; left to Vineyard. Or from Fort Collins east on Harmony past I-25 4 mi. to Hwy 257/Rd 17, south 5 mi. PRICE: From the $360s, ready now from $366,900and business; you can email him at
mark@samuelsonassoc.com. You can
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