Suddenly, you’re hearing a lot of talk from people that aren’t as crazy about Denver as they used to be — about the runup in housing prices, the traffic congestion and less tangible things … the density, the decline in neighborliness. Two-and-a-half hours north of town, Steve Amick of The Brooks Companies meets Denverites who not only talk about those issues, but actually put their money into a remedy — for properties that are the direct opposite of what they see around the Mile High. Lots at Wild Horse Ranch are 300 times the size of typical lots here, in surroundings where the elk and antelope outnumber the humans.
A decade ago, when Brooks planners created 16,000-acre Wild Horse Ranch from an estate west of Laramie, they parceled it into 380 sites averaging 40 acres each, spread from Medicine Bow National Forest in the west, east across rolling prairie dotted with some large lakes. As Californians began pouring into Colorado, Amick watched his sales climb — increasingly to Denverites.
He now has just 43 parcels left; however, you could make a day exploring what he has left: including a dozen sites that have prices under $100,000; others with premium settings on a lake, or backing to the National Forest or other federal lands. The very most expensive is for 40 acres reaching up the slopes toward Sheep Mountain in the National Forest (itap $320,000 — way below what a new tract home costs in Denver). From under $200,000 you can buy 40 acres on Lake Hattie, accessible to power boats, jet skis and sail craft; or on a smaller lake from $130,000 to $150,000.
Not only are more of those buyers arriving from Colorado, but they’re choosing to build right away, rather than wait, says Amick. Some opt to build homes here (including a few who commute to Fort Collins, 90 minutes); while others choose to stay planted in the Front Range, driving their RV the two-and-a-half hours up to Wild Horse Ranch for weekends or longer stays — building a barn or outbuilding where they can hide their ATV or other toys.
“They’re not waiting to retire,” Amick told me. “They’re purchasing ahead, or for their kids.” He adds that Denver visitors complain to him about how much time they spend in traffic getting to the mountains. Wild Horse Ranch, he replies, is on the way to Snowy Range Ski Area, open for the season 15 miles west, with 27 trails through 250 acres.
“We’re seeing buyers wanting to get away from urban areas, back to a simpler life,” adds Alan Olson, marketing director for The Brooks Companies, who oversees numbers of properties like this around the Rocky Mountain West. “Prices in Colorado are up so much that we’re now getting people coming back to see Wild Horse Ranch who had visited four years ago.”
Make your trip up to Wild Horse Ranch before Christmas and you’ll be offered $4,000 off your purchase, if you close by year end. The Brooks Companies offer additional discounts for cash, or for U.S. military vets. You’re virtually guaranteed to see wildlife, including 250 elk roaming during winter; along with the ranch’s namesake wild horses. You’ll pass through electronic entry gates that provide 24-hour security, and you’ll note how close this is to shopping and dining 20 minutes away in Laramie; and to Laramie Regional Airport, used by some owners for commutes into Denver.
Owner-carry financing is available from 10 percent down. Call Steve Amick to set up your visit, 307-277-1333. Wild Horse Ranch is west of Laramie along Snowy Range Road. Take I-25 to Fort Collins and follow U.S. 287 to I-80 in Laramie. From I-80, take Exit 311, Snowy Range Road, head west a half-mile, and then veer NORTH on Snowy Range Road, and head west 18 miles to the gate.
And watch for Wild Horse Ranch at the International Sportsmen’s Expo at Denver Coliseum, Jan. 11-14.
The news and editorial staffs of The Denver Post had no role in this postap preparation.