Solterra, Euro-styled village near Red Rocks, has 34 luxury home sales in 2009
By Mark Samuelson
In a year when the market for new homes should be lackluster all over the state, a European village on a hillside in Jefferson County has 30 sales racked up…at an average price that’s way, way beyond what’s supposed to be selling now: around $846,000.

Welcoming at Solterra are (from left) Carrol Howard, Wall Custom Homes; Sara Dieringer, Cardel; Lindsay Gannott, Infinity; Mike Copp, custom home sales; Steve Kruse, Infinity; Peggy Marvin, Remington; and Cardell’s Christine Busboom..
You can tour a special open house today at Solterra, east of Red Rocks (it has its own interchange on 470 near Dinosaur Ridge)…with sharp looking homes and patio homes starting way below that average, from $484,900. Four builders and a half dozen custom builders have models to show…including Remington Homes, which opened a new ranch-patio model three weeks ago…had 300 people out the first day, and took five sales.
Some of those buyers are coming from out of state…wowed by the dramatic landscape around Morrison…but others, says Remington’s Peggy Marvin, are lured from the least likely neighborhoods…Wash Park and LoDo…wanting to keep the new-urban feel, but at closer access to golf and the mountains. “They love it, they think it has a younger feel,” she told me, adding that one buyer is planning a wedding at Solterra’s “Retreat” community center…a 6,000-foot Tuscan villa that sprawls over the hillside, with pool and facilities you absolutely have to see.
At the other end of the price scale are spectacular customs from prices around $900,000…and semi-customs by venerable Wall Custom Homes that are priced from $679,000 but have drawn seven sales to date, centered in the $830s, a territory that should sound encouraging to Realtors all over the western suburbs. “We’ve had zero issues with people selling their older homes,” added Christine Busboom with Cardell Homes, marking 15 sales in 2009 from three great looking models from the $480s. “People are absolutely surprised by how quick things sell.”
You can also explore trails and hidden picnic areas in scattered in open space on Solterra’s 800-acre site…and some nicer restaurants that have opened in Morrison, adding to shopping/dining possibilities nearby on Alameda, Union, and at BelMar.
Take C-470 north from Morrison or south from I-70 to Alameda and head east.
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WHERE: Solterra, master-planned community by Carma Developers, with luxury homes & patio homes, open space, Tuscan styled community center; light refreshments today at five sites. Take C-470 either north past Morrison or south from I-70 to new interchange at Alameda Parkway and head east 1 mi. to Indiana head east 1/2 mile to Solterra.
PRICE: From the high $400s; customs from $900s
WHEN: Today, 11 a.m. until 6 p.m.
PHONE: 303-790-6611 WEB: www.delwebb.com/colorado
Tags: Carma Development, Jeffco, Jefferson county real estate, Red Rocks, Solterra
