>By Mark Samuelson

Orchard Hills, within walking distance east of the Denver Tech Center, has a secluded ambiance that wraps a trace work of ponds and trails; with half-acre and larger home sites that were left unfenced from its original 1960s development plan – creating the semblance for residents of even more treed open space.

Broker Carol Baker of The Denver 100 shows off remodeled, chalet-styled raised ranch in Orchard Hills, Greenwood Village

Denver 100 agent Carol Baker will show you a raised ranch in there that has what doesn’t come standard with most Orchard Hills homes – complete makeover of its 60s-era architecture with entertaining areas and alluring outdoor spaces. more »

By Mark Samuelson

As agents look over the metro area this spring, the Ken-Caryl Valley west of Littleton is particularly interesting to watch. Enclosed by 6,000 acres of open space west of C-470, it has no homes in the ‘affordable’ range that analysts say should sell quickly this spring – plenty of homes in the mid-range where recovery should be slower. Yet agents are seeing much brisker sales there.

Roze Team members Becky Berzins, left, Rachel Schroeder and Sandra Rozeboom sold this Ken-Caryl Valley home that had been its lowest listing. It received three competing offers.

“We haven’t seen this activity in years,” says Denver 100 agent Sandra Rozeboom, who has specialized in Ken-Caryl Valley since the 1980s when its 1,668-home master plan was first launched. From Jan. 1, Rozeboom notes, the Valley has seen 18 homes closed and another 18 go under contract. Only three of the sales were in the Valley’s lowest price range of $300,000 to $400,000. more »

Terri and Derek Zukosky were committed to Denver and its center-city neighborhoods: They’d migrated from Cheesman to Wash Park and then to Cory Merrill, and along the way did a scrape-and-build house on one of its urban sites.

Toll Brothers’ Cynthia Considine showed off her ‘Bella’ model after it opened last August. She’s taken four reservations since Jan. 1 on the homes, wrapped by trails and amenities.

Now, improbably, the couple is moving ten miles west of Wash Park to Solterra, near Green Mountain and Red Rocks Park, where Toll Brothers is finishing off a new home for them. more »