Castle Pines, Colorado

Reducing Water Use

2008-07-01T10:54:00.001-07:00

By Dr. James R. Feucht, Extension Professor, Horticulture, Colorado State University
Less is more -- and better -- when water is involved. Cost increases, as well as shortages thanks to a low snow-pack, make water conservation a priority in 2002. With a few tricks, you can cut water consumption and still maintain a beautiful yard.
Check your sprinkler system. After danger of frost is past, turn it on, and observe where the water goes. Adjust sprinkler heads to point water where it is needed. In some cases, a different type of head may be in order. Most sprinkler systems are designed to water a lawn, but often they overlap and irrigate shrubs, trees and flower gardens that need less frequent watering. You may need to change entire portions of your sprinkler system to gain control over location and frequency of watering.
North exposure lawns do not need as much water as south or west exposures. Change your sprinkler system to occasionally skip waterings on north exposures, and to provide more water to sunny areas.
Most systems sprinkle in a circle or semi-circle pattern. Change your lawn to fit the sprinklers. Do away with corners that often are skipped. In place of lawn, consider ground covers that, once established, require little or no water. Creeping junipers, sedums and the old-fashioned hen-n-chicks do the job well.
Avoid large areas of gravel and plastic. While this method decreases lawn, it does not necessarily reduce water consumption. Light-colored gravel reflects a lot of heat and can create a microclimate resulting in greater water loss from the surrounding lawn. Black plastic over shrubs and trees creates oxygen starvation, causing these plants to develop shallow roots just beneath the plastic. After a few years, even drought-enduring trees such as Russian-olive develop shallow roots and lose their drought-tolerance. Plastic and gravel, therefore, are self-defeating. The new "breathable" fabrics are a better choice.
Wood chips or bark chunks, used without plastic or fabric, make a good mulch. These decorative materials allow air and water penetration, yet keep the soil cool. Heavier bark chunks are best in strong wind areas. Light weight wood chips will blow. Apply these mulches at least four inches deep to conserve water, as well as to discourage moisture loss and weeds. Over a period of time, materials closest to the soil will begin to break down to improve the soil. Add new chips after a few years.
Use drought-tolerant plants to reduce water consumption. Keep them separate from lawn and other plants that require more water. Design a succulent garden. Desert plants and nearly all succulents must have sandy, well-drained soils, of which there are few in Colorado.
With some effort you can convert your soil. Put three inches of coarse sand on top and incorporate it with a rototiller. Repeat using one inch of organic material such as aged barnyard manure or peat moss. This provides a well-drained top soil six to nine inches deep. Along with cacti and other succulents, consider gazania for a splash of color. This low-growing, drought-tolerant plant grows readily from seed and produces large showy flowers. Another choice is Cape Marigold, often called African daisy. This almost forgotten annual comes in a variety of colors including yellow, apricot and white. A variety of sedums or stonecrops also will produce interesting foliage, texture and color changes. Dragon's blood is one of the most popular. It produces a rose-red flower during the summer months.
Before you water, dig down and find out if the soil is dry. Don't gauge water needs on soil surface appearance. In this semi-arid climate, the surface dries quickly, but evaporation slows beneath. This is because dry soils tend to insulate, acting much as mulch. This insulation reduces heat conduction deep into the soil.
Black organic soil also is desirable, but it builds up heat and can be a water waster. Dark soils absorb heat and can need water as frequently as light-colored soils. The type of organic material makes a difference. Many mountain peats create a water problem. When they're dry, they are difficult to wet and they repel water. When they are wet, they are difficult to dry. The best organics to improve water-holding capacity are coarse materials such as compost and barnyard manures.

Cherokee Ranch History

2008-07-01T08:51:00.000-07:00

History of Cherokee Ranch & Castle
The Flower Homestead – Late 1800s Frederick Gerald Flower filed for his homestead on August 6, 1894. He had renounced his English citizenship two years prior and planned to make a life here. He constructed his stone house and moved in with his wife, Amy, and his sister, Beatrice, on January 18, 1895.The Flower Family home was perched on the edge of a high plateau with stunning views of the Front Range. The long trail to his house begins at the old territorial road, now named Daniels Park Road. Back then, there were very few inhabitants nearby due to the land’s rugged terrain.On his homestead claim form, Flowers wrote that he had plowed twelve acres and strung a half-mile of barbed wire to contain his livestock. Local lore says that he actually used these twelve acres to raise potatoes.Frederick Flower prospered and added land to his holdings. At the time of the sale of his ranch to Charles Johnson in 1924, the property measured 2,380 acres.The Blunt Homestead – Late 1800sJohn Blunt brought his family west in 1868 following his service in the Civil War and homesteaded land on East Plum Creek near the town of Sedalia. Their first home site was abandoned, allegedly because the site was too cold. They built a new house in 1873 and named their homestead Sunflower Ranch.At Sunflower Ranch, the Blunt family raised cattle and planted wheat and sorghum on the creek terraces. Three generations of their family ran the cattle and farming operations at Sunflower Ranch for over 81 years. They gradually purchased adjacent homesteads and gained 1,550 total acres. Their land included the mountain on what is now Cherokee Ranch.In its place and time, their 1,370 square foot house was proudly elegant, a most unusual house in the rural landscape. The house seems to have no stylistic precedent in pattern books of the mid and late nineteenth century, and the design is attributed to the inventive common sense of John Blunt.The 1873 Blunt house still stands today at the center of the outbuildings at Cherokee Ranch headquarters. An apple tree, brought from Kansas by John Blunt in 1868, stands east of the house. It is believed that branches trimmed from this apple tree were used as the porch columns for Flower Homestead on the ranch. The Blunt house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994 and is recognized as one of the finest and best-preserved ranches in Douglas County. Tweet Kimball purchased the Blunt holdings from Ray Blunt in 1954.Johnson Family – Early 1900sCharles Alfred Johnson (Carl) was originally from Boston but discovered Denver during a trip with his cousin. He fell in love with the west and moved to Denver in 1891. He began a real estate business and ultimately became a wealthy real estate tycoon, specifically for the development of Denver's historic Park Hill neighborhood.After the passing of his first two wives, Carl and his third wife, Alice Gifford Phillips, settled south of Denver. Carl purchased the Flower Homestead property for $5 an acre in 1924. Soon after the purchase, Carl hired architect Burnham Hoyt to begin construction of his residence that turned from a summer home to his year-round residence. Charlford Castle, built from 1924-1926, was named after Alice's son Gifford and Alice and Carl's son Charlie. Hoyt designed the residence with architectural details from English and Scottish castles and other county homes west of the Flower Homestead.When Carl's health began to fail in 1949, he and Alice temporarily moved to California. After Alice's death in 1950, Carl returned to Denver each summer and stayed at the Brown Palace Hotel. His visits were always front-page news. Carl died in 1954 a very wealthy man. After growing up at Charlford, Carl's son, Charles Johnson, Jr. (Charlie), lived there with his wife Katherine Sweet Johnson, and their two children Shelly Elizabeth and Charles Alfred III. Before selling the property to Tweet Kimball in 1954, the family traveled back and forth between Charlford and California because of Charlie's health problems. Shelly Johnson Carter now lives in Saratoga Springs, New York, and Charles Alfred III lives in Denver.Tweet Kimball – Mid 1900sMildred Montigue Genevieve Kimball, also know as 'Tweet' Kimball, lived at Cherokee Ranch from 1954-1999. An avid equestrian, she purchased two parcels of land, the Castle and Castle property (formerly known as the Flower Homestead) from Charles Johnson, Jr., and the adjacent Blunt Ranch (formerly known as the Blunt Homestead) from Ray Blunt in 1954. She renamed both pieces of land Cherokee Ranch and their combined totaled acreage remains over 3,100 acres. Tweet Kimball made her mark by renaming the building groupings on land. The Flower Homestead became Chickamauga, Charlford Castle became Cherokee Castle, the Johnson Farm become Wauhatchie and the Blunt Homestead became Amnicola.When she purchased the Blunt Property in 1954, she wanted to use buildings as the hub of her cattle breeding operations. Tweet brought Santa Gertrudis cattle from Texas to Colorado. This breed was developed to thrive on the native grasses of the South Texas brush country. Tweet wanted to breed them in the colder climate of Colorado but her critics thought it couldn't be done. Mrs. Kimball proved them wrong – Santa Gertrudis are now bred all over the world and the Cherokee Ranch is recognized within cattle breeding circles for this legacy.In 1996, Tweet Kimball sold Cherokee Ranch in a conservation easement to Douglas County. The Foundation holds the deed to the land. The land is now protected as a wildlife sanctuary but Santa Gertrudis cattle are still bred on the land.

Kiwanis Club After Hours - August 5

2008-07-01T08:20:00.002-07:00

The Kiwanis Club of Castle Pines in conjunction with the newly renamed Castle Pines Chamber of Commerce will be hosting an after hours event on Tuesday August 5 from 5-7 pm at Jimmy's Steakhouse.
This is a great opportunity to learn more about the club and consider membership. The club meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month for lunch at La Dolce Vita. They also meet the first Monday of the month in the evening for a social hour.
The Kiwanis Club runs the Second Wind Fund of Douglas County and regularly volunteers and supports the Kiwanis Pediatric Trauma Institute, Douglas County Libraries, Project C.U.R.E, 9Cares Colorado Shares, Douglas County Task Force, and the Women's Crisis Center to name a few.

Market in the Pines

2008-07-01T08:20:00.001-07:00

An outdoor, open-air “Market in the Pines” will take place the third Saturday of each month June through September. True outdoor market style format will include antiques, unusual artifacts, eclectic home and garden accessories, collectibles, clothing, jewelry, floral, epicurean delights, produce and much more.

The Ridge

2008-07-01T08:16:00.001-07:00

The Ridge Course at Castle Pines North, a Troon Golf managed facility is Colorado's premier upscale public experience. Since our opening in July 1997, our Tom Weiskopf design has received National and Statewide recognition. The Ridge is a par 71 challenge playing from four sets of tees ranging from 5,000 yards to more than 7,000 yards and is maintained to the highest of standards.
ACCOLADES
*NEW* #10 'Best Places You Can Play' GolfWeek 2007, 2008
#1 ‘Best Course to Hold a Corporate Event', by ColoradoBiz MAGAZINE, 2005, 2006, 2007
#1 Front Range Course, “Best of Colorado Golf”, by COLORADO AVID GOLFER, 2003, 2004, 2005
#1 “Top 10 Public Course in Colorado” by COLORADO GOLF, 1997-2001, 2003
#74 “ Top 100 You Can Play’, by GOLF MAGAZINE, 2004
4 ½ Stars, ‘Places You Can Play’, by GOLF DIGEST, 2002, 2004
#9 ‘America’s Best Courses, State by State’, by GOLFWEEK, 2003
#1 ‘Best Course To Bring Clients’, by COLORADO AVID GOLFER, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
#1 ‘Best Course Over $100’, by COLORADO AVID GOLFER, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
#1 ‘Best Maintained Course’, by COLORADO AVID GOLFER, 2004

Castle Pines Country Club

2008-07-01T08:13:00.000-07:00

The Country Club at Castle Pines is one of Colorado’s premier private golf clubs. Featuring a magnificent Jack Nicklaus Signature championship golf course, nestled in the pines, with craggy rock outcroppings and awe inspiring views, our golf course provides challenging terrain in a majestic setting.
Set high on a cliff with panoramic views of the Front Range, our clubhouse offers an elegant yet comfortable atmosphere where staff greets you by name, and where you can dine by a massive stone fireplace in a dining room that celebrates our Rocky Mountain surroundings. Indeed, it is this kind of incomparable experience for which the Country Club at Castle Pines has become known. It is also an important reason why our Club has been ranked among the Denver area’s finest golf clubs.
Golf events for members, their spouses and children were well attended and enjoyable for all. We are also pleased to offer our members some of the finest golf instruction in Colorado, along with an expansive driving range and practice facility that is the envy of other clubs in the region. The dining room is alive with an array of social events and activities for all members of the family, and the pro shop showcases the very latest in golf equipment and apparel.
Though the membership in The Country Club at Castle Pines has been filled for many years, a few memberships have become available as a result of our recent conversion from a developer-owned club to a member-owned club.

Sanctuary Golf Course

2008-07-01T08:12:00.000-07:00

The History of Sanctuary
Offering a stunning panorama of the Rocky Mountains, the Sanctuary golf course is situated on a dramatic 220-acre site. Designed by renowned architect Jim Engh, the course was built in 1996 by RE/MAX Chairman and Co-Founder Dave Liniger.Liniger created the PGA-quality course in large part as a private enclave for charity golf tournaments. In the eight-year history of Sanctuary, charities have raised more than $23 million. Sanctuary provides golfers with more than great scenery – the challenging layout also has a reputation for forcing strategic choices throughout a round. For example, the first tee overlooks the Rocky Mountains, with a 185-foot drop to the fairway on the 604-yard, par-5 first hole.

Castle Pines North Incorporates

2008-07-01T07:56:00.000-07:00

CASTLE PINES NORTH This is not your typical Colorado city.
For example, there is no real "downtown." There is a golf course, 65 businesses in a shopping area off of Castle Pines Parkway exit on I-25, and more than 30 homeowners' associations for subdivisions with names like "Forest Park," "BristleCone," and "The Retreat."
There's no city hall yet.
And that's because Castle Pines North is the state's newest city, born Tuesday when voters here chose to incorporate. But don't look for this city in your phone book; everyone's mailing address here is still Castle Rock.
The 9,500 residents of this Douglas County community 20 miles south of Denver where the average house sells for more than half a million dollars prize the area's unhurried lifestyle. They're more likely to see an elk or a deer than a McDonald's, and they like that.
What else do you need to know about this fledgling 2,437-acre city?
We asked local "experts" Tim Gamble, 58, a resident since 1990, and Ron Clark, assistant Douglas County attorney, a resident since 1986, a year after houses started being built in the area.
First store to open in the city:
The Country Market, according to Gamble, which no longer exists. It has been replaced by the Castle Rock Bank on the Parkway shopping center. The market was the "only thing around for nine miles." Clark said the store was a place to get soup and sandwiches.
Most famous resident:
While Gamble said "there's a cast of characters that would fill up a 19th-century novel," he admits he doesn't know of any famous resident. Clark said he knows of one famous resident, Bill Winter, who ran against Congressman Tom Tancredo in 2006.
Best place to have a beer on a Friday night:
Tucson, jokes Gamble, before saying, "The best place to grab a beer around her is at your friend's house."
"We have a long history of getting together at a friend's house because there wasn't any other place to go."
Clark prefers Vinoteca, a wine bar in the Parkway shopping center.
Best place to grab a cup of coffee:
Clark and Gamble say the Starbucks next to the Castle Rock Bank is the ideal place to get your morning brew.
Little known facts about the city:
"Well, we're one day old," Gamble said. "The little known fact is that there's very little known facts."
Clark remembers that at one point in the late 1980s, the Castle Pines North metro district went bankrupt and was unable to pay the bonds for the development.
Wildlife you are most likely to see:
"We have bunnies coming out of our ears," said Gamble, before adding that besides the foxes, owls and snakes, lately there have been bear and mountain lion sightings.
Clark said it's not unusual to see elk, and Wednesday morning he spotted some deer.
Town slogan:
The reason Castle Pines North chose to incorporate was because its neighbor to the south, Castle Pines Village, wanted to incorporate and take the 65 businesses with it. Hence, Gamble said, the town slogan leading up to the election was, "Oh, no you didn't!"
Clark suggests the new slogan should be, "A place to call home."