Lakewood — Nestled on the western edge of Lakewood, Green Mountain Estates is a small, close-knit community on the slope of Green Mountain.
Also known as Green Mountainside, the neighborhood lies between Alameda Parkway, Cedar Drive, Alkire Street and Hayden Park. It’s made up of about 1,100 homes, as well as trails, schools, parks and a very active civic association.
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The defining feature is, of course, the actual mountain, properly known as William Frederick Hayden Park.
William Frederick Hayden was a landowner in the area. But, he wasn’t the first to own the property.
After the Civil War, Major Jacob Downing moved into Denver and helped develop the city. He originated the bill that led to the establishment of City Park, donated money for the Colfax Ave streetcar project, and acquired and maintained a clubhouse in Arlington Park.
He also traveled to what would become Lakewood and purchased 2,000 acres of undeveloped land.
He turned it into “Downingdale,” a showplace complete with a ranch, Hereford cattle, feed and even an Arabian horse track.
Downing passed away in 1907.
In the 1930s Thomas S Hayden Realty purchased Downingdale and expanded the property into a 7,000-acre ranch. Those boundaries are the same that still exist for Green Mountain Estates today.
Around the same time, the National Guard leased part of the land. They used it as an artillery impact area for rounds fired from a nearby rifle range and training facility.
The first homes in the area were built in the 1960s. According to the GMCA, the first resident moved in in 1964 and others soon followed. At that time, the neighborhood was split into two subdivisions, Green Mountain Estates in the south and Green Mountain Fireside Division just to the north.
In 1972, the Hayden family began donating some of their land to the city of Lakewood for the establishment of a park. They would give up 500 acres, which would become William Frederick Hayden Park named after the owner of the land at the time it was donated.
At the same time, Richard Kelly, a prominent developer came in and began rapidly expanding the area. When the original homeowners had moved in, they were promised much of the mountain would remain open space but Kelly wanted to continue to build.
As the neighborhood grew, the homeowners didn’t like seeing the mountain destroyed to make room for more and more homes. In the 1970s and 1980s, residents protested the expansion going as far as building a human wall to stop construction crews from coming through.
The Green Mountain Estates HOA was founded in 1981 to help present a unified position to Kelly. In 1988, a land-use agreement was signed and the feud ended. For six years neighbors would gather once a week to clean up the park.
Today, the sprawling, 2,400-acre William F. Hayden Park is the second largest in Lakewood. It boasts nearly 20 miles of multi-use trails, and spectacular views of metro Denver and the surrounding area, with a summit at 6,800 feet. It's home to a diverse range of wildlife and flowers and among the most popular destinations for outdoor enthusiasts in the area.
Over the years, people have occasionally found munitions debris in the area from its time as an artillery impact area. Most of the debris found is pre-WWII spent shells but according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment there is also the chance there are unexploded ordnance in the area.
Other nearby parks include Peterson Park, a small area across the street from Foothills Elementary, and Mountainside Park, which serves as one access point to Green Mountain.
The Green Mountain Civic Association (GMCA), non-profit community association, is just as active as ever.
Unlike a traditional homeowners association, GMCA follows the City of Lakewood's building, housing, parking and noise guidelines, rather than its own set of covenants for homeowners to follow. The GMCA hosts a number of community events and initiatives for the neighborhood each year, such as Christmas lighting contests, Easter egg hunts, community picnics and more.
Homes in the area are mostly middle-range single-family homes (between $350,000 and $550,000) and a few high-end homes, with some town-homes and duplexes mixed in.
The small neighborhood has three top-rated schools, with a SchoolGrades.org grade of B or better: Foothills Elementary, Dunstan Middle School and Green Mountain High School.
There is also a grocery store, small shopping center, rec center, and several churches in the neighborhood or just outside.
