Castle Cliff Farm estate sold
Located on Daniels Park Road
By Chris Michlewicz; photo courtesy of Douglas County
A 13,500-square-foot estate stands on the 53-acre property off Daniels Park Road that was sold on March 1.
A pristine, 53-acre spread west of Daniels Park Road sold last month, and will no longer be developed into 90 new homes as previously proposed.
Castle Cliff Farm was the subject of a rezoning application submitted to Douglas County in June 2021. Koelbel and Company proposed building a luxury residential community of 90 patio homes and single-family lots west of Daniels Park Road and adjacent to Cherokee Ranch. But the application was withdrawn and the land – along with a 13,500-square-foot home that sits on it – was sold on March 1 for just over $8 million to MAPLES LLC, an organization based in Corona Del Mar, California.
The land is also home to a 36,000-square-foot equestrian training center, a 2,200-square-foot barn, and a historic property known as Pretty Woman Ranch, a designated county landmark.
Currently, the land carries a rural-residential zoning designation that allows for a maximum of 11 homes. The proposed rezoning last summer would have established a housing density of about 1.5 dwelling units per acre.
The new property owners are scheduled to attend a pre-submittal meeting in early April with Douglas County’s planning department, according to Curt Weitkunat, long range planning manager for the County. It’s unclear whether there are plans to ultimately build on the land.
Aside from the sprawling estate – once featured on an E! reality TV show starring former Castle Pines resident and Denver Broncos wide receiver Eric Decker and his wife, singer-songwriter Jessie James – jutting sandstone cliffs give the land unique character. It also has views of thousands of acres of preserved wildlife habitat adjacent to Castle Cliff Farm.
The 53-acre property was purchased in 1992 by Catherine Chase-Groos and the two-story, six-bedroom home was built three years later. Chase-Groos previously listed the property for $9 million in 2011 and 2016 before selling it last month to MAPLES LLC, for $8,040,000, according to County records.
