Printer friendly format - More on the Wellington Neighborhood

By Petra Spiess

More on the Wellington Neighborhood

In Breckenridge, Colorado, the Wellington neighborhood abandons the typical resort-town trend.

Meet the Neighbors

Jeff and Helen Cospolich, along with their young daughter, Alina, Siberian husky, Montana, and cat, Milo, have called Wellington home since 2002. Jeff is vice president of Great Western Lodging, a property management company, and Helen is marketing manager for the Town of Breckenridge recreation department.

Their cottage: a cleverly designed farmhouse-style duplex that looks like a single-family home. It’s 1,050 square feet, but Helen feels the open floor plan and 9-foot ceilings on the main level make it feel larger than it is. The house also has hardwood floors, views of the mountain, and tons of natural light.

What they love about the neighborhood: “The location, offering close proximity to town, tons of sun, and epic trails right out the door. Also, we appreciate the fact that young locals like ourselves can live in an ideal location, in well-constructed properties,” says Jeff.

Where you’d likely find them: on the hiking and biking trails around the neighborhood. Helen and Jeff both run and bike, and the trail access from Wellington “can’t be beat,” says Helen.

The Way They Live

HOMES Although historic-looking and reminiscent of classic Breckenridge architecture, the cottages are designed for today’s lifestyles. “I love my house because it can look gingerbread on the outside but be modern on the inside,” says local David Rossi.

RESIDENTS About 245 people live in Wellington. Most people work in Summit County, but their jobs vary widely: Police officer, ski instructor, district attorney, carpenter, shopkeeper, Internet business owner, and bookkeeper number the professionals who live side by side.

HANGOUTS The greens between homes are popular gathering spots. “We are lucky to live on a green,” says Edward Goodman. “It’s the social hub of our area. The neighbors and children all flock to it after work and on weekends, especially in the warmer months. We compare gardening successes, discuss the next title on our book club list, share beverages, and watch our children play.”

NEIGHBORHOOD EVENTS Solstice parties are part of the fun in Wellington—one in summer and a chilly one in winter, complete with a visit from Santa. Other events include a community garage sale, a spring cleanup, spontaneous cookouts on the greens, Halloween trick-or-treating with roads closed for the kids, and a mountain bike race that starts here.

CLOSE BY Trail-filled Arapahoe National Forest adjoins Wellington, offering folks a wealth of recreational opportunities just minutes from their doorstep. “Activities I do right from the neighborhood are road biking, cross-country skiing, backcountry skiing, and hiking,” explains Tim Gagen. If residents desire more urban outings, downtown Breckenridge is only a 20-minute walk and offers numerous restaurants and fun shops, many in restored and brightly painted Victorians.

photography: Matthew Gilson

THAT EXTRA SOMETHING A bus whisks residents from a Wellington bus stop to the slopes of Breckenridge, adjoining towns Frisco and Silverthorne, and nearby ski resort Keystone. Even when they’re taking a break from the slopes, residents get to enjoy them: The neighborhood has million-dollar views of Breckenridge Peaks 7 and 8.

Smart Growth—An Antidote to Sprawl

Smart Growth is really self-explanatory. It involves thinking beyond square footage, turnaround time, and the cookie-cutter houses that form sprawling suburbs. Smart Growth means walkability, mixed land use, clever reuse of existing developments (especially in urban centers), diverse housing options for an array of economic levels, land preservation, community collaboration, and public transportation access. All of these principles foster the ultimate goal, a sense of place. To learn more, go to smartgrowth.org or smartgrowthamerica.com.

Community Profile: Wellington, Colorado

WHERE: 5 minutes by car from downtown Breckenridge

MEDIAN HOUSE PRICE: $295K is the median price for deed-restricted homes and $479K for market homes in Wellington. (In Breckenridge, $889K is the average sale price for a single-family home.)

HOME SIZE RANGE: 1,000 to 1,962 square feet

COTTAGE TWIST: Every winter, resident Addison Cummings and daughters Kenady and Carly construct a snow chute between their house and the neighbor’s, which is used to rip-roaring effect by the community’s kids on their sleds.

Meet the Developer

photography: Matthew Gilson

Neighborhood founder David O’Neil had a vision: Create affordable, attractive mountain housing. “This required working with surrounding property owners and the town to get approved,” says David (pictured above). “The biggest challenge was that Breckenridge’s Land Use regulations prohibited some of the design elements that give the neighborhood its charm: setbacks (see Glossary, below), alley widths, and road widths, to name a few.”
But the difficulties were worth it, he says. “We’ve created a traditional neighborhood where real people—small business owners, teachers, police officers, lawyers, doctors, stay-at-home moms—want to and can afford to live. If not for Wellington, the city would have lost this important resource.”

Glossary

Setback: the distance that a house or building must sit from property lines, according to zoning regulations