The windmill on the hill south of the Highlands Ranch Mansion marks the ranch headquarters' main well, and that well still works. An electric pump does the job now, but the water comes from the same place the ranch has always drawn it. Since April 30, 2026, the windmill and the pasture around it have belonged to the public. That day Shea Homes conveyed about 197 acres of ranchland to the Highlands Ranch Metro District, which brought Historic Park to almost 250 acres.
If you drive Gateway Drive this fall, the land looks about the way it did last fall. The Metro District planned it that way. Clough Cattle & Fence Company had been leasing the property from Shea Homes for several years, and the district will keep leasing it to Clough Cattle until it is ready to make improvements. The park it describes for later is also built around the ranch rather than on top of it. For now, residents get into this land through the Mansion's own calendar.
A promise from 1979, finished this spring
The handover closed out a commitment older than most of the neighborhoods around it. Douglas County approved Highlands Ranch as a planned community in 1979, and Mission Viejo, which bought the property, committed that the historic Mansion and the land around it would be used for the public benefit. The Mansion came first, conveyed to the Metro District in 2010. The ranchland followed this April.
The Highlands Ranch Herald covered the conveyance ceremony at the Mansion entrance. There, Jeff Kappes, a Mission Viejo and Shea Homes retiree, called the event "an opportunity to recognize the final and full completion of public land dedications that were required pursuant to the Highlands Ranch planning and development guide for this community." Metro District board chair Renee Anderson told the Herald that the future park "will bring history to life for future generations of visitors."
The property sits south and east of the Mansion at 9950 E. Gateway Drive. Roughly, it is bounded by E. Gateway Drive, E. Wildcat Reserve Parkway, Summit View Parkway, and S. Ranch Road/Sterling Drive.
What is standing on the land
The Metro District's history of the property explains why "Historic Park" is a literal name. The Mansion's first owner was Samuel Allen Long. John Springer later expanded the original house and renamed it Castle Isabelle. Waite Phillips owned the property from 1920 and introduced the name Highland Ranch. Frank E. Kistler bought it in 1926 and developed it as the Diamond K breeding ranch. In 1929 he invited Lawrence C. Phipps Jr. to move the Arapahoe Hunt Club onto the property. Kistler sold to Phipps in 1937, and the Phipps family ran it as both a residence and a working ranch.
Most of the buildings from those working decades are still there. The district's inventory lists:
- The historic windmill
- Two silos, built of brick and used to store cattle feed
- Four barns, including the northern barn that housed dairy operations and another used for general maintenance
- A bunkhouse, where ranch hands lived
- Two cottages
- Stables, sheds and a blacksmith shop
- A laundry and power plant building
The history page adds that the ranch used corrals for calving and branding. Put together, these buildings record how the ranch ran day to day: feed storage, dairy, shelter for the workers, and a shop for repairs.
Built around the ranch, not over it
The Metro District has been direct about what the park will not become. "We see this as a place that will be a passive park, land that will provide opportunity for education, speaking to the agricultural and ranching history," general manager Stephanie Stanley told the Highlands Ranch Herald. "We don't see this as a place for sports fields." The district's FAQ repeats the point in one line: Historic Park will not have sports fields.
The options the district put in front of residents follow the same ranching theme. Its fall community survey asked people to rate possible programs and amenities:
- Farm-to-table experiences and agricultural education
- Animal interactions and live ranch demonstrations
- Barn rentals, gardening and cultural programs
- Trails, picnic shelters and interpretive signs
- A museum and a nature center
These were choices the district offered, not results, and no tally has been published. Each one assumes the barns, pasture and windmill stay. The partners Stanley named point the same way: Douglas County, the Highlands Ranch Community Association, the Douglas County School District and the CSU 4-H Extension.
The buildings come with a condition. During planning and design, consultants will evaluate their structural integrity. They will be renovated "to the extent structures are safe, have a defined purpose, and it is financially feasible." Renovated buildings will be open to the public, but hours of operation haven't been set. So the inventory above is what exists today. It isn't a promise of what will reopen.
What has a date, and what does not
The district's long-range financial plan earmarks $10 million for initial design and part of the improvements. The FAQ also says there are still too many unknowns to estimate full construction and operating costs. The published sequence runs like this:
- April 2026: The Metro District takes ownership of the Historic Park property.
- May through November 2026: Community outreach and education about possible uses, including the public meetings held at the Highlands Ranch Senior Center in June, July and August.
- Fall 2026: A community survey with a section on Historic Park. The Metro District lists it as open through the end of October.
- 2027: A consultant develops a conceptual plan from community feedback, staff drafts a business plan, and residents get a survey on the concept plan.
- TBD: Construction or improvements, and opening to the public.
For comparison, the Metro District's other big park project this fall has an end date. At Civic Green Park, the 19-year-old playground is being replaced. The playground, overlook shelter, upper fountains and wading stream closed September 8, and construction is expected to run through late November. Historic Park has no matching date yet. The step after the survey is a 2027 plan, and residents will see a concept before anything is built. Feedback can always go to [email protected], and the district runs a Historic Park email list for updates.
How to spend time there this season
Until the pasture opens, the Mansion is the public way in. Its grounds and lawn are listed as open daily from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. unless otherwise posted. You can only go inside during public open hours. Guided and self-guided historic tours during open hours are free, and reservations are recommended. Groups of 10 or more need one. The Mansion calendar lists open-hours dates, so check it before you plan a November or December visit.
Three dates between now and early December put people on the grounds:
- Saturday, October 31, 6:30 to 9 p.m.: The free Last Stop Halloween event is outdoors only and has a cash bar. Parking is limited, and parking in the surrounding neighborhood is prohibited.
- Monday, November 9, 6:30 to 8 p.m.: HRCA's Veterans Concert at the Mansion, with admission listed at $30.
- Saturday, December 5, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.: The free Holiday Celebration has hayrides, Santa, self-guided Mansion tours, games, face painting, choir performances and vendors. Food and drinks cost extra. When the event page was last updated, parking and shuttle details other than accessible parking were still to be determined.
On all three dates you can see the same view from the Mansion lawn: the windmill on its hill, the silos, and the pasture beyond the fence line, still leased for cattle while the plan for it takes shape.
If your street backs onto Gateway Drive or Wildcat Reserve Parkway, Historic Park is going to be part of your neighborhood for decades. If you'd like to talk through what a long-term amenity like this means for your own home, Petrone Properties has served this part of the South Metro across generations, and a free home valuation is an easy place to start.
