WOODMOOR

If you’ve ever driven Woodmoor Drive on a winter morning with snow on the pines, you understand the appeal. Woodmoor is the biggest name in Monument, covering roughly 3,900 acres just east of town and I-25. Most of it is under a thick canopy of ponderosa pine, so it looks and feels completely different from the open-ground subdivisions to the south.

The lay of the land

Woodmoor sits about a mile and a half east of downtown Monument, at roughly 7,300 feet. It’s generally bounded by I-25 to the west, Highway 105 to the south, Furrow Road to the east and County Line Road to the north. Woodmoor Drive runs through the middle and splits it into Woodmoor and South Woodmoor, though most people just call the whole thing Woodmoor. It’s unincorporated El Paso County, so it isn’t technically part of the Town of Monument, even though everyone around here thinks of it as Monument. The Kings Deer area is to the east, and Monument Junction sits just across Highway 105 to the south, near I-25.

Woodmoor sits right on top of the Palmer Divide, which means it gets the kind of snow that piles up in the pines and stays a while. The terrain rolls through the trees, with hillside lots, cul-de-sacs and pockets of open meadow, and the forest gives most homes a level of privacy you don’t get on open ground.

Woodmoor isn’t one subdivision. It’s dozens of smaller filings with names like Woodmoor Summit, Top O’ The Moor and Woodmoor Highlands, built over several decades. Newer sections like Village Center at Woodmoor and The Beach at Woodmoor sit on the edges, with smaller lots and newer construction. In the northwest corner, southwest of I-25 and County Line Road, Misty Acres stands out because it’s so much newer than the Woodmoor around it.

A little history

Woodmoor started in the late 1950s, when developer Steve Arnold, a former Air Force captain, began buying land for a semi-rural retreat. The name was in use by 1964. The original vision was large lots with few or no fences, preserved forest, meadows and creeks, an 18-hole golf course designed by J. Press Maxwell, riding stables and a lake. The Woodmoor Barn, now the association’s community center, was a working dairy barn built in 1919.

The original Woodmoor Corporation went bankrupt in the mid-1970s, and the neighborhood filled in over the following decades, lot by lot and builder by builder. That’s a big part of why no two streets look quite the same. If you want the full story, the Monument Independent has a thorough write-up.

Living here

The Woodmoor Commons, a network of open-space trails and stocked fishing ponds maintained by the association, runs through the neighborhood. Residents named and signed these areas themselves in the 1990s. The Country Club at Woodmoor still plays the original Maxwell-designed course and is semi-private. Lake Woodmoor is part of the water district’s system rather than a recreation lake, so plan on the Commons ponds if you want to fish.

You’re a few minutes from downtown Monument’s restaurants and shops, from Lewis-Palmer schools, and from I-25 at Highway 105 or Baptist Road. The New Santa Fe Regional Trail and Palmer Lake are a short drive west.

Growing up in 80921, I spent a lot of my childhood up here. Woodmoor was closer to us than most of Colorado Springs, and plenty of my friends grew up here and went through Lewis-Palmer District 38 schools, which have a strong reputation of their own.

The homes

Woodmoor’s housing spans from the 1970s to today. In the older filings, expect custom and semi-custom homes on lots that often run half an acre to more than an acre: two-stories, ranches with walkouts, and a lot of mountain contemporary design from the ’80s and ’90s. Many have been renovated, some haven’t, and the price spread reflects that. The newer edges of Woodmoor offer more recent construction on smaller lots.

Worth knowing before you buy

The association is active. The Woodmoor Improvement Association enforces covenants and runs architectural review, so exterior projects like additions, fences, sheds and even some paint colors need approval. Membership is mandatory for covered lots and comes with a modest annual assessment. The association also runs a 24/7 private safety patrol and a forestry program that helps homeowners with wildfire mitigation. Some buyers love having that structure, and others want to read the covenants carefully first. Either way, read them.

Wildfire is part of owning in the trees. Ask what mitigation has been done on the lot, and get an insurance quote early. Carriers look closely at wooded properties.

Water and sewer. Much of Woodmoor is served by the Woodmoor Water and Sanitation District, which relied on Denver Basin wells for decades and has since added surface water. Bills include a renewable water fee that funds that work. Confirm service for any specific address, especially near the edges, because the association’s boundary and the water district’s don’t match exactly.

Schools. Woodmoor is in Lewis-Palmer School District 38. Verify assigned schools by address.

Nearby neighborhoods

If you want the trees on bigger acreage, the Kings Deer area to the north and Black Forest to the east are the next steps up. For newer construction closer to town, look at Jackson Creek, Sanctuary Pointe or Promontory Pointe. For the north-side equivalent of older homes on generous lots, compare Gleneagle across Baptist Road.

For the bigger picture, see the Tri-Lakes hub.

Current market and listings

For the latest Monument numbers, see my monthly Market Update. Active listings in 80132 are below. Woodmoor is big enough that the neighborhood average doesn’t tell you much. Street, lot and tree cover make a real difference, and I’m happy to show you how.