The South Boulder neighborhood of Martin Acres has its own story and history, which starts with the Martin Homestead Farmhouse.  It’s located at 35th and Moorhead and became a City of Boulder Landmark in 1977.

The Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation noted on its Historic Building Inventory Record that the Martin Farmhouse has significance because of its type and period of construction, affiliation with significant persons and its association with meaningful events.

It all started in 1875 and is a Vernacular wood frame (New England) style home. Regarded for its High Plains Farming, the home was originally surrounded by nearly 400 acres of timothy hay fields. Martin purchased the land and constructed the property with funding made from Caribou Mine and Poorman Mine, silver mines that he had helped to discover.

“Billy” Martin was born in England and moved to the United States with his father when he was a young boy after the death of his Mother. In the early 1860’s they moved to Colorado.

The Farmhouse was occupied by the Martin Family until the early 1900’s. Shortly after WW II William Martin’s heirs saw an opportunity and sublet the family farm and this area became what we now call “Martin Acres.”

Northwest Denver and the Highlands neighborhood have been the place to be for several years now.  The real estate reflects the neighborhood hot spots- eclectic. So if you’re planning what to do this weekend, here’s a list of Highlands Happy Hours from the local Denver real estate agent Ryan Carter on the places to be.

If you live in the Denver Highlands neighborhood, you don’t have to go far to find an extraordinary happy hour. Here is the list of the Happiest Happy Hours in the Highlands.

LoHi SteakBar

Happy hour—3:30-6:30 p.m. daily

And if you miss it stop in for the late night happy hour from 10 p.m.-midnight

It has been named as the 2010 Best Happy Hour by Westword and the Top New Bar 2010 by the editors at 5280 Magazine.

LoHi SteakBar, known for its creative cocktails and specials, takes top honors for a few reasons, such as the cool ambiance, stellar specials, and delicious happy hour food, but most notably because the expert mixologists simply pour great drinks.

Coral Room

Daily happy hour from 4 p.m.-6:30 p.m., happy hour at the Coral Room offers 2 for 1 appetizers, $3 drafts, $6 glasses of wine, and $4 Svedka cocktails.

The Coral Room is a local Highlands favorite and located in the heart of Highlands Square. The horseshoe-shaped bar has a fun atmosphere to mingle with friends. On a nice day the patio is a hit for happy hour.

Lola

Happy Hour at Lola runs all night on Mondays, Tuesday through Friday from 4-6 p.m. and on the weekends from 2-5 p.m.

Lola is a hip spot for Highlands residents to see and be seen enjoying tasty après work cocktails. The interesting Mexican-fusion menu offers something for everyone and the creative drink list will have you coming back for more.

If this neighborhood insight on things to do is helpful to you, you should be sure to check out HighlandsPulse.com.  Find out the best things to do, shared by a Highlands neighbor and our Highlands area REALTOR.

The Western slope of Colorado has its own unique offering to both visitors and residents. Of course some activities vary seasonally, but there are a few must attend events and activities not to miss out on throughout the year.

Wine tasting

Grand Junction is full of orchards including grape vines for delicious Colorado wines.  Local wineries often have a tasting room open year round, which also allows you to taste and purchase your favorite local wine.

Orchards

Don’t let summer pass you by without picking up some local produce from Grand Junction and the western slope.  Popular Colorado produce include peaches, cherries and corn.  Many of these locally owned produce stands have local products including jellies, jams, ciders and snacks from the produce.

Skiing

While Grand Junction is anything but a ski town, it does have great access without the front range I-70 traffic.  The nearest ski area, albeit, a smaller one is Powderhorn.  Otherwise still relatively nearby alternatives include Sunlight outside of Glenwood Springs, and Beaver Creek in Avon.

Camping and Hiking

Public land is abundant on the western slope.  Whether you have a few hours or a full day there is a hiking destination nearby.  The book cliffs are a popular but deceptively hard  hike – if you’re considering them be sure to come prepared.  You can also look up hikes and camping spots on the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service websites.

And, if you still find yourself looking for something to do while living in or visiting Grand Junction, don’t forget just west of the Colorado border, Utah has several national parks that are a great weekend escape including: Moab, Arches & Canyonlands NPs as well as Lake Powell.

A fresh start to a new year and all the talk is-is the market up? Is the market down?  As I wrote on my real estate blog Denver metro real estate closings were up in December 2010, but under contracts were down on month-to-month and year-to-year comparisons.

No matter how stable or unstable you think the market is – there are several factors that can influence our front range economy in 2011.

One of the most important are Jobs

It’s all the talk on the news.  Job growth, and companies moving to Colorado will positively impact the metro area.  Not only does it bring more buyers to the Denver metro market, but gives residents the stability and security to purchase a home.

In 2011 the purchase of Qwest will be complete that could pull jobs away from the metro area.  Certainly it is in the forefront of Mayors and Governor on how to make Colorado and cities attractive for companies to come to Colorado…  As we get new news, I’ll be sure to update you!