How much do you value a view of the mountains? (Denver: house, to buy)

[Scot5]

Been looking for a house in the West-Denver to Golden area for several months now. I've noticed many (most?) of the homes in Wheat Ridge/Arvada/Lakewood/Edgewater can only see their neighbor or some trees.

If you bought one of those, do you regret not spending more/waiting longer to find a house with a view?

Growing up in FoCo and going to school in Boulder, almost every place I've lived in has had a mountain view. Now that I'm ready to buy a house, I know I'd miss not having the view, but it's hard to actually place a value on it.

Do you give up objective features (house size/quality, lot size, location) for the subjective (mountain view)?

[Count David]

Nope, I got lucky and got it all.

[Careerist]

Maybe it's just me, but after a few years living here, the mountains just became something that were there. The "awe" over seeing them faded ever so slightly each year. I still see them pretty much every day that I leave my house, so it's not as if I'm missing out on them. I don't think I'd pay a steep premium just to get a glimpse of them each day from my living room. Some of the better views can actually be had in the less expensive areas of town, believe it or not, mostly due to the fact that those areas sit higher up than Denver.

[bluescreen73]

Honestly the best views of the higher peaks of the Front Range come from the eastern side of the metro area. Up the road from my house I can see Pikes, the whole Evans massif, the James Peak group, the Indian Peaks, Meeker and Longs.

All the view without all the price. Sure, it takes me 15-20 minutes longer to get to the mountains than someone in Highlands Ranch, but that's a negligible amount of time.

[Careerist]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

Honestly the best views of the higher peaks of the Front Range come from the eastern side of the metro area. Up the road from my house I can see Pikes, the whole Evans massif, the James Peak group, the Indian Peaks, Meeker and Longs.

All the view without all the price. Sure, it takes me 15-20 minutes longer to get to the mountains than someone in Highlands Ranch, but that's a negligible amount of time.

Illiff and Parker has some of the best views I've seen in the metro. Especially when we eat at Sam's No. 3 on the patio.

[Good Red Road]

Originally Posted by Scot5

Been looking for a house in the West-Denver to Golden area for several months now. I've noticed many (most?) of the homes in Wheat Ridge/Arvada/Lakewood/Edgewater can only see their neighbor or some trees.

If you bought one of those, do you regret not spending more/waiting longer to find a house with a view?

Growing up in FoCo and going to school in Boulder, almost every place I've lived in has had a mountain view. Now that I'm ready to buy a house, I know I'd miss not having the view, but it's hard to actually place a value on it.

Do you give up objective features (house size/quality, lot size, location) for the subjective (mountain view)?

A mountain view has always been important to us. We had lakefront when we lived in FLA., and once you get used to an open view, it's hard to go back. I refuse to live where my back yard simply stares at my neighbor, who's staring back at me. lol

[N610DL]

The last 2 cities I've lived in had mountain views so I actually prefer it over concrete skyscrapers. That said, Denver really needs to expand it's skyline.

[SkyDog77]

For me not a big deal. I can see the mountains out of my second floor bedroom in the winter, but come spring the trees block my view, which prefer.

[Scot5]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

Honestly the best views of the higher peaks of the Front Range come from the eastern side of the metro area. Up the road from my house I can see Pikes, the whole Evans massif, the James Peak group, the Indian Peaks, Meeker and Longs.

All the view without all the price. Sure, it takes me 15-20 minutes longer to get to the mountains than someone in Highlands Ranch, but that's a negligible amount of time.

Personally, I would sacrifice the mt views for a *better location in that case.

*better is subjective but I have a strong negative connotation with the Eastern side of the metro. Though, aside from my job being in Golden I don't have a concrete reason to not live in Aurora. It's not like I go hiking/skiing every single day so an extra 15 min isn't the end of the world. It's difficult to verbalize but I associate that area with higher crime, and I guess it just feels like an undesirable location (i.e. CowTown, Kansas).

[Tim Tim Tim]

Originally Posted by Good Red Road

A mountain view has always been important to us. We had lakefront when we lived in FLA., and once you get used to an open view, it's hard to go back. I refuse to live where my back yard simply stares at my neighbor, who's staring back at me. lol

I COMPLETELY relate to this. We bought a house that overlooked hundreds of acres of fields and we were able to watch sunsets over the fields from the back yard. Now, we back up to a neighbor but luckily we are all on 1/3+ acre lots so they are not very close but I plan to not have any neighbors behind me when I move out there!!