Bow Mar and Columbine Valley
Two small lakeside and golf-course towns west of Littleton, with large lots and mid-century custom homes.
Pricing trends
Bow Mar and Columbine Valley are among the most expensive addresses in the south metro, with lake-adjacent and golf-course homes commanding prices comparable to Cherry Hills Village. Original mid-century homes on large lots trade on land value and draw renovators and builders. Market figures for these towns are folded into the Littleton table on the Market Intelligence page.
| Littleton, August 2026 | Median price | Homes sold | Days on market | Active listings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single Family | $695,000−1.6% vs August 2025 | 209 | 29average days | 553 |
| Townhome / condo | $405,000−4.5% vs August 2025 | 69 | 61average days | 327 |
Bow Mar has no table of its own; these are the citywide figures for Littleton, the nearest city in the data. Source: Local Market Update, August 2026, REcolorado data compiled by the Colorado Association of REALTORS®. Neighborhood-level figures vary; ask me for comparables on any specific home. See all area tables.
About Bow Mar
Bow Mar and Columbine Valley are two small incorporated towns on Littleton's western edge, each built around a private amenity: Bow Mar around Bowles Lake with its beach, sailing and swim club, and Columbine Valley around the Columbine Country Club's golf course. Both have fewer than a thousand homes, large lots, and the kind of mid-century custom houses that draw buyers who want acreage-scale living fifteen minutes from downtown.
Location
The two towns sit between Sheridan Boulevard and the South Platte River south of Quincy Avenue, with Littleton to the east, Denver's Bear Valley to the north and Ken Caryl and the foothills to the west. Bowles Avenue and Santa Fe Drive are the routes to the city, and the Mineral station on the D Line is a short drive.
History and background
Bow Mar
Where it sits. Bow Mar is a small town in the Littleton area of the south Denver metro that straddles the line between Arapahoe and Jefferson counties.
Before the town, this corner of the south metro was farmland serving Denver and Littleton. Homebuilding began after World War II, when Lloyd and Eleanor King developed the land and the first home was built in 1947. Lloyd King founded the King Soopers grocery chain. The town's name blends Bowles Lake and Marston Lake, named for two pioneering farmers in the area, Joseph Bowles and John Marston. Marston Lake is a reservoir completed in 1902 that still supplies water to Denver Water's Marston treatment plant.
Many early houses were inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's prairie style, built one story tall on acre lots. Bow Mar incorporated as a town in 1958.
Why people like it. People like Bow Mar for its setting beside Bowles Lake and Marston Lake and its midcentury prairie-style homes on large lots.
Fun fact. Bow Mar has never had its own post office.
Columbine Valley
Where it sits. Columbine Valley is a town in far western Arapahoe County in the Littleton area of the south Denver metro.
Seventeen founding members started Columbine Country Club in 1955 on the 295-acre Heckendorf Farm west of Littleton. The idea was a championship golf course surrounded by some 200 home sites.
In 1959, worried about annexation by Littleton and Denver, residents voted to incorporate. The South Platte River flood of June 1965 destroyed or damaged about 25 homes, and the community rebuilt, holding the postponed golf tournament in 1967.
Why people like it. People like Columbine Valley for its golf course woven through the neighborhood and its setting at the western edge of Arapahoe County.
Fun fact. In the early years residents saw deer on the golf course and the occasional livestock wandering over from neighboring farms.
Sources and caveats for this history
Housing and architecture
Bow Mar's homes are 1950s and 1960s ranches and custom mid-century houses on lots of half an acre and larger, with many since remodeled or rebuilt as large contemporary homes. Columbine Valley holds 1950s to 1980s homes on the golf course and along Platte Canyon Road, plus newer custom construction in the Wilder Lane and Village at Columbine Valley sections. Both towns are almost entirely detached single-family homes.
Parks and recreation
Bow Mar's lake, beach and swim and tennis club are reserved for residents, and Columbine Country Club is private. The Mary Carter Greenway, South Platte Park and Hudson Gardens are minutes away along the river, and Chatfield State Park and the Highline Canal Trail are close.
Dining, shopping and daily life
Both towns are residential; shopping and dining are in downtown Littleton, at Aspen Grove or along Bowles and Wadsworth. The quiet is the point, and the Littleton schools serve both.
Nearby
Other nearby communities
South Central Littleton A real downtown on Main Street, the Platte River trails, and neighborhoods from Victorian to brand new. 
Southwest Denver Harvey Park and Bear Valley Mid-century modern ranches, two lakes and Bear Creek's trail in Denver's far southwest. 
South Central Ken Caryl A planned community at the foot of the hogback, with its own valley, trails and a working ranch history. 
South Central Columbine and Chatfield The neighborhoods around Chatfield State Park: 1970s to 2000s homes, the reservoir, Columbine and the foothills. 
South Central Dakota Ridge Newer neighborhoods under the hogback, with Bear Creek Lake, Red Rocks and C-470 at the door. 
South Central Englewood Bungalows and ranches just south of the Denver line, the Swedish Medical campus and a reviving South Broadway. Let’s talk about Bow Mar
Tell me what you are looking for in Bow Mar
Share your timing and what matters most, and I will come back with homes, comparables and an honest read on the market.
Geoffry Kaatz
Real Estate Consultant and Licensed Realtor
303-517-9671
geoffry.kaatz@compass.com
200 Columbine St, Suite 500
Denver, CO 80206