Joe Frankovitch welcomes a curious hen into his arms on a sunny, cold winter day. The yellow hen has just emerged from the white chicken coop on Fox Hill Farm, along with several others.
She’s the only one of the bunch who goes anywhere near humans, Joe explains, and he welcomes the pause from work for the cuddle.
Joe is the farm manager of Fox Hill Farm, the operation that is the centerpiece of the Fox Hill subdivision near Franktown, just south of Parker. It’s a new kind of neighborhood — in fact, only a few other housing developments with adjoining working farms are even known to exist in the United States.
Similar to golfing communities or neighborhoods built around community pools and clubhouses, Fox Hill is being built around a professionally managed farm. Residents here will have access to weekly produce boxes and Fox Hill Farm-raised tilapia, as well as fresh eggs, honey from on-site hives, and other food stuffs grown and made here.
When Fox Hill is fully developed, there will be 92 custom homes with million-dollar views of the Front Range and the rolling horse country that makes Parker so special. The lots range from 1 to 4 acres and homes start at $800,000.
This is an old farmstead, dating to 1912 when the first owner of the 365-acre farm, an immigrant from Austria, chose the hilltop for his farmhouse because the views of the mountains reminded him of his home in the Old Country.
After more than 100 years and several owners, the Colorado-native developer of Fox Hill set out to build a new type of luxury community that kept the spirit of the old farm alive.
Fox Hill tapped real estate agents Doug and Paige McLaughlin to exclusively market the new luxury development and to help build the farm-centered community from scratch.
Perhaps there’s no one better suited for the task than Doug and Paige. Doug grew up on the farm before his parents sold, and the couple married in the 1912 Charleston-style farmhouse that currently serves as the listing office and will eventually be used as the Fox Hill’s clubhouse.
"We hope that Fox Hill will be a place where these families will have new traditions grow, just as our family’s traditions have been rooted and flourished," says Paige. "We believe that because this place has such a history and legacy that is rooted in tradition, that other families will appreciate these traditions and partner with us and share their visions for this special place, too."
Paige says everyone involved in the project wants to continue to care for the land and uphold the farming traditions that have made the entire Parker area special.
"We also hope that by the commitment that the owner has provided in terms of the sustainable farm that we leave this earth better than how we found it." Paige says. "We want to instill the values and appreciation for sustainable farming and agriculture through Fox Hill and Fox Hill Farm."
Farm manager Joe finishes his conversation with the yellow hen and gets back to work. It’s been busy around here lately. He’s just received Fox Hill’s first shipment of tilapia fingerlings (think: lots of baby fish) that will be raised in the complicated-looking aquaponics system in the greenhouse.
Today, he’s busy monitoring the Ph and water levels in the tanks. The tilapia will be raised in the aquaponics system and available to Fox Hill residents. Farm-to-table at its best.
This is a culmination of many months of planning and everyone involved in Fox Hill can’t help but be giddy with excitement.
Joe — who is wearing a green sweatshirt that reads, “Get To Know Your Farmacist” — is explaining how the waste from the tilapia will be converted into fertilizer for the tomatoes and other crops that will be grown in the greenhouse.
He grew up on a homestead farm — a “gentleman’s hobby farm,” he calls it — in Pennsylvania. The Parker resident, with degrees in plant biology and horticulture, says he’s thrilled to be a part of the Fox Hill Farm project.
