Bow Mar
Littleton, CO

Lloyd King’s Vision — A Private Lake Town 12 Miles From Denver

In the late 1940s, Lloyd King — the founder of King Soopers — purchased land along Bowles Lake and Marston Reservoir south of Denver and set out to build something specific: a small lake community of custom ranch-style homes influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright’s prairie-style architecture, where 300 families could have private lake access, one-acre lots, and a genuine sense of separation from the suburban grid expanding around them. The name Bow Mar is a contraction of the two lakes that define the community’s borders.

Bow Mar is not a neighborhood within the City of Littleton — it is the Town of Bow Mar, an incorporated municipality in its own right. One square mile. Approximately 900 residents. Around 300 homes. Hand-painted street signs. A 95 percent owner-occupancy rate that reflects a community where people arrive and stay, often across generations. Many residents today are second or third-generation families who inherited the decision their grandparents made in the 1950s and have never found reason to reverse it.

The homes themselves range from the original late-1940s prairie-style ranches — low-pitched roofs, overhanging eaves, horizontal planes, large windows — to significantly updated mid-century designs and newer custom construction on lots that became available through teardown and redevelopment. Lots run approximately one acre. Non-lakefront homes start around $1.5M to $1.9M. Properties directly on Bowles Lake trade from approximately $3M into the mid-five millions. Inventory is reliably thin — typically fewer than five active listings at any moment, and sometimes fewer than two.

Municipal Note: Bow Mar is the incorporated Town of Bow Mar — not a neighborhood within the City of Littleton. It carries a Littleton 80123 mailing address, but operates under its own municipal governance. The adjacent Bow Mar South community (197 homes, 1963–1999, private lake, HOA) is a separate neighborhood with its own HOA that also carries a Littleton address.

12 Miles South of Downtown — 2 Miles West of Santa Fe Drive

Bow Mar sits between Quincy Avenue to the north and Bowles Avenue to the south, along Sheridan Boulevard. Downtown Denver is approximately 12 miles north. The Denver Tech Center is approximately 10 miles northeast via C-470. Santa Fe Drive (US-85) is 2 miles east — the primary north-south commute corridor for Bow Mar residents heading into the city.

Retail along West Bowles Avenue is approximately 4 miles south — Trader Joe’s, an AMC Theatre, and the Bowles Crossing and Chanson Plaza retail centers. Aspen Grove shopping center is accessible north on Santa Fe. Pinehurst Country Club is immediately adjacent to the community for residents who golf. Chatfield State Park is approximately 8 miles south. The South Platte River Trail is accessible nearby for cyclists and runners connecting into the regional trail network.

A 100-Acre Private Lake, Yacht Club, and Everything It Offers

• Bowles Lake (100 acres private — residents and guests only)
• Swimming, sailing, paddleboarding, fishing, ice skating in winter
• Ice hockey on the lake (winter)
• Bow Mar Yacht Club (sailing lessons, regattas, social events)
• Private sandy beach
• Tennis courts (community)
• Picnic concerts on the beach (summer events)
• Winter Dance and Blackouts (annual community events)
• Marston Reservoir (adjacent — some homes overlook it)
• Pinehurst Country Club (adjacent — 18-hole + 9-hole, separate membership)
• Chatfield State Park (~8 miles south — 5,300 acres, reservoir, camping, trails)
• South Platte River Trail (accessible nearby)

The 100-acre private Bowles Lake is what defines the community’s outdoor character — and it is genuinely private. Swimming, sailing, paddleboarding, fishing, ice skating and hockey in winter, and the Bow Mar Yacht Club’s regattas and sailing lessons are all available exclusively to residents and their guests. The private sandy beach hosts community concerts on summer evenings. These are not amenities described in a HOA disclosure package and largely forgotten — they are the daily-life infrastructure that shapes how Bow Mar residents describe the neighborhood when asked why they haven’t left.

Education in Bow Mar

Bow Mar and the adjacent Bow Mar South community are served by Littleton Public Schools, one of Colorado’s highest-rated independent school districts. The school pipeline from this area consistently earns top marks.

All school assignments must be verified directly with Littleton Public Schools before purchasing. Littleton Public Schools is an independent district — not Jeffco R-1 or Douglas County SD. Verify attendance boundaries per address.

Where Bow Mar Residents Eat

Bow Mar has no internal commercial district — the community is entirely residential by design. Dining runs along Bowles Avenue 4 miles south (Trader Joe’s area, local restaurants) and along Santa Fe Drive north toward Historic Downtown Littleton, which is the primary dining destination for most Bow Mar families who want a sit-down dinner with real character.

Life in Bow Mar

Bow Mar is the kind of community that most Denver metro residents have heard of but few have been inside. The hand-painted street signs are the first thing that registers — a detail that speaks to the community’s relationship with its own character. The second is the lake, which is visible from the road in places and accessible from private beach access points throughout the community. The third, slower to recognize, is the generational depth: the neighbors who have been on the same street since the 1970s, the families who inherited the property and kept it, the consistent presence of the same faces at the Yacht Club regattas and the winter dances. Bow Mar does not feel like a neighborhood. It feels like a very small town. That is because it is one.