Looking for 'Old West' feel with modern amenities

There is a great deal of “Old West” history that makes this development special.  Originally part of Brett Ranch, South Fork Meadows was given its name due to the fact that Lake Creek runs through the property.

Lake Creek is the largest tributary of the Eagle River; in fact it was once called the South Fork of the Eagle River; thus South Fork Meadows.

About five hundred yards from the junction of Lake Creek and the Eagle River, Joseph Brett, one of the early pioneers of the Vail Valley choose this location as his homestead.

In 1878, Brett built the first log cabin in Eagle County on this site which still stands across Highway 6 from the site today.  Here, Joseph on occasion would spot small parties of Ute Indians as they fished the Eagle River and Lake Creek and soon befriended the Ute’s chief, Colorow.  It was legend that Chief Colorow would eat large amounts of jellied biscuits and coffee and would then dance with his Indian companions in the yard above the river.

Soon Brett had plenty of company in the wilderness, miners who had left Leadville and Georgetown to create Homesteads of their own while Joseph was busy starting a family of his own.  In addition, Joseph Brett had started a hunting and fishing camp where he guided tours up and down the Eagle River and surrounding mountain wilderness.  Theodore Roosevelt was one of several famous guests who enjoyed Brett’s services.

The story goes that on one of these group expeditions around the ranch, Joseph fell through some unstable ice along the river soaking him from the waist down.  Undaunted and stubborn, Mr. Brett continued his tour only to find that both of his feet were frozen solid upon the return to the cabin.  Joseph Brett lost both feet in the incident but continued to live with his family at his log home on Brett Ranch until the day he died.

There are several Brett’s now buried on this homestead in a designated graveyard next to the historic cabin.  We are sure that the Brett’s want you to enjoy this natural amenity as they did, so in designing our projects, we have made an extra effort to save the natural setting with over half of the 120 acre ranch preserved as open space. 

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