The mountain town of Fairplay is known as being the inspiration behind the long-standing satirical cartoon South Park.
But now the former Gold Rush town is leading an affordable homes boom in Colorado.
Fairplay, with its views of the Rockies and world-class fly-fishing, is less than a two-hour drive from Colorado Springs – one of the areas with the highest yearly construction growth in the country.
The ‘South Park’ town, which is in Park County, is also seeing a similar surge in new homes, according to Realtor.com.
Driving the boom is the town’s proximity to wealthy Summit County, but its much more affordable price point.
Summit County is home to the expensive ski resort towns of Breckenridge, Frisco, Silverthorne, and Vail, where the average home costs a staggering $2 million.
In Park County, meanwhile, budding homebuyers can pick up a comparable home for $575,000.
‘The bulk of my business is more and more becoming Park County,’ local Sotheby’s real estate agent Scott Lindblom told the outlet. ‘It’s because of the value.’
The mountain town of Fairplay is known as being the inspiration behind the long-standing satirical cartoon South Park (Pictured: Fairplay’s open-air gold-mining town museum)
He added: ‘The area is more affordable than Summit County, but folks also say they enjoy the feel.
‘It’s more wide open, has great mountain views, and offers a lot of outdoor activities such as fly-fishing, hiking, and ATV trails.’
While locals are aware that the town is the inspiration behind the beloved and foul-mouthed South Park, which has been running for 26 seasons, Lindblom said that no one has so far told him that is the reason they want to move there.
The cheaper homes are the primary draw, he said.
The median home listing in Fairplay is $775,000, compared to $1.79 million in the nearby ski resort town of Breckenridge.
Fairplay is the inspiration behind the town in South Park, which has been running for 26 seasons
Fairplay has views of the Rocky Mountains and is close to many ski resorts
The largest new development is The Village at Spruce Hill, which broke ground in 2023.
It consists of 14 single-family homes priced between $545,000 and $650,000.
According to Realtor.com, five have already sold since the beginning of the year and one is under contract.
‘This is a town where we see a lot of growth potential,’ said developer Zak Richardson.
‘It’s full of successful businesses, people that are proud of their town and its history, and picturesque views of the Rockies.’
Alongside its TV history, Fairplay has also preserved its Western charm, and is home to an open-air museum which re-creates an 1800s gold-mining town.
In a recent YouTube video, Sotheby’s agent Anthony Sole took viewers on a tour of the town.
Fairplay has views of the Rockies and world-class fly-fishing (Pictured: Brooke Bodin, assistant manager at the Hand Hotel in Fairplay, underneath ‘Maynard’ the elk
Driving the boom is the town’s proximity to wealthy Summit County, but its much more affordable price point for homes
The town has preserved much of its western charm (Pictured: Herding longhorn cattle near Fairplay)
While the median home listing in Fairplay is more expensive than the national average, it is an ‘affordability leader in the Denver metro area,’ according to Realtor.com economist Joel Berner.
‘At least 76 percent of Park County sales so far in 2024 have been for under $500,000, while for the Denver metro area as a whole, that’s just 36.1 percent of sales,’ he said.
It is a very attractive location for both builders to tap into demand for new construction and for buyers looking for affordable homes with access to the city of Denver and nearby outdoor recreation, he said.
New resident Lauren Richards moved to the town in April from nearby Silverthorne, buying a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home for $530,000.
She moved from nearby Silverthorne, where she says homeowners association fees are ‘insane’, and added that many of her friends are following suit.
‘An HOA fee in Summit is what I pay for my mortgage,’ she said.