Looking across the water at the historic green and white structures that occupy Metzger Farm Open Space, it’s easy to assume – wrongly – that the story of this tranquil estate near 120th Avenue and Lowell Boulevard begins and ends with a local family homesteading and maintaining the property for the past 150 years.
The truth, as it turns out, is a much more dynamic story of a fiery orphan turned Attorney General and how he struck gold with a 320-acre hobby farm in Westminster; a suburban oasis that led to a groundbreaking cooperation between two future Front Range communities.
The story of John Metzger was a real-life rags-to-riches tale, having overcome childhood adversity to become a people’s attorney in Denver. He took the “counsel” part of his work to heart, helping veterans, pensioners, widows, and others who might not have otherwise been able to afford legal services.
He was turned down for service in WWII due to ulcers, but a young John Metzger still found a way to contribute to the war effort by opening a munitions plant in Denver that provided millions of anti-aircraft shells to the U.S. Navy. Although John later recounted that the John W. Metzger Co. did not make a substantial amount of money, he was very proud of the fact that he employed over 200 people at the plant, brought the manufacturing cost of 20mm artillery shells down from $0.31 to $0.09 per projectile, and earned the Army-Navy “E” for excellence.
In the early 1940s, his budding legal career led him into state and local Democratic Party politics, and Metzger began to earn a reputation as a vocal young activist devoted to fighting corruption.
Eventually, John Metzger desired an escape from the busy public life he lived in town. In 1943, during a casual conversation with his good friend and Denver’s district attorney at the time, James T. Burke, Metzger struck a deal to purchase Burke’s 320-acre agricultural property north of Denver. It is rumored that Burke came back to Metzger a few days after the sale of the property saying he had made a mistake. Metzger said he was happy with the arrangement and refused to change his mind.
Throughout the 1940s, John Metzger and his wife, Betty, enjoyed living on the farm that John called “Loch-in-Vale,” Scottish for “Lake in the Valley.” They started a family and raised two children, Karen and John William, on their farmstead. John continued to work in Denver as a lawyer, while Betty played piano on KOA radio, played the organ at two local churches, and taught private piano lessons.
It is said that Betty’s musical talents are what made John Metzger fall in love with her. John bought the farm property and lived there as a bachelor for a short time. By 1944, John had become a successful lawyer and munitions manufacturer, and his secretary invited him to her hometown of Fort Morgan, with a stop at her friend Betty’s family farm. It was there that Betty played piano for her guests, and once he returned to Denver, John asked her for a date. They were married the day after Christmas that year.
Although the farm was not the Metzger family’s primary source of income, John and Betty continued to improve the property. They raised animals, including chickens and John’s prized herd of Scottish Shorthorn cattle. They also enlisted the help of nearby farmers to grow and harvest a few crops, such as alfalfa and buckhorn wheat. The Metzger family made a point of drying their quilts, blankets, and bedding on the clothesline when the alfalfa was being cut, as it made the linens smell “especially wonderful.”
The property features both a chicken coop and a brooder house, a result of the Metzgers raising numerous chickens on a regular basis. Every spring, the Metzgers ordered a crate of baby chicks from Sears, and they would either be delivered by mail to the farm or be sent to the grain elevator in Broomfield for the Metzgers to pick up.
According to the Register of Historic Places, Betty convinced John Metzger to raise a flock of geese one year to give out as Christmas presents. Eventually, the brooder house became less and less used, so in the 1950s Karen Metzger convinced her parents to let her convert the structure into a tack shed for equine equipment.
However, a statewide drought that began around 1950 and lasted for six years made it increasingly difficult to produce crops on Metzger Farm. Over time, the property became better suited for raising livestock, and pastures full of grass for grazing replaced many of the previously plowed crop fields. The Metzger’s daughter Karen eventually pastured her horse on 16 acres of repurposed wheat field, as she was heavily involved with the West Eastlake Range Riders and participated annually in the National Western Stock Show.
The iconic ponds on the property did not exist when John Metzger first purchased it, but he took advantage of the natural topography and existing irrigation to excavate and fill the two ponds and improve the landscape. Today, these ponds serve as valuable habitat for wildlife and a key characteristic of the open space. Residents have access to the larger pond via a maintained trail and purpose-built fishing pier.
Nowadays, visitors to Metzger Farm Open Space can see an abundance of wildlife, including an active heron rookery, on the property. Joe Reale, open space superintendent for Westminster, said Metzger farm is unique in the suburban landscape.
“It’s a real oasis,” Reale said. “As soon as you get out there, you’re instantly away from all the city life, but it’s also conveniently close to home.”
The Metzger Farm parcel has been jointly managed as open space since the cities of Westminster and Broomfield formed a joint foundation in 2005 to acquire the property. After drafting a master plan and preparing the area for safe recreation, Metzger Farm Open Space began welcoming residents in 2012.
Westminster Mayor Nancy McNally served as a liaison throughout the process and is excited to see the continued enjoyment of a historic property bustling with wildlife and preserved for visitors from all walks of life.
“Never underestimate a simple get-together to talk,” McNally said. “A great partnership may be around the corner! This land has become a treasure for both cities' citizens for generations to come.”