The Barefoot Lakes HOA — What It Actually Covers (and Why It's Not One Number)
If you're trying to figure out what the HOA at Barefoot Lakes is going to cost you each month, the answer is harder to pin down than it should be — and that's because there isn't one HOA. There are two layers, and they each do something different.
By Laura Owen
What People Mean When They Search "Barefoot Lakes HOA"
Most buyers I work with at Barefoot Lakes assume the community has a single HOA the way a smaller subdivision does. That's not quite right. Barefoot is a master-planned community in Firestone, Colorado, and like most newer master-planned communities along the Front Range, the structure is split into two pieces — a metro district that handles community-wide infrastructure and amenities, and a builder-specific HOA that handles the day-to-day for your particular section.
The reason this matters: when you ask "what's the HOA?" at a Brookfield home in Barefoot Village versus a Richmond American home in Barefoot Lakes, you can get two different numbers — and both are technically correct. You're not getting bad information. You're just looking at two different layers.
Layer One — The St. Vrain Lakes Metropolitan District
The St. Vrain Lakes Metropolitan District is a Colorado quasi-municipal entity governed by an elected five-person board and professionally managed by Pinnacle Consulting Group. It's the body that finances and maintains the big-picture infrastructure at Barefoot Lakes Firestone — the parks, the signature lakes, the miles of paved trail, the signage and landscaping in common areas, and the operation of The Cove amenity center.
You don't pay the metro district directly through a monthly HOA bill. You pay it through a property-tax mill levy attached to your home. That's why a Barefoot home will show a higher annual property tax line than a comparably valued home in a non-metro-district part of Firestone — typically around 50 mills higher per published Town of Firestone figures, which works out to roughly a 33% larger property-tax bill on the same assessed value. I wrote about how that math works in detail in my earlier piece on metro district taxes at Barefoot, so I'll keep this short here.
What you get for that is real: the parks, the trail system around the lakes, the landscaping standards that hold up over time, and most of the visible "feel" of living in Barefoot is paid for through the metro district structure, not through your monthly HOA dues.
Layer Two — Your Home’s Sub-HOA Dues
On top of the metro district, each individual section of Barefoot Lakes Colorado has its own private HOA with its own monthly dues. The dues vary by home type and by the section you bought in — single-family versus paired homes versus townhomes — because each section is its own small association with its own scope.
Per current builder marketing as of mid-2026, most single-family sections at Barefoot are running roughly in the range of $90 per month for some Brookfield Village portfolios, and closer to $165 per month for Richmond American's Lakes single-family product. Pulte, American Legend, and the paired-home and townhome formats can fall above or below those numbers depending on what the sub-HOA is contractually responsible for.
Two notes. First, these are not numbers you should commit to without verifying — builder marketing is a snapshot, and HOA budgets adjust over time. Always confirm the current monthly dues for the specific lot in the builder contract or resale contract before you sign. Second, dues aren't directly comparable across sections unless you know what's included. A paired-home HOA that handles exterior maintenance, lawn care, and snow removal will quote a different number than a single-family HOA that handles common areas only.
"If you're trying to make sense of the dues on a specific Barefoot lot — or comparing two homes from two different builders — this is exactly the kind of thing I work through with buyers before contract. No reason to guess." — Laura Owen | 720-300-4339 | owengroupco.com
What the Metro Fees and HOA Dues Actually Cover at Barefoot
Between the two layers, here is what Barefoot residents are actually paying for:
The Cove amenity center — the resort-style pool with a six-lane lap section, beach entry, and splash pad; the 24-hour fitness center; the pickleball courts; the basketball half-court; the firepits; flex rooms for fitness classes and gatherings.
The lakes and Peninsula Park — the signature water features and the largest park in the community sitting between the two lakes, with playground, picnic lawn, fitness lawn, pavilions, and amphitheater.
The trail system — paved trails through both Barefoot Lakes and Barefoot Village, the lake loop, and connections along the St. Vrain River.
Common-area maintenance — landscaping, signage, common-area snow removal, irrigation, and the general curb appeal the community is known for.
Section-specific items — depending on which sub-HOA your home falls under, this can include exterior maintenance, front-yard landscaping, or shared-wall maintenance for paired homes.
How to Figure Out Your Real Monthly Carrying Cost
When buyers ask me what a Barefoot home actually costs to carry per month, I tell them to think about it in four pieces rather than two:
Principal and interest on the mortgage.
Homeowner's insurance.
The full property-tax bill — which includes both the town/county mill levy and the St. Vrain Lakes Metro District mill levy. This is the line that tends to surprise people who didn't account for the metro district piece.
The sub-HOA monthly dues for your specific section.
Run those four together and you have the real number — not the marketing snapshot. If you're early in the process, that's a calculation you should do BEFORE you fall in love with a specific floor plan, because the difference between a Brookfield Village home and a Richmond American Lakes home isn't only the sticker price — it shows up in the carrying cost too.
One Last Thing on Disclosure
Colorado requires sellers and builders to provide HOA disclosure documents, including the budget and the covenants, before closing. If you're buying new, the builder contract will include them; if you're buying resale, ask for them as part of the contract. Read the budget. Skim the rules. You don't have to memorize them, but you should know what you're agreeing to — and which line items the dues are actually funding versus which ones the metro district picks up.
"The HOA structure at Barefoot isn't complicated once you see how it's layered — but it's not obvious from a model home tour, and I've spoken to sellers who did not have clarity on all of their monthly costs when they bought their home from the builder. If you'd like a walk-through on a specific home you're considering, I'm easy to reach." — Laura Owen | 720-300-4339 | owengroupco.com
Laura Owen, The Owen Group at RE/MAX Momentum. Licensed in Colorado.