by Lisa Crockett

The World Book Encyclopedia was what brought Eva Mitchell to Colorado. A native of Germany, Mitchell came to the United States in the mid-1950s. In need of a job, she obtained employment selling sets of World Book Encyclopedias.

“I didn’t really enjoy the job,” said Mitchell. “But the company held a contest to see who could sell the most encyclopedias. I was the winner, and the prize was a set of encyclopedias.”

Looking to move from Georgia, Mitchell read her encyclopedias – paying particular attention to the entry about Colorado — and dreamed of moving here based on the fact that it was mountainous and had both tourism and manufacturing. “I decided that with all those mountains, it would be a beautiful place,” said Mitchell.

In 1963, Mitchell moved to Denver and was able to take her natural gift for sales and turn it into a comfortable living for herself and her four children selling real estate. She was involved with both land and home sales; one of her most high-profile deals involved selling the land for Highlands Ranch.

Having sold real estate for 43 years, Mitchell now tries to limit herself to just a few projects at a time to allow herself to focus on other pursuits, including serving as the vice president for HOA 1. Her real estate experience has served her especially well as she and the rest of the homeowners in HOA 1 have negotiated plans for the new Lagae Ranch Development.

“We’ve tried to be very thorough with this plan, answering all the objections of homeowners throughout the process. This project is for the betterment of all of Castle Pines North, but it will have the most impact on the homeowners in HOA 1, so we wanted to be sure we were very careful,” said Mitchell.

Mitchell credits the success of the project not only to the HOA 1 Board, which has worked tirelessly on the project, but also to Chris Fellows of HF Holdings LLC, who has worked and re-worked the plan countless times to answer the questions and objections of HOA 1.

In addition to her work and volunteer activities, Mitchell enjoys traveling and the outdoors; she and her husband, Richard Lichtenheld, especially enjoy their summer home in Pinecliffe, Colorado, often in the company of their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Always in search of a new challenge, Mitchell thinks that perhaps someday she will write a few books. The first book will be about real estate, the second about her girlhood in World War II-era Germany.

No matter what she is doing, Mitchell’s thoughts are never far from her home and what she can to do make it better for herself and her neighbors.

“We really enjoy living here in this neighborhood with a variety of people, including young families with children. Being involved in the progress and development of the community is fun,” she said. “Our community is a place where people can live and be happy.”