Want to buy a Ranch? (Derby, Aspen: leases, houses, buyers)

[Vision67]

"Now, it’s time for the last of her brood to cede their ranching roots. She is selling the family’s 20,000-acre spread along the Colorado River. The green meadows — stippled with 1,200 head of cattle and another 1,000 yearlings bound for market — rolling from the dark timber of the Flat Tops Wilderness Area’s basalt-columned Dome Peak. The cliff-pocked terrain along Cabin Creek and the Colorado River. The sagebrush high desert, the deep canyons. Elk, bears, wildcats. Homes, barns, corrals, tractors, trucks and trailers. Enough water to slake a city.

The price: $100 million."

Nottingham Ranch is final stand for clan that homesteaded Vail Valley

At only $5K per acre, it's a real bargain!

[otowi]

I hope she can find a buyer that would carry on the legacy and not just turn it into homes, etc.

[City Guy997S]

Originally Posted by Vision67

"Now, it’s time for the last of her brood to cede their ranching roots. She is selling the family’s 20,000-acre spread along the Colorado River. The green meadows — stippled with 1,200 head of cattle and another 1,000 yearlings bound for market — rolling from the dark timber of the Flat Tops Wilderness Area’s basalt-columned Dome Peak. The cliff-pocked terrain along Cabin Creek and the Colorado River. The sagebrush high desert, the deep canyons. Elk, bears, wildcats. Homes, barns, corrals, tractors, trucks and trailers. Enough water to slake a city.

The price: $100 million."

Nottingham Ranch is final stand for clan that homesteaded Vail Valley

At only $5K per acre, it's a real bargain!

That place will get scooped up by someone. If I had 100 million (I'm just short ) there is no way I would bother with a working ranch.......well because it is hard work and those ranches frequently bleed money rather than break even.

[NW Crow]

Lots of pictures. 1690 Derby Mesa Loop, Burns, CO 80426 - 1690 Derby Mesa Loop


50-60,000 acres of lease rights too. Control 125 square miles of land. Buy 10 more of similar size and be in the hunt for top 5 - 10 U.S. private citizens with the most land under control.

[townshend]

Originally Posted by NW Crow

Lots of pictures. 1690 Derby Mesa Loop, Burns, CO 80426 - 1690 Derby Mesa Loop


50-60,000 acres of lease rights too. Control 125 square miles of land. Buy 10 more of similar size and be in the hunt for top 5 - 10 U.S. private citizens with the most land under control.

I figured Ted Turner would be high on the list, but he is "only" number 2 (behind John Malone): https://qz.com/615048/these-are-the-...united-states/

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by townshend

I figured Ted Turner would be high on the list, but he is "only" number 2 (behind John Malone): https://qz.com/615048/these-are-the-...united-states/

Interesting. There are any number of ultra wealthy who have large Colorado holdings. Oprah, Ralph Lauren, Henry Kravis, etc.

I saw a list that showed that at least 50 billionaires own land in and around Aspen.

[NW Crow]

Thanks for the list townshend. I had seen it but didn't feel like digging for it.


I said control above but to get in top 10 -25 of "owners" I guess you got to buy 25 - 50 of this sized ranch to make it. Fun with uber money. The very top owners holdings reach beyond 3,000 square miles in total.


If you were into super uber acreage (and these folks appear to compete) you probably wouldn't bother with anything much smaller than this unless it was adjacent or near to one of your existing ranches or it was the start of something bigger.

[sunsprit]

Originally Posted by NW Crow

If you were into super uber acreage (and these folks appear to compete) you probably wouldn't bother with anything much smaller than this unless it was adjacent or near to one of your existing ranches or it was the start of something bigger.

the reality is that this is not a particularly "big ranch" by any sizable ranch standards, let alone a total amount of property. There are a fair number of significantly larger single deeded acreage ranches throughout the region.

personally, I know 3 ranch "manager" families who are only a "working couple" on 40,000 acre deeded ranches each with leases on additional BLM or other public lands. They work their butts off to raise the livestock, grow the hay and harvest it, mend the fences and keep the infrastructure/working facilities in reasonable working order (think fencing, irrigation or livestock watering systems, shelters, barns)

as is typical of so many of the "dirt rich, cash poor" operations, look at the numbers/living situations of the owner ...

fairly modest living quarters

nothing fancy about their working facilities

the operation handles all that irrigated land, cattle operation ... with only 4 employees.

these places don't spin off a lot of cash profit from operations. Even if yearlings were bringing $1.50/lb NET profit, 1,000 of them to market is a minute portion of the cost of the ranch.


The value of these properties comes from the land development pressures of the region. Nobody is going to buy this place at the asked price for the ranching operation ... it's the water resources and recreational or development opportunities that will be the primary buyers. Or a vanity buyer affluent enough to purchase such a property solely for the bragging rights.

[pikabike]

Good post.

I tell visitors to the state to stop equating McLogMansions and fancy finishes with working ranches. Most of the latter have unpretentious, fairly simple houses and outbuildings, often including (*gasp*) metal or manufactured ones. Fencing is usually barbed wire.

[wilberry]

Interesting story thanks for posting. My best friends family owns some land on homestead creek in Gold Park below the Mt of the Holy cross in Eagle county . I hope they never sell. They built a cabin with running hot an cold water , electricity and a full kitchen. The water is piped from a waterfall on the side of the mountain . I love that place. there are plenty of Heirs to keep it going.