Saddle-Up!
If you have any clients who are cowboys or cowgirls at heart, this listing might be right up their alley - or down the right trail. The 8,500-acre Lazy K Bar Dude Ranch is for sale. Along with a lodge and 30-some cabins and outbuildings, this ranch comes complete with a creek, lots of snow and an 11,000 foot mountain peak.
The asking price? Nine million dollars. Owners of the ranch say that price undervalues the property by about a third.
According to a recent article in the Missoulian, Paul "Tack" Van Cleve listed the ranch about a month ago and already has received inquiries about the property. The ranch has been in his family for five generations and has been operated as a dude ranch since 1922.
The ranch provides guests with an old-fashioned experience one would expect from such a place. Guests are treated to horseback rides into alpine lakes where the fishing is legendary, campfires, ghost stories and large gatherings for dinner. Absent from the experience at the Lazy K Bar is the dress-up and make believe found at many dude ranches.
Rather than entertaining their guests, those at the Lazy K Bar create a perfect environment for guests to entertain themselves.
The ranch is surrounded by suitably named landscapes. It is located on the east side of the Crazy Mountains and includes the 11,214-foot Crazy Peak, the highest peak in the mountain range. And it sits in Sweet Grass County near the small community of Big Timber.
It is the oldest family-owned, continuously operated dude ranch in Montana. Van Cleve, 76, and his sister, Carol, 65, runs the ranch with help from other family members. Typically the ranch also hires about 15 employees to help every summer. Apparently the family has decided it is time to pass the ranch on to new owners.
Although it will be up to its new owners what will become of it, Van Cleve told the Missoulian he hopes it continues to be run as a dude ranch. Over the years, the ranch has played host to movie starts, politicians and corporate moguls.
So, if any of you have a client who wants to own their own piece of the Old West, this listing in the heart of Montana may be just what they are looking for.
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