Ranch property includes its own Old West-themed toy town
It looks like a Wild West town in history books, with a saloon and upstairs brothel, a jail, a stable, a general store, stagecoach depot, bank, hotel and barbershop.
The only thing is, Rose City isn't real.
Unlike another Western town that hit the market recently, this one isn't on any map. It’s like a private theme park, or maybe a dollhouse for grown-ups, for the owners of a vast ranch property that's on the market for $23 million near Kremmling, Colorado, about two hours northwest of Denver.
(Click here or on a photo for a slideshow of Rose City and the rest of the ranch property.)
“You can’t help but smile when you walk in,” listing agent Mark Overstreet says of Rose City. “It’s right out of a cowboy movie.”
The 3,500-acre property, including Rose City and a 6,300-square-foot house dubbed Wild Eagle Lodge, occupies two parcels out of nearly two dozen at Grand River Ranch, a shared ranch community that totals more than 19,000 acres. A horse-drawn stagecoach and assorted authentic buggies and carts transport guests around Rose City.
Because Wild Eagle Lodge is so small—really, by Grand River Ranch standards, it qualifies only as a “guest home”—you can still build a 12,000-square-foot home nearby (and there are approved plans for one ready to go).
In fact, according to Grand River Ranch rules, the property is big enough to accommodate 10 main homes and 10 guest homes if you subdivide it.
And we haven’t even gotten to the shared amenities of the Grand River Ranch community, which was born when the original owners of the 19,250 acres started selling off parcels in 1999. The family that purchased the Rose City and Wild Eagle Lodge parcels was one of the first to buy in.
Shared ranch communities like Grand River are fairly common in Colorado, according to Overstreet, an agent with Aspen Snowmass Sotheby’s International in Colorado. Residents get the opportunity to own their own private ranch while partaking of common amenities for the community.
At Grand River, those amenities include private security gates to access the ranch; a member’s lodge for entertaining and housing guests; ranch headquarters, where the ranch manager lives; a 2,400-square-foot equestrian center with shared horses available to ride; a clay pigeon range; and two fishing camps with cabins. (Click here or on a photo for a slideshow.)
Beyond that, shared ranch communities have staffers who maintain the property, cater events, guide outdoor excursions and pick up residents and guests flying in on private planes. (At Grand River, the Kremmling airport is nearby.) So while the ranches here may look like the Old West, you don’t really have to rough it like the cowboys of yore.
Rose City is used mostly for charity functions and family gatherings.
“This is really a family legacy property,” Overstreet says. “The ranch is designed so that a lot of people can come here and be entertained without having to leave the ranch at all. They can dine in the stagecoach depot and then the men can leave for the barbershop after dinner and smoke their cigar while the grandkids are running around the general store.”
You may have to do some politicking when buy Rose City though, because the current family’s members hold pretty lofty positions in the fake town, including mayor, deputy sheriff and president of the bank, Overstreet jokes. It’s unclear if those titles come with the purchase price.
Click here or on a photo for a slideshow of the ranch property, including old-timey Rose City.
Ilyce Glink is an award-winning, nationally syndicated real estate columnist, blogger and radio talk show host, and managing editor of the Equifax Finance Blog. Follow her on Twitter @Glink.
