A family ranch that hadn’t changed hands in six decades sold in April for the whopping price of $46 million.<\/p>\n
Within a month of being listed publicly, the “turnkey legacy ranch” dubbed Y Bar O Ranch<\/a> in far West Texas<\/a> sold to a local landowner. The sellers were the family of original owners William Blake “Dub” Yarborough and his wife, Kay. Blake died in 2006 and the land had passed down to family members.<\/p>\n “We had a tremendous amount of interest before we even publicized the ranch,” listing broker Chad Duggar of Hall and Hall<\/a> tells Realtor.com\u00ae. “We showed it a few times and had a contract within 30 days.”<\/p>\n Duggar says the ranch moved fast because it was meticulously maintained over the years. “Ranches of that quality and size don’t come up very often,” he says. “So long as they are priced reasonably within the market, there’s enough demand in that area.”<\/p>\n The ranch, which comes with 29,071 deeded acres in the state’s Big Bend region, not only had a well-oiled calf-and-cow operation and completely updated infrastructure, but a four-bedroom stucco home and a manager’s home, bunkhouse, office, shops, barns, and roping arena, 10 sets of pens and 21 pastures, with a secondary camp\u00a0for the southern part of the ranch.<\/p>\n The Y Bar O Ranch hasn’t changed hands in 60 years and sold with the ask of over $46 million.Hall and Hall<\/p>\n “Water is abundant,” says the listing, describing “28 wells and an extensive network of water storages, pipelines, and drinking troughs, complemented by springs and seasonal creeks.”<\/p>\n There are stunning views, too, with 360-degree views of Elephant Mountain, Cathedral Mountain, Mount Ord, Cienega Mountain, and Santiago Peak. The land supports a multitude of plant life including native grasses, oak, cottonwoods, juniper, mesquite, yucca, and other forbs and grasses, perfect for grazing. <\/p>\n “This is a long-term family property that had a reputation for quality,” says Duggar. “It has a diverse topography, excellent water features, and lots of diverse wildlife.”<\/p>\n Wildlife making the ranch their home include elk, mule deer, aoudad, mountain lion, black bear, and game birds.<\/p>\n “You don’t come across properties often that you can say that if there is anything that needs to be done, it would be the buyer’s personal preference,” he says. “It was that maintained.”<\/p>\n The 29,000-acre ranch has stunning, weeping views of mesas and mountains.Hall and HallWhy the family is selling<\/p>\n Duggar says that ranches like this are incredibly expensive and don’t produce much income, so to keep them well maintained, there usually has to be an outside source of income. Yarborough was known as a successful oilman. <\/p>\n “These sale prices are so much greater than the production value,” he says. “You can’t pay for these ranches on what the land will produce. Buyers have some kind of outside means of income to purchase and support it.” <\/p>\n Duggar says the Yarborough family had a number of heirs who owned the farm and with that many people, “management decisions get difficult.”<\/p>\n With ranches producing income that isn’t enough to cover operation costs, sometimes it becomes best to move on.<\/p>\n “You have an asset with this price tag that produces a minimal amount of income in return, so it’s not uncommon for these long-term ownerships\u2014for whatever reason and different motivations involved\u2014it just becomes time to sell it and divide the money,” he says.<\/p>\n The new owner\u2014whom Duggar won’t name\u2014is an experienced local landowner and rancher who will keep the Y Bar O running as is. <\/p>\n “I’ve known him about 20 years,” he says of the new owner. “He’s expanding his investments in that region, and he’s a rancher. He won’t do anything with it other than keep it and run the way it’s always been run.”<\/p>\n Duggar says the sellers are thrilled that the new owner is so perfectly aligned with the ideals of the ranch.<\/p>\n “They want a buyer that is going to take care of what they spent a lifetime building,” he says. “They certainly got that with this buyer.”<\/p>\n The main house\u2014”the Casa”\u2014has four bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, radiant-heat floors, and a large outdoor living area with views of Cathedral Mountain.Hall and HallThe ranch craze<\/p>\n Asked whether the plethora of entertainment shows revolving around the ranch way of life\u2014such as “Yellowstone,” “Dutton Ranch,” “The Ranch,” and “The Madison<\/a>“\u2014are sending valuations soaring and city folk running to snap up the nearest ranch, Duggar laughs a little.<\/p>\n “If you talk to some of my partners in Bozeman, MT, they would have a very strong opinion about that,” he says. “The whole ‘Yellowstone’ craze brought a lot of people to Montana<\/a>.”<\/p>\n Over the last six years, Montana has experienced the steepest overall growth in listing prices of any state in the U.S., according to\u00a0Hannah Jones, senior economist at\u00a0Realtor.com\u00ae<\/a>.<\/p>\n For his part, Duggar thinks “The Madison,” starring Michelle Pfeiffer<\/a> and Kurt Russell, is the one to watch, describing it as writer\/director Taylor Sheridan’s “best.”<\/p>\n But according to Duggar, Hollywood’s homestead fad hasn’t quite affected the Lone Star State the same way as it has Montana.<\/p>\n