175 Acres of Durango Wild Can Be Yours at Wildflower Ranch
Share News:
Look at the bottom left corner of this photo. The small speck of adobe red and desert tan. That is Wildflower Ranch, a sprawling Durango estate with a 12,000-square-foot main house, a three-bedroom caretaker home, two barns, and a solar farm large enough to power nearly all of it. And the textured relief of earth surrounding it? That’s not just the view from this home listed by Eric Roark of the Wells Group Real Estate for $29.5 million. That’s your land, all 175 acres of it.
Roark is an affable North Texas football coach-turned-Realtor in Colorado, but his drawl still sounds like he never left Texas. He knows his new home of Durango like the back of his hand, and he can tell you this estate listing is something special.
“While this is one of Southwest Colorado’s most iconic homes, the real value here is in the land and this is how the vision started,” Roark says. “Here you have private access to three sides of the San Juan National Forest and you can enjoy any and every outdoor activity that there is to offer without having to leave your home.
“I can’t take credit for this, but someone once said that when you acquire land you are buying its past and are responsible for its future. Mr. Pope was certainly the epitome for someone that is responsible for this land’s future,” Roark says.
It’s a heck of a trophy property for someone who appreciates natural Colorado acreage and the ability to say they can see five mountain peaks from their great room window. Now, that’s quite a flex.
Of course, no “flex” ever crossed Charles Pope’s mind when he purchased a single 35-acre parcel back in 2002 to make his own RV campground. Just a place to hook up a caravan with basic facilities, maybe a grill, and a view you just can’t beat. But through the years, the retired Seagate Technology exec purchased four more parcels surrounding him until he had accumulated 175 acres of untouched Southwest Colorado land. Then, he and his wife Gloria got to work making his wilderness camp into a wilderness retreat for his family.
But how do you accurately describe a mountainside property like this? The exterior almost looks commercial for how large a home this is. But Pope designed the four-story home with only four bedrooms. Why?
“He emphasized what was important to him, which was family togetherness,” Roark says. “He custom-built a home that would encourage togetherness by design.”
So, he spent the vast majority of his 12,000 square feet on an oversized dining room for big family dinners, large living areas, and entertainment spaces including a 12-seat home theater with a snack bar and a game room with a wet bar. There are also multiple patios and balconies encompassing the perimeter of the house, each to offer families a place to soak in the Colorado wild around them.
The main second floor features an open-concept three-room area. First, a massive Great Room has a castle-designed fireplace, 22-foot Aspen Wood ceilings, and panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows.
Next, a formal dining room can host family holiday meals and stately dinners and opens to a dine-in chef’s kitchen with a butler’s pantry. The kitchen features granite countertops, custom cabinets, and premium appliances including a Viking oven, gas range, oven warmers, and Sub-Zero refrigerated drawers.
Moving to the bedrooms, the primary suite begins on the second floor and the three guest bedrooms are on the third and fourth floors. The primary suite is actually two stories and includes a foyer, fireplace, and a second-story bonus room with magnificent views.
The primary bath features dual walk-in custom closets, a stand-alone shower, a bathtub, and patio access. Adjacent to the primary suite is a fitness center that includes a lap-resistant pool and private bath.
Other features in the home include a soundproof music production room, an 800-square-foot greenroom attached to the three-car garage, a mudroom with lockers, an office with fireproof file cabinets, and a library with floor-to-ceiling pecan wood bookshelves.
I mentioned the garage — that’s heated, and the driveway is constructed with heated pave stones. This is Colorado we’re talking about here.
Roark reminds us that Wildflower Ranch is a working ranch, so there is a 4,356-square-foot barn with four stalls and a washing basin and a 3,650-square-foot pole barn with a utility room and covered outdoor round pen. That means the property is good for raising both horses and cattle. All this comes with a 2,550-square-foot home for a caretaker with three bedrooms, two baths, and a two-car garage.
Finally, an outdoor pavilion includes a full-service kitchen with an Imperial range oven and stovetop and a serving area with a fire pit in the center of the pavilion. Plus, there are men’s and women’s restrooms with four stalls and vanities.
At the very beginning, I mentioned something about solar. Wildflower Ranch actually has one of the largest solar panel projects for utilities. Believe it or not, utility bills for everything average $66 a month. Power is backed up by an 85 kilowatt propane generator. Roark mentions there is room for expansion with utility hookups to create more potential trophy home sites.
There’s a lot here, right?
Of course, this property is located in an incredible setting for a multitude of activities — fly fishing, hunting, horseback riding, hiking, camping, ranching, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, or cross-country skiing.
Plus, you’re just 15 minutes to Durango night skiing, shopping, dining, and nightlife, and only 30 minutes to jet service for easy in and out.
