Ranch as Vacation Home

Ted Turner is a classic example of a city-slicker turned cowboy. With two million acres and some 15 ranches sprawling over seven states, Turner is the largest individual landholder in North America. Turner’s buying prowess is indicative of another recent real-estate trend: the ranch as vacation home. A number of buyers, fed up with the crowds in traditional second-home markets, have fled west to the open plains of Wyoming, the badlands of Montana, and other states, in search of land, privacy and outdoor recreation.

Home on the Range

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Ranches bring fly-fishing, big-game hunting, horseback riding and birding to your backyard. Some properties even come with cattle or agricultural production, although most second homeowners leave the hard labor to hired ranch hands. How involved you want to be in the day-to-day operation of your ranch is just one of the factors to consider—alongside location and budget—if you have dreams of being a ranch owner like Turner, albeit on a smaller scale.

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