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La Garita Ranch

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c. 1895. 9 miles southeast of Creede off Colorado 149

This 2,500-acre ranch along Bellows Creek near its confluence with the Rio Grande was purchased by U.S. senator Lawrence C. Phipps of Denver in 1908. The private retreat of the Phipps family for a half-century, it is now a dude ranch. Part of the two-story log main lodge dates back to 1885. Besides three log guest lodges—the Biltmore, the Ritz, and the Waldorf—La Garita has a large recreation hall, heated swimming pool, spa, sauna, stables, and fish house. Recently the Phipps family subdivided part of the ranch for a planned development, Wagon Wheel Estates. An easement for the main ranch and a 1,000-acre setting have been donated to the Nature Conservancy, which will oversee its preservation.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Thomas J. Noel
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Data

What's Nearby

4UR Ranch
Denver & Rio Grande Depot
Spruce Lodge
Holy Family Mission Church

Citation

Thomas J. Noel, "La Garita Ranch", [South Fork, Colorado], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/CO-01-ML17.

Print Source

Buildings of Colorado, Thomas J. Noel. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997, 436-436.

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