Something happened in 2003 that made me think “It would be a good thing if I could share Sierra Springs Ranch with some other folks that would appreciate the Ranch as much as I”. With that thought in mind I proceeded to try to picture just what it should be. I talked to a lot of people, traveled to far away places, and came up with a picture in my mind. The picture included water, meadows, trees, and homes that would blend in with their surroundings. It would be an exclusive community with as few homes as possible, but would make it economically feasible. I wanted everyone to have the benefit of all modern conveniences, not feel overrun by their neighbors, and to feel that their home and surroundings were something special. I wanted to preserve some of the long history that the Ranch has, be as kind as possible to the environment and to try to improve on what was there. The number of home sites I considered ranged from as few as 10 to as many as 110, I settled on 51.

The Ranch was originally homesteaded in the 1920’s and farmed by the Penrod family, descendants of Mormon pioneers. Sometime in the 60’s it was sold (I am told the price was $25,000) to Gray Madison (who built the first house) and was used as his summer residence. In the early 1970’s the Ranch was purchased by an eccentric fellow by the name of Jack Hogan, an attorney from Chicago (who built a few more homes). They called it Jac-Not-Ranch. Sometime in the 80’s the Ranch was sold to Empire Machinery Company of Mesa, Arizona. The president of the company Jack Whiteman used the Ranch as a corporate retreat for himself and his upper management. In 1991 Don and Barbara Ottosen of Phoenix, Arizona purchased the Ranch (built a few more homes) and converted it into a guest ranch and renamed it Sierra Springs Ranch. I purchased the Ranch in October of 1997 and continued to operate it as a guest ranch until breaking ground in September of 2005. There is more to the history that this, but at least you now know who was here and when. It took me a couple of years to get what I had in my head onto paper, through all of the legal, bureaucratic, environmental, government agencies, and to break ground. It was not easy, was it worth it, I guess you have all said that it was.

Would I do it again? YES!

Neal C. DuCharme
President
Sierra Springs Development Inc.

 

 

Sierra Springs Ranch
9515 Sierra Springs Drive
Pinetop, AZ  85935-9786
Phone: 928.369.3900 Fax: 928.369.0741
info@sierraspringsranch.com