Owned by the same family for more than 116 years, Reynolds Ranch is now on the market for $30.7 million.Courtesy of California Outdoor PropertiesFor more than 116 years, Deanna Davis’ family has owned Reynolds Ranch, spanning 7,600 acres in California’s Central Coast region. With the heirs in disagreement over the homestead’s future, Reynolds Ranch is now on the market for $30.7 million.”It’s so hard to make decisions together as a family about the ranch,” she told CNBC. “If I had the cash, I would buy the whole thing right now and cash everybody out and start over and take the title in a LLC.”It’s a common predicament for family trees that have too many branches, said Davis, who runs the ranch. Her mother, who died last December, was the last family member who grew up on Reynolds Ranch. Now the family is scattered across the country and some of her relatives live overseas. Some family members who can only visit once or twice a year would rather cash out.Families like Davis’ are increasingly choosing to sell these long-held properties, high-end ranch brokers told CNBC.The legacy properties are in big demand — even if not at pandemic highs — as deep-pocketed buyers crave wide open skies and a slower pace of life. The so-called “Yellowstone” effect remains in full force, with fans of the Paramount show seeking sprawling properties in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and other Western states.”All I know is whoever buys this property, when they sit on the porch in the afternoon, sipping their margarita or iced tea, they will think they landed in paradise,” Davis said.’Nothing quite like it’Ranch brokerage Live Water Properties currently has $700 million in listing inventory, up from under $200 million in May 2024, according to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, broker Latham Jenkins. Many of these properties are legacy ranches that are on the market for the first time in generations, he said.One such listing is Antlers Ranch in Meeteetse, Wyoming, which spans 40,000 acres — nearly three times the size of Manhattan — and is priced at $85 million. Antlers Ranch is on the market for the first time in five generations.”Large historic properties are less common as many have been broken up and sold off,” Jenkins said. “Those that remain are highly desirable.”These legacy ranches can demand a premium for reasons other than acreage, he said. Many historic ranches, like another one of his listings, Red Hills Ranch, a 190-acre property asking for $65 million, are surrounded by public lands that cannot be developed. Buyers are drawn to that privacy, as …
