Texas' iconic Waggoner Ranch for sale for $725 million

The Waggoner Ranch is one of the largest contiguous ranches in the United States.



Here's a look around the property. The Waggoner Ranch is one of the largest contiguous ranches in the United States.



Here's a look around the property. Image 1 of / 123 Caption Close Texas' iconic Waggoner Ranch for sale for $725 million 1 / 123 Back to Gallery

At more than 510,000 acres, the Waggoner ranch in North Texas is among the nation's largest privately owned, contiguous ranches.

In fact, it's probably the biggest "behind one fence," according to Bernard Uechtritz with Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty, a Dallas-area firm listing the property.

The asking price is $725 million for the ranch, which is also being shown by Sam Middleton of the Lubbock firm Chas. S. Middleton and Son.

It's about 175 miles northwest of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and 12 miles south of Vernon, the county seat of Wilbarger County. Wichita Falls is about 20 miles east of the ranch's eastern boundary, according to the sales brochure.

"This is a Wall Street or Silicon Valley entrepreneur's last chance to buy the next King Ranch," Uechtritz said, referring to the state's other massive ranch operation in South Texas. "It's the only other ranching brand that has all the attributes and opportunities that the King Ranch does."

The ranch's backwards "D" brand has been used continuously since 1849, making it one of the oldest brands in Texas, the sales brochure states.

Since the property was listed in August, at the end of a long-running family dispute that landed in the 46th State District Court in Wilbarger County, interest has been "overwhelming," Euchtritz said.

"We've had over 500 inquiries from all around the world," he said. "We are showing the ranch to national and international and Texas-based prospects on a weekly basis. A number of buyers are conducting due diligence, evaluating the property."

Spread over six counties near the Oklahoma border, the Waggoner ranch includese 58 houses on two main compounds, Uechtritz said.

One compound, Santa Rosa, is where Electra Waggoner Biggs, a noted sculptor and socialite, lived. Her sculptures included Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Harry Truman and humorist Will Rogers on his horse.

Rogers once played polo at Waggoner at stayed at the other compound, Zacaweista, according to Uechtritz.