Click on any photo to see it full size
Looking down from the balcony upstairs:
Landscaping behind the house.
The pond/creek at the west side of the property:
|
The Flying DL Ranch
This 75 acres horse ranch is located in Lakes Country of West Central Minnesota. Becker County has over 400 lakes and this ranch is right in the middle of it, only six paved miles from downtown Detroit Lakes. The land is softly rolling and if you like boating, the boat launch for Cormorant Lake with 3,241 acres and a depths of 75feet is only a couple of miles down the road.
The property has a 1,500ft grass landing strip, which also lends itself for a great canter, so your horse can stretch its legs.
The 132' x 70' indoor riding arena was built in 2007 and has windows all around; with insulated walls and ceiling. The horse stalls are inside the arena, separated by a wall, so the horses won't breathe any dust. The stall area can be heated to keep the chill out and the moisture down in winter. There are two automatic waterers installed in the stalls and one outside behind the arena in the corral. The corral is as long as the arena, with one separator and leads into the adjacent pasture. The pasture has a nice stand of trees for shelter. Inside of the arena you have a heated tack room and there is also the room for the reverse osmosis system. The system produces 2,500 gallons a day of pure drinking water for the home and the horses. The sand on the riding arena floor is mixed with sunflower hulls, which are fabulous for keeping the dust down. The arena has two overhead doors, two Dutch doors big enough for horses and one man door. There is a sturdy hitching post with Blocker tie rings and a floor mat. The stalls all have rubber floor mats and so does the tie out area. The stalls are made out of rough sawn timber to keep the rustic Western Theme of the ranch. The stalls are of flexible design and can easily be made bigger for foaling or more stalls can be added as needed. Right now there are three 12'x12' boxes. Above the tack room is a small hay loft, which comes in handy in winter when you don't want to haul hay from the other barn. The cats sure enjoy it.
The 3,000sqft air-conditioned home has just been log sided and has a new roof too, with two cast iron horse heads sitting on the gables. In northern Germany, you often see gables with horse heads, so we thought we give the home an Old World touch. All utilities leading to the house have been put under ground. The drive way leading to the front door is still in the process of being paved with pavers and the rest of the driveway will shortly receive a new coat of asphalt. The floors of the home are mostly hardwood or tiled and some carpet. The kitchen and upstairs bathroom counters have slabs of "Silver Spark" granite, which is a sparkly light grey with random maroon stripes and interesting patterns. As you come through the front door, you arrive in the foyer, which leads through a leaded glass door to the large office with windows all around it, the ultimate corner office! A marble step leads up into the library and living room with gas fireplace and skylight in the vaulted ceiling. From there you can either walk into the roomy kitchen with eating area by the window or go into one of the two downstairs bedrooms. One of them has a walk in closet and private bathroom with a small shower and jetted tub. The other one has a bathroom with roomy shower and doubles as a sauna room (infrared) and as a catchall for the endless piles of papers with built in cabinets. As you walk in from the garages, you come first into the tiled mudroom, which leads straight into the kitchen with hickory cabinets. The smooth cooktop is dropped into the island and a wall oven and fridge are on the opposite side. A pantry cabinet with pullouts stands in one corner next to the breakfast nook. The office easily doubles as formal dining room when you have guests; all you need is a conference table, or you can make the office into a dining room in the first place. The floor is tiled with marble steps leading into the library and to the kitchen.
Rather steep stairs lead to the second floor, which features a large loft with two walk in closets and a deck. The loft faces east, has skylights and is presently used as a master bedroom, perfect if you like to see the stars at night. One of the old bedrooms upstairs is now a bathroom with a curved glass block shower with two showerheads; no need for a door there. There is a washstand on each side of the shower and foot sinks in the middle of the room. The foot sinks are a German thing, you sit in front of it and one basin holds cold and the other hot water. You switch your legs between both sinks and you will be amazed what that does to the circulation in your legs. Your feet will never hurt again! Besides the master, there are two more bedrooms upstairs with the original hardwood floors of the remodeled farmhouse, so that makes five bedrooms and three baths in all.
For the rolling stock you have a three car attached garage, which is finished and insulated, and a 30'x48' three car detached garage across from the shop; all have electric overhead doors and cement floors.
The hangar is 48'x 56' with a 14' high overhead door. The hangar has a cement floor and cement bib with a small loft and office area by the man door. The building is insulated, finished and heated. The overhead lights are Halite, which sure make it bright in there. A windsock between the hangar and the landing strip not only tells you which way the wind is blowing, but makes an interesting conversation point with your horse as you are trying to have a leisurely ride down the runway. Part of the landing strip is a temporary pasture at this time until the grass is mature enough in the freshly seeded fields.
The 36' x 70' heated shop has a brand new green metal roof, inside is a partition with an overhead door so the farm equipment can park on one side. There is an overhead door on either end of the shop, for an easy drive-through. The floor is cement and there are workbenches along the sides. The workshop also has stairs leading to the attic for storage.
The charming old cow barn is foam insulated and fixed up to accommodate horse weanlings with a corral in the back and a hayloft above. Of course, goats, sheep or a couple of cows would be just as happy there.
If you like fresh eggs, the roomy chicken coop with big windows to the south is foam insulated as well and has a fenced area behind it. A sun umbrella in the chicken yard works well to discourage hawks, or you can raise a couple of peacocks to serve as predator police. The chicken coop is partitioned down the middle with an access door. Both sides have doors leading outside as well.
Behind the house is a dog run with a chainlink fence, so you can keep your dogs outside when the weather is nice and you are not around. The first garage by the house is separated by a wall from the other garages. It has a dog door and features an electric fireplace and a carpeted area just for your four-legged friends. There is also a place for the freezers, which store all the goodies harvested in the garden during summer. The garden patch includes mature raspberry bushes, asparagus beds and two very much appreciated apple trees by the horses. Do not forget to grow carrots!
The ranch is safely fenced for horses with pastures and riding trails around the picturesque wetlands and ponds. From horseback, you can watch all the wildlife in the reeds and ponds, which gets especially interesting for horse and rider when a flock of ducks unexpectedly takes off. Big trees grow around the perimeter of the acreage and down the middle where the deer and pheasants live. This area in general is famous for all the different birds, which swarm about by the thousands; hence the name "Audubon." Softly rolling hills give you a different vista from each vantage point, and if you invite the neighbors for dinner, they let you ride across their land too; other bribes can include airplane rides or fresh eggs. The neighbors also have kids, who like to help around the ranch...
The 16' x 32' heated swimming pool has a light that changes colors, - which gives a new meaning to "look at your kids in a different light" especially when they all turn green or purple - and is complimented by a hot tub for six and the infrared sauna inside of the home. The pump and heater are tastefully enclosed in a new small logsided cabin, which matches the home.
Of the total 75 acres there are 25 acres for wetlands, trees, ponds and trails. 25 acres are tillable and rented out to a local farmer in exchange for hay and straw. The farmer alternates the fields between beans, corn and wheat. 15 acres are now seeded into grass for pastures; temporary pastures have been set up until the grass is mature enough to be grazed. The improvements take up about 10 acres, which includes the corrals, outdoor riding arena and the 1,500 grass strip. There are about 2.5 miles of riding trails around the property.
$ 1,150,000 
Broker owned 
Details
This Gallery shows some areal photos of the farm and surroundings, we just circled above it. This was last year before the riding arena, corrals and pastures were built and before the home had log siding. The horse riding arena is west of the drive way and I drew it in for the layout of the pastures.
It's a work in progress. These photos were taken in May 2008. The chicken coop and converted cowbarn will soon have a new siding and I think we will paint them dark green with white trim.
|
|