Western Star Ranch in Jackson Polo Club Community For Sale For $10.95 Million

JACKSON — The grass at Shootin’ Iron Ranches is so nutritious, locals sometimes refer to it as rocket fuel for ponies. 

But it’s not just the grass that’s good for horses. 

Shootin’ Iron Ranches is a community full of people who are devoted to their horses, and many of them are into the Jackson polo scene.

Property there, that’s in the heart of Jackson Hole, yet offers secluded and pristine views, doesn’t often come up for sale. Those who’d like to get in on this horse-friendly, fun polo community are in luck, however.

The 8-acre Western Star Ranch is on the market for $10.95 million, with plenty of room for horses — and people — to roam. 

Shootin’ Iron Ranches is not exclusive to horse owners, but it does have a lot to offer equine lovers. It’s the kind of place where neighbors help watch each other’s horses when someone goes on vacation, Jackson Realtor Latham Jenkins told Cowboy State Daily.

“This is one of those areas where if you’re a horse lover, you would gravitate to, because you’re in a community of horse lovers,” he said. “That gives you neighbors to go for a ride, to help each other with each other’s stock and to support one another.”

There’s also an unofficial system between horse neighbors to share pastures, so the horses all get rotated from one neighbor’s property to the next, ensuring nothing gets overgrazed.

“Everyone just kind of pitches in, and, you know, no one’s getting paid,” Jenkins said. “It’s just for the love of the game and the sport.”

Toss Me A Carrot

One of the cool things about this particular property is the cabin’s proximity to the pasture. 

It’s just a carrot’s throw away from the master suite, in a mountain-ringed complex where it doesn’t take much imagination to feel like its the happily ever after that fairy tales so often mention.

When the previous owner bought the place, the windows so close to the pasture were one of the reasons.

The pasture also includes a creek running through it, and there’s mature vegetation all around, including spruce trees and aspens, completing a rustic, far-from-town feeling.

Early risers will be rewarded with the sight of elk coming to mingle with their horses, Jenkins added. The elk melt back into the cottonwoods with the first light of day, though, so those who aren’t up very early might never notice.

Despite feeling like it’s a world away, the property is not actually all that far from town. 

“It’s really the best of all worlds,” Jenkins said. “You have the equestrian community. You have the mountains. You have migrating wildlife. Yet a great cup of coffee is only a mile or two away.”

Thoughtful Construction Elevates Cabin

The cabin on the horse ranch was designed and built by Logcrafters, a Wyoming company out of Pinedale that has been building award-winning log homes for decades. It specializes in several construction techniques, including one called the sandwich wall.

“The sandwich design creates a very efficient home,” Jenkins told Cowboy State Daily. “The inside walls are framed with a two-by-six, so it has a heavily framed wall which makes it of course very sturdy, but it also holds a lot of insulation.”

The home has been featured in the Log Home Book, and it’s easy to see why. The home is a beautiful mix of modern and rustic elements.

One of the first things guests to the home notice are these beautiful, eye-catching reddish-orange tiles that give the home a warm sense.

But it’s not just a visual. The Mexican tiles are part of a radiant heat system throughout the home that will keep toes toasty on even the coldest of nights.

Though these radiant heat tiles are hardly needed, according to a passage in the Log Home Book about this exceptional cabin. 

“Off the living room, a solarium, with 4 feet of river rock buried beneath its floor, incorporates a heat transfer system to circulate warm air through the house,” the book states. “As long as the sun shines, the home’s radiant-heat floors are practically unnecessary — even on the coldest of days.”

Other structures on the ranch include a heated three-car garage, a run-in barn with lots of room for tack and hay, and a dog run.

Bring In The Light

In the master suite, not only are the windows a mere carrot’s throw from the pasture, but there are a set of beautiful French doors that open onto a back patio that’s been perfectly designed for either entertaining or relaxing, whatever the preference of the moment might be. 

This south-facing deck wraps around the back of the home adding 1,218 square feet of outdoor living space. It looks onto a beautiful pond that’s surrounded with pretty flowers in summer and sun-bronzed grasses and cattails in the fall. 

Bench seating frames the edges of the deck, offering plenty of extra places to sit and either be part of a party or turn the other way to view the surrounding mountains and the nearby horse pasture.

The master suite is in one of three associated “cubes” that make up the house’s careful and thoughtful design. The concept behind the cubes was to ensure each part of the house has plenty of natural light coming in, as well as a great views looking out, no matter where a person is in the home.

It doesn’t hurt that the great views are framed by mature aspens, nor that there are various mountain ranges off in the distance — the Tetons, Wind River, The Gros Ventre and the Snake River Range.

The other “cubes” are the kitchen and living room, and then a guest wing, for a total 3,110 square feet that includes three bedrooms and four bathrooms.

Another feature of the home that is quickly appreciated is the double-sided fireplace that looks on both the living room and the kitchen.

It’s just one of the home’s many outstanding features sure to draw people in and make them want to stay.

Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.