Kanye West’s Monster Lake Ranch near Cody is still listed for sale, but the Bighorn Mountain Ranch that the rap artist purchased near Greybull has not only been sold, but it is also returning to Wyoming hands.
Flitner Ranch owners Greg and Pam Flitner have bought their family’s land back from West, according to records Cowboy State Daily has obtained from the Bighorn County Clerk’s office.
The record of the sale was notarized Sept. 17 in Zurich by West’s wife, Bianca Censori, on behalf of Kanye West. Bighorn County received the document on Sept. 22, according to the official time stamp.
West purchased the 6,713-acre ranch from Greg’s father, David, and David’s wife, Paula Flitner, in 2019, just a few months after he purchased the 3,885-acre Monster Lake Ranch. West planned to build what he called the “Yeezy Campus,” there. He was also planning to manufacture shoes in Cody.
In 2021, however, Kanye’s then-wife, Kim Kardashian, filed for divorce, and West listed the ranch for sale, along with several other properties he’d bought in Cody for his business plans.
Then, in 2022, West made a series of antisemitic remarks that ultimately unraveled highly lucrative partnerships with Gap, Balenciaga and Adidas. He also finalized his divorce from Kardashian that year.
No Giant Subdivisions, Please
Greg, who is David Flitner’s son, and his wife, Pam, told Cowboy State Daily that the sale of Bighorn Ranch by his father was something that happened as a necessary result of estate planning, and was just “one of those things.”
“A lot of times, the estate plan isn’t fully done until you’re in your 50s,” Greg said. “And those deals don’t always go the way that you think they might. I was a partner in the ranch — Pam and I were partners in the ranch with my dad and his wife. And so that’s just the way that it went, as far as the estate plan.”
Greg and his wife did try to lease the land back from West during the six years the rap star owned it, pointing out to West’s people that agricultural land is taxed less than residential property. They were never able to get a response from West’s people, Pam said.
The ranch was listed for sale on and off during the last six years, Pam added.
“We had a couple different real estate agents who spoke with us who said they had people actually interested in it, but no one ever got back to them,” she said. “And then they would pull it off the market again.”
In September, Greg and Pam saw the ranch pop up for sale again. But, this time, they were able to purchase the property back.
“It was not listed publicly at first,” Pam said. “It was just honestly a fluke that we found out it was listed, and then it was taken down again. But we went ahead and got ahold of the realtor, and it was kind of a rush thing, because it sounded like the people who they were flying in to look at it, a lot of them were speculators. So, we were really worried that someone would get it and then turn it into a giant subdivision.”
Nothing Historic Was Bulldozed
The Flitner Ranch was founded by Arthur Flitner in 1906 at the base of the Bighorn Mountains, and the fourth, fifth, and sixth generations of his family still live in the valley. That means there’s still a lot of history on the Bighorn Mountain Ranch, which had long been an integral and vital part of the Flitner family’s grazing operation.
“A big chunk of the ranch sold when the mountain sold,” Pam said. “We had to do some real adjustments, and we just weren’t able, at the time, to buy it back, even if we would have wanted to. So, luckily, by the grace of God, you know, six years later we are in a different position.”
Pam and Greg also believe it’s by the grace of God that none of the property’s historic places were touched while West owned them.
“He did not knock down — unlike Monster Ranch — he did not knock down any of the buildings,” Pam said. “They may need a little TLC, but they’re all solid. He didn’t go in with a bulldozer and take them down.”
That includes the family’s beloved Baldridge Cabin, which has been headquarters for their family’s cow camp for generations.
“With our family, that was kind of where we went up, we moved cows; we went up, we hunted rocks; we went up and just had family time together,” Pam said. “So, it’s just an old log cabin, just an old cow camp. It’s nothing. It’s two rooms and a wood stove. But it was our place to get away, so it was very difficult when we lost that.”
The family has already been up to visit Baldridge Cabin, and have installed a new floor there, as well as handled other maintenance tasks.
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
The purchase of Bighorn Mountain Ranch is a stretch for the family, Greg and Pam said, and, for that reason, they are actively looking for new neighbors. They have listed two separate portions of the property for sale with Hayden Outdoors Real Estate.
The first is Snowshoe Lodge and Mountain Island, which offers 645 acres of prime hunting grounds as well as a lodge and three guest cabins for $5.9 million. The other is Bighorn Mountain Hideout, which is 500 acres of prime, elk-hunting wilderness with a lodge, helicopter pad, and stock pond for trout fishing for $5.75 million.
Selling the portions of Bighorn Mountain Ranch that weren’t integral to the farming operation itself will help keep the land agricultural for another generation, Greg said, and that’s what’s most important to the family.
“All of our kids are interested in staying in the operation,” he added. “And so, we’re currently trying to figure all that out. Our son Colten is an integral part of the operation with the cattle and the farming, and then the girls probably lean more toward the horses, but they all have their degree in agriculture, or our youngest went to equine dental school.”
Neighbors in the area, meanwhile, have reached out to congratulate and, in some cases, thank the Flitners for purchasing the property back. There had been great anxiety brewing over what might happen to the property in the future.
Having the land back in family hands feels like a piece of the world knitting itself back together for the family.
“The mountain land is a cowboy’s dream and elk-hunting paradise,” Pam said. “Most years there are thousands of elk on the place in the fall. You can see all over the Bighorn Basin from the Baldridge Cabin. It’s an amazing place to be.”
Not Faulting West’s Dreams In Wyoming
West came to Wyoming with ambitious plans for his properties, but the Flitners said they did not fault the singer-songwriter for that.
“A lot of people have said he was a really, really good guy,” Greg said. “And that he was really on task a lot of the time. So, none of us can fault him at all for buying it and trying to get something accomplished for himself.”
The fact that West did so little on or with the Bighorn Mountain Ranch in the six years he owned it has been something of a mystery to his neighbors, however, Pam admitted.
“I think his original intent for the Mountain Ranch might have been somewhere that his family could go and be away from the rest of the world,” she said. “It wasn’t the best for our family, but I understand that. It is a very special place … to get to spend time with your family and be with your family, apart from the rest of the world.”
West And the Yecosystem Dream
West had much larger, much more public ambitions for his other Wyoming property, Monster Lake Ranch, which is still listed with Hayden Outdoors Real Estate for $12 million.
The remnants of West’s dream can still be seen in overhead views of the property. Abandoned concrete foundations, deserted domes on the property, flattened areas where buildings either once stood, or were planned.
West had envisioned “Yecosystem” domes as affordable living structures for people who are homeless, he told GQ in a 2020 article. They would be created using a prefabricated, affordable design, similar to the process he used to design his shoes.
The housing would be interspersed with branded retail shops, including food and beverages, creating self-contained communities that he envisioned constructing all over America.
The ranch in Wyoming had a special role in his plans. His dream vision included a multi-family retreat where guests could stay and experience the Yecosystem way. There would also be a huge hall to host choir performances on Sunday.
“We see 100,000 students singing these compositions,” West told GQ then. “A circular, 100,000-person amphitheater.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
