For years now, we have been mesmerized by the charms of Kaos, the $300 million floating mansion belonging to Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie. But did you know that her sister, Ann Walton Kroenke, flaunts something even more mesmerizing on land? The Waggoner Ranch, which was marketed for a staggering $725 million. This landlocked, fiercely private sanctuary feels, in essence, far more sovereign. No eco-warriors have access, nor does the public get even a peek inside. The massive Waggoner Ranch spans 510,527 contiguous acres across six Texas counties, encompassing lakes, oil wells, cattle, horses, wildlife, roads, fences, cowboy camps, and a historic brand dating back to 1849.
It would not be an exaggeration to call it one of the largest contiguous ranching operations in the country and the largest ranch under one fence in the United States. Yes, Kaos has its charms, but the bragging rights that come with having a holiday estate roughly three-fourths the size of Rhode Island belong to Ann Walton Kroenke and her husband, Stan Kroenke.
The 78-year-old real estate and sports mogul, who owns the Los Angeles Rams and is worth an estimated $25 billion, bought the ranch in 2016, according to CNN, gaining access to a lifestyle that very few billionaires on the planet can flaunt. With this historic purchase, the power couple, who have been married for more than five decades, and their guests can enjoy a 1,400-acre family lake, fishing ponds few outsiders have ever heard of, and miles of private roads without ever leaving the property.
With as many as 14,000 cattle spread across the ranch, the place is unlike any other. According to The Guardian, full-time Waggoner Ranch helicopter pilot David Brocklehurst used a JetRanger during the spring and fall to herd cattle from the air. Amusingly, it took him two years to properly learn the terrain, after which he could help direct thousands of cattle across the enormous property. In a world where having a helipad aboard a floating mansion seems impressive, this is a flex no one saw coming. The self-contained ranch also farms around 25,000 to 30,000 acres, which are used for grazing, cattle feed, crops for sale, and the property’s internal requirements. Michelin-starred restaurants that boast about their farm-to-table menus could perhaps take a tip or two from this billionaire clan, whose version of self-sufficiency unfolds on a colossal scale.
Despite offering a lifestyle that stands in stark contrast to the Kroenkes’ city existence, Waggoner Ranch has long moved in distinguished circles. Long before the Kroenkes arrived, the historic property was reportedly associated with visitors such as Theodore Roosevelt, Will Rogers, Bob Hope, Dwight Eisenhower, and Texas newspaper magnate Amon Carter. Today, Stan Kroenke is listed by The Land Report as America’s largest private landowner, with approximately 2.7 million acres.
Yet the jewel in that sprawling portfolio, Waggoner Ranch, cannot be spotted in Monaco or tracked by ship-watchers. Kaos, by contrast, makes a grand entrance wherever it drops anchor, turning Mediterranean coastlines into a floating stage for Nancy Walton Laurie’s very public brand of luxury. One sister’s extravagance is designed to be seen; the others disappear behind hundreds of miles of fencing.
