Remote Nevada Ranch, Once Bing Crosby’s Hideaway, Goes Up for Sale

In the 1940s, Bing Crosby helped put the small city of Elko, Nev., on the map when he made it his family’s refuge from Hollywood. Now, one of the singer and actor’s former ranches is on the market for $7.28 million. The property is located about 45 miles north of Elko, which is about 420 miles north of Las Vegas and has a population of roughly 18,000, according to the 2010 census. One of seven ranches Mr. Crosby operated in the area, the mountainside property spans about 3,000 acres and includes a working cattle ranch, a private airstrip and airplane hangar and various structures for ranch operations and hay barns, according to the seller Jim Boyer, a Lake Tahoe-based retired telecom entrepreneur. The main home, a modest wooden property, comprises about 5,000 square feet with six bedrooms. The tiny original homestead on the property dates back to the 1860s and is preserved "like a museum piece," according to the listing. Mr. Crosby had a number of homes over the years, including properties in Palm Springs, Calif., and Palm Desert, Calif., but his properties in Elko served as an escape. "It should be obvious that my reason for buying the ranch in Elko and a summer home at Hayden Lake, Idaho, had to do with a search for seclusion and remoteness," Mr. Crosby wrote in his autobiography, "Call me Lucky."

"I wanted my family to have a chance to lead a normal life away from the limelight which is inescapably their portion because of their dad’s way of earning his daily bread." Mr. Crosby, famed for songs such as "White Christmas," was named honorary mayor of Elko in 1948, according to the book "Elko County" by Claudia Wines. He arranged to have the world premiere of his movie "Here Comes the Groom" in Elko’s Hunter Theater in 1951. Ms. Wines wrote that Mr. Crosby never missed a Silver State Stampede rodeo. Mr. Crosby put his sons to work on the land, drawing criticism from his friends, who said he was working them too hard, according to his autobiography. Mr. Crosby was one of a few Hollywood heavyweights who bought property in Elko. Others include actor Jimmy Stewart, who owned the Winecup Gamble Ranch in northeast Elko County in the 1950s, according to the ranch’s website...MORE