The Four Sixes Ranch includes a 1917 home built to be “the finest ranch house in West Texas” by founder Samuel Burk Burnett.
An iconic Texas ranch that’s among the biggest in the state is for sale after a philanthropist and heiress died earlier this year. The Four Sixes Ranch hit the market for $192 million this week after the death of Anne Marion, a major arts contributor in Fort Worth and beyond. With a reputation for fine quarter horses and cattle, the 225-square-mile ranch includes rolling pastures and a historic house that hosted President Teddy Roosevelt, Will Rogers and the Comanche leader Quanah Parker.
. The Four Sixes centers around Guthrie, the lone town in King County, about 200 miles northwest of Fort Worth. The ranch has three separate divisions, which are being offered collectively as a package. The other two properties include the Dixon Creek Ranch in Carson and Hutchison counties, and Frisco Creek in Sherman County — both in the Texas Panhandle, north of Amarillo. Those two ranches are being offered for $137 million and $12 million, respectively. Legend has it that the ranch was won in a poker game with a hand of four 6s, but well, that’s just a tall Texas tale. Samuel Burk Burnett, a Missouri native born in 1849, established the ranch after buying 100 cattle branded with 6666 and later purchasing properties near Guthrie. He constructed the ranch home in 1917 to be the “finest ranch house in West Texas.” The 13,280-square-foot house includes 13 bedrooms, 13 bathrooms, three powder rooms, two kitchens and three fireplaces. The ranch headquarters also includes an airplane hangar and landing strip, pilot’s quarters, bunk houses and the 6666 barn. The barn is known for appearing in Marlboro cigarette ads with its white 6666 against the red exterior in the background. After all, Bigun Bradley, the original “Marlboro Man” himself, was a wagon boss at the ranch, Texas Monthly reported in 1998.
In addition to cattle and quarter horses, oil was discovered at the ranch in 1921 and 1969. Marion, who assumed management of the ranch in 1980, also was chairman and founder of Burnett Oil Company. Marion was the president of the Burnett Foundation, which has made over $600 million in charitable grants for the arts, community development, education and other causes, according to the ranch website. Along with her husband John Marion, she founded the Georgia O’Keefe Museum in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and was the primary benefactor of Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. After her death in February, Marion’s will dictated the ranch be sold. Despite her many civic and cultural initiatives, Marion credited lessons learned on the ranch with her success. “The most important thing that ever happened to me was growing up on that ranch,” Marion said. “It kept my feet on the ground more than anything else.” Ft. Worth Star-Telegram
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Well, they certainly aren't short on cowboys...
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