In 1982, Ralph Lauren bought land around a century-old Colorado barn; decades later it had grown into a 17,000-acre ranch and wildlife preserve

In 1982, Ralph Lauren came across an aging wooden barn beneath Colorado’s San Juan Mountains and immediately saw something others might have overlooked. The nearly century-old Vance barn stood on land outside Ridgway, surrounded by mountain scenery and open meadows. Lauren and his wife, Ricky, fell in love with the property and began building what would eventually become the Double RL Ranch. What started with a historic barn and a relatively modest piece of land grew over the following decades into a sprawling 17,000-acre landscape combining family life, cattle ranching, wildlife habitat and Lauren’s enduring fascination with the American West. In its own account of the property, Ralph Lauren describes the ranch as both a home and an expression of a longstanding Western dream. The ranch eventually became closely associated with Lauren’s vision of preserving the rugged character and traditions of the American West.

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