Unknown Ranch!

Hey all, so while I was out riding with a friend this past week she told me she had this awesome place to show me, so off we went and what we found was an old abandoned ranch in Hereford,  I am not going to post the exact directions, just that it is off of Canada road.  If you want more info email, and I would love to know some of the history of this place, so if you know anything please share!

Our rides outside of the main house.

Inside the smaller of the two main living quarters, I am guessing this was the bunkhouse.

These were awesome, just hanging around, no idea what they are though...

Part of the roof had blown off.

This was inside what I believe was the original stables, but was eventually used as storage...

Back of the above building.

A look inside the main building.

A beautiful fireplace.

The other side of the main house, I just love the rock work...

Inside view of the fireplace.

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You can tell there was a fire.

I am thinking an alter, but I do not know for sure.

This doorway was very odd, you could see multiple variations of it.

I found this modern painted door in the middle of all of this interesting. 

Another view of the main house.

The smaller building/bunkhouse.  There was evidence of people shooting and paintballing out here, the local kids definitely know of this places existence, which sadly means they will fall apart faster....

The back of the barn/garage had to smaller rooms, what looks like a workshop...

And an outhouse.

The other part had started collapsing in on itself...

One whole wall was basically dust.

The other one will be going soon enough, it was not to stable.

I am guessing this was the pumphouse, but it may have been something else.

The watering hole was very well put together, this was a really nice area...

There was a lot of misc crap hanging around the site, people have obviously been dumping out here.

The still standing part of the barn

In this shot the barn is to the right of the main house, but it is a good shot of the other three buildings...

A front view of the bunkhouse before we head back to the stables to take care of our mounts...

As I said, I have no clue what this was other than a ranch, I would love to have any information on it, so please, please, please share if you know anything.  Thanks so much!

Brown Canyon Ranch

 Brown Canyon Ranch was built a century ago by a local pioneer family and includes their ranch house, storeroom, corrals, water system, and a pond that is the habitat of an endangered frog species. The property in Brown Canyon was first permanently occupied by John Thomas Brown and his family who settled there around 1800. It passed through the hands of other users during the latter part of the 19th century until the house was built by James and Tom Haverty between 1905 and 1907. James and his wife, Lessie, homesteaded the ranch in 1912 and owned the property until 1921, when they sold it to William and Margaret Carmichael. The Carmichaels were major land owners and significant philanthropists in early Sierra Vista. During their ownership, Harvey James, the owner of several mining claims up Brown Canyon, and who lived way up in the canyon in the summer, sometimes rented the house in the winter. He and his wife would often invite friends to the ranch for a social potluck and dance in the living room. Also during the time of the Carmichaels, a Yaqui Indian named Chico Romero lived there with his wife and daughters. In 1946, the Carmichaels sold the ranch to Roy and Stella Rambo, who operated it as a cattle ranch. They in turn sold the property to Samuel and Cecile Barchas in 1957, together with their additional ranch holdings across South Highway 92 (OY Ranch). The Barchas family did not live at Brown Canyon, but in a stone house at OY Ranch. Sarah Barchas obtained Brown Canyon Ranch through gift deeds from her parents in 1960 and 1961 and she owned the site until 1997. Brown Canyon Ranch is also known as the Barchas Ranch and was acquired by the USDA Forest Service in a land exchange in 1998. The Ranch is currently under renovation, but is open to walk around the property.(http://www.browncanyonranch.org/)

A pic of the main entrance of the ranch house.

Inside, this is the fire place, there is also a kitchen and two other rooms, bedrooms.  all of them have some photos and furniture, it is amazing how nicely preserved this place is.

An old no longer in use water tank.

The house from the southwest.  I love the porches this place has.

Windmill, watertank, outhouse and storage area...

Another older building on the site, this one is falling in on itself, and is to the right of the entrance in the parking area when you are pulling into the place.

This is the house from the parking area, the first view you get really.  

Brown Canyon Ranch is situated south of Sierra Vista off of Ramsey Canyon Road, it has been preserved by the Friends of the Brown Canyon Ranch Foundation.  It is a special place really close to the city, yet while you are there you feel as if you are in the middle of nowhere.  There are hiking trails and once a year they do an open house that is really amazing to go to.  They have speakers and presentations through out the whole day, so it gives you a chance to learn a lot and participate in hands on activities.