Spring Mountain Ranch State Park is a public recreation area 20 miles south-west of Las Vegas.
The spring-fed creek and grassy meadows formed an oasis. In the 1800s, this area was used extensively by outlaws involved in Indian slave trading, horse stealing and raids upon passing caravans.
In 1948, Chester Lauck, who ran national radio shows and made movies, purchased the Ranch and named it the Bar Nothing Ranch. The area became a retreat for his family from their lifestyle in Los Angeles. The Laucks built the main sandstone residence, now the park office and visitor center. They also built a boys camp for their sons. Soon paying guests expanded this operation.
In 1955, the Laucks sold the ranch to German actress Vera Krupp. Vera, born in Germany, became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1947. She married German industrialist Alfried Krupp, her fourth husband, in 1952. Though Mr. Krupp was not allowed to come to the United States due to his conviction for war crimes in World War II, his wife came back to the states. They divorced in 1957. Vera renamed the ranch Spring Mountain Ranch and hoped to raise a strain of white-faced Herefords and Brahmas.
Mrs. Krupp lived at the ranch until 1964, when she moved to Bel Air due to poor health. During her ownership she modified the interior of the main house and added a swimming pool and bedroom with a secret passage. In addition, a guest house, various sheds and a kennel for her Great Danes were built in the service area of the ranch.
A famous story from the Krupp period involved the theft of the Krupp Diamond. On April 10, 1959, as Vera and ranch employee Harold Brotherson ate dinner, three men forced their way into the main house, stole the 33.6-carat blue-white diamond and fled. It was recovered six weeks later in New Jersey. The diamond was sold as part of the estate of Vera Krupp after she died in 1967.
Richard Burton bought the Krupp diamond on May 17, 1968 at an auction in New York for $307,000, and presented to his wife Elizabeth Taylor with the diamond on their yacht, the Kalizma while it was moored on the River Thames in London.
Taylor died in 2011 and the diamond was auctioned at Christie's by her estate on 16 December 2011, having been renamed the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond. It was sold for $8,818,500 (including buyer's premium, $9.39 million as of 2017), to the South Korean conglomerate E-Land, setting a record price per karat US$265,697 for a colorless diamond.
In 1967, Mrs. Krupp sold the ranch to Howard Hughes for a reputed $625,000. At this time, Hughes was living in the Desert Sands Hotel which he acquired shortly before buying the ranch. Hughes's involvement in southern Nevada began in the 1950s with frequent visits to the area. He began investing heavily in Las Vegas real estate in 1967, eventually owning several major hotel/casinos, vast tracts of undeveloped land surrounding the city and more than 700 mining claims.
Spring Mountain Ranch, as far as it is known, never hosted Hughes himself. It was mainly used by Hughe's employees, particularly Robert Maheu, his right-hand man. The 528-acre property sold in 1972 to business partners Fletcher Jones and William Murphy for $1.5 million. At the time, this sale fueled reports that Hughes was divesting himself of Las Vegas properties due to difficulties with Nevada gaming authorities. Hughes died in 1976.
Fletcher Jones and William Murphy, partners in many land development deals, wanted to build a large equestrian-oriented residential neighborhood that would support up to 2,000 people. A public outcry encouraged the Clark County Planning Commission to stall their application for rezoning. When stiff opposition to the plans formed, Jones announced his intention to auction the property.
In 1968, the Bureau of Land Management completed a master development plan for the area. This plan included a relatively high level of recreation development and met with stiff opposition from environmental groups. A new plan, developed jointly with Nevada State Parks, later became final and Spring Mountain Ranch became a state park in 1973.
In 1976, Spring Mountain Ranch was entered into the Historic Register of Historic Places as a historic district.
Because of the higher elevation, the ranch offers a diverse opportunity for plant study. Four plant communities are represented: Desert Scrub, Black brush, Pinon-Juniper, and Riparian. Plants typical of the desert as well as woodland can be seen, and with adequate rainfall, the spring brings a burst of wildflowers. Common species sighted are desert marigold, globe mallow, brittlebush, Joshua Tree, Mojave yucca, and indigo bush.
Animal life is diverse but nocturnal, so many species go unseen. Typical desert animals include a variety of lizards and snakes, antelope, ground squirrels, jackrabbits, cottontail rabbits, kit foxes, and coyotes. Higher elevation species include rock squirrel, badger, mule deer, and bighorn sheep.
The spring-fed creek and grassy meadows formed an oasis. In the 1800s, this area was used extensively by outlaws involved in Indian slave trading, horse stealing and raids upon passing caravans.
In 1948, Chester Lauck, who ran national radio shows and made movies, purchased the Ranch and named it the Bar Nothing Ranch. The area became a retreat for his family from their lifestyle in Los Angeles. The Laucks built the main sandstone residence, now the park office and visitor center. They also built a boys camp for their sons. Soon paying guests expanded this operation.
In 1955, the Laucks sold the ranch to German actress Vera Krupp. Vera, born in Germany, became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1947. She married German industrialist Alfried Krupp, her fourth husband, in 1952. Though Mr. Krupp was not allowed to come to the United States due to his conviction for war crimes in World War II, his wife came back to the states. They divorced in 1957. Vera renamed the ranch Spring Mountain Ranch and hoped to raise a strain of white-faced Herefords and Brahmas.
Mrs. Krupp lived at the ranch until 1964, when she moved to Bel Air due to poor health. During her ownership she modified the interior of the main house and added a swimming pool and bedroom with a secret passage. In addition, a guest house, various sheds and a kennel for her Great Danes were built in the service area of the ranch.
A famous story from the Krupp period involved the theft of the Krupp Diamond. On April 10, 1959, as Vera and ranch employee Harold Brotherson ate dinner, three men forced their way into the main house, stole the 33.6-carat blue-white diamond and fled. It was recovered six weeks later in New Jersey. The diamond was sold as part of the estate of Vera Krupp after she died in 1967.
Richard Burton bought the Krupp diamond on May 17, 1968 at an auction in New York for $307,000, and presented to his wife Elizabeth Taylor with the diamond on their yacht, the Kalizma while it was moored on the River Thames in London.
Taylor died in 2011 and the diamond was auctioned at Christie's by her estate on 16 December 2011, having been renamed the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond. It was sold for $8,818,500 (including buyer's premium, $9.39 million as of 2017), to the South Korean conglomerate E-Land, setting a record price per karat US$265,697 for a colorless diamond.
In 1967, Mrs. Krupp sold the ranch to Howard Hughes for a reputed $625,000. At this time, Hughes was living in the Desert Sands Hotel which he acquired shortly before buying the ranch. Hughes's involvement in southern Nevada began in the 1950s with frequent visits to the area. He began investing heavily in Las Vegas real estate in 1967, eventually owning several major hotel/casinos, vast tracts of undeveloped land surrounding the city and more than 700 mining claims.
Spring Mountain Ranch, as far as it is known, never hosted Hughes himself. It was mainly used by Hughe's employees, particularly Robert Maheu, his right-hand man. The 528-acre property sold in 1972 to business partners Fletcher Jones and William Murphy for $1.5 million. At the time, this sale fueled reports that Hughes was divesting himself of Las Vegas properties due to difficulties with Nevada gaming authorities. Hughes died in 1976.
Fletcher Jones and William Murphy, partners in many land development deals, wanted to build a large equestrian-oriented residential neighborhood that would support up to 2,000 people. A public outcry encouraged the Clark County Planning Commission to stall their application for rezoning. When stiff opposition to the plans formed, Jones announced his intention to auction the property.
In 1968, the Bureau of Land Management completed a master development plan for the area. This plan included a relatively high level of recreation development and met with stiff opposition from environmental groups. A new plan, developed jointly with Nevada State Parks, later became final and Spring Mountain Ranch became a state park in 1973.
In 1976, Spring Mountain Ranch was entered into the Historic Register of Historic Places as a historic district.
Because of the higher elevation, the ranch offers a diverse opportunity for plant study. Four plant communities are represented: Desert Scrub, Black brush, Pinon-Juniper, and Riparian. Plants typical of the desert as well as woodland can be seen, and with adequate rainfall, the spring brings a burst of wildflowers. Common species sighted are desert marigold, globe mallow, brittlebush, Joshua Tree, Mojave yucca, and indigo bush.
Animal life is diverse but nocturnal, so many species go unseen. Typical desert animals include a variety of lizards and snakes, antelope, ground squirrels, jackrabbits, cottontail rabbits, kit foxes, and coyotes. Higher elevation species include rock squirrel, badger, mule deer, and bighorn sheep.
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