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| The Top Estates |
The Maytag Estate
Elizabeth Harris
08/01/06
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When Russ Maytag looks out at the nearly 3,000 acres of mountain and meadow
on his Hillside, Colo., ranch, he is confident that it will remain open land for
generations to come. This is not just wishful thinking, but the result of
careful strategic planning. “It’s a huge part of our lives,” he says. “I wanted
to figure out a way to preserve that family legacy, yet capitalize on some of
the appreciated value of the land.”
 Frequently displayed on the porch of the
modest house Maytag shares with his wife, Jeannie, and their daughter is a
gasoline-powered wringer washing machine, circa 1920, testimony to his family’s
commercial history. The great-grandson of inventor F.L. Maytag, 52-year-old Russ
purchased the land and cattle in 1978. But, he says, he owned only a token
amount of Maytag stock and sold it last year, so he gained nothing when the
company was acquired by Whirlpool in a $2.6 billion deal in March. His share of
the family’s wealth is largely invested in the ranch, now worth about $30
million.
His father, Robert, owned four ranches as investment properties, so
Maytag spent most of his school holidays roping cattle and helping with other
chores. “It gave me a passion for agriculture and also a passion for ecology,”
he says.
Maytag has watched with alarm as developers have encroached upon
Colorado’s ranchland. The state has lost 2.9 million acres of agricultural land
since 1992, according to the Environment Colorado Research & Policy Center.
As he and his wife contemplated retirement, they decided that they wanted to
ensure their ranch survived the onslaught. Their daughter, Samantha, who will be
a freshman at Middlebury College in Vermont this fall, seems to have inherited
her parents’ love for the land, but she is studying business or politics and her
career may take her away from the ranch. With no other heirs, the Maytags
considered putting their property up for sale. But the painful thought of it
crowded with tract homes and shopping centers spurred them to look for other
options.
Maytag considered, but rejected, the idea of placing a conservation
easement on the property. This would have netted him a tax break and kept the
land intact, but would not have solved the nettlesome problems of who would
manage the ranch after he retires and where the next generation would get the
capital to keep it running.
In 2001, Maytag began formulating a plan to
raise operating capital for the ranch by parceling out 25 homesites, developed
in a manner that would keep the ranchland intact. The Maytags planned to sell to
people who agreed with their vision for the property. Samantha was among those;
she picked out a property on which to build her future home.
Homes on the Range
The Maytags spent $9 million to add roads, power and
water, a cookhouse, guest cabins, a stable and a trout stream for their new
development, which they dubbed Maytag Mountain Ranch. They created a
corporation, Maytag Ranch Enterprises, to own the land; Maytag and his daughter
are its majority owners. After expenses, Maytag expects to net about $12 million
from selling the 100-acre homesites, which range in price from $895,000 to $1.5
million. Buyers will also pay an annual $7,975 fee to the collective, which will
manage the ranch and also bring in revenue from cattle sales.
Buyers agree
to build houses no smaller than 2,000 square feet, but no larger than 8,000
square feet, so the 250 Red Angus cattle have room to roam. The cattle belong to
the association, and every household receives a half side of beef—about 110
pounds of meat—each year. The buyers may also net a small amount of income from
the ranch, but Maytag lets them know up front that they should consider this an
investment in a way of life rather than a business opportunity. The cooperative
agreement stipulates that any member who wishes to sell his property must find a
buyer who will also agree to the membership terms.
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