Texas oil tycoon's Mesa Vista ranch in Panhandle sells for around $170 million

One of the most extravagant ranches in the Texas Panhandle, previously owned by T. Boone Pickens, recently sold for around $170 million.

Mesa Vista, formerly owned by oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens, covers almost 37,000 acres along 25 miles of the Canadian River. The sale, announced on Tuesday, Feb. 28, went to fellow rancher Travis Chester, who had purchased more than 27,000 acres of the property in December.

"The sale of the Mesa Vista Ranch is basically 'turnkey,' including all rolling stock, equipment, pickup trucks, hunting vehicles, farming equipment, furnishings, bird dogs, etc.," according to the Hall & Hall listing. "The only exclusions are Boone’s personal effects, livestock, and remaining art collection. The art is available to be purchased separately."

Pickens became a billionaire through oil and natural gas, and had a net worth of $1 billion at the time of his death in 2019 at the age of 91. He was a former Amarillo resident and a graduate of Oklahoma State University, and decked Mesa Vista in various shades of orange in honor of OSU. In the early 2000s, he donated more than $200 million to the OSU athletic department, and the university renamed its football stadium after him.

Pickens initially purchased the first 2,900 acres of Mesa Vista in 1971 and built a small corrugated metal livestock feed house. He sheltered in the feed house while quail hunting, according to mesavistaranch.com. It first went up for sale for $250 million in 2017.

Related:T. Boone Pickens' Mesa Vista Ranch is up for sale. Here's everything the property includes

Mesa Vista ranch has an airport, multiple homes, and a varied landscape near Amarillo

Mesa Vista, located 85 miles northeast of Amarillo, extends about 100 square miles and hosts a variety of landscapes and luxury.

The Mesa Vista compound included:

• Five-bedroom family house.

• 11,500 sq. ft. lake house with three bedrooms.

• 2,300 sq. ft. gate house with three bedrooms.

• A private airport with a two bedroom apartment for pilots.

• A chapel.

• 2,250 sq. ft. pub.

• Golf course.

• Tennis court.

• 400 sq. ft. gun room.

• 25,000 sq. ft. lodge and conference center with commercial kitchen, bedrooms, library, 30-seat theater, and wine cellar.

• 11,000 sq. ft. dog kennel, which includes a veterinary lab and 3,600 sq. ft. of enclosed, air-conditioned space.

• The white-frame home Pickens grew up in from Oklahoma.

The land itself offers just as much variety, from rolling sand hills, prairies, mesas and elevated ridges. The elevation changes from 2,400 feet at the river bottom country to about 2,900 feet at the mesa tops.

More:Here's a look at the history of the West Texas 6666 Ranch, which sold for over $320 million

"One of Boone’s major goals for the ranch was to enrich the land, returning it to an oasis for wildlife, much of which is back to its natural state of lush natural grasses, which have never been grazed," according to the release. "He was a leader in land conservation practices, which are now followed by many other ranchers in the United States."

There is also about 12 miles of man-made and recirculating creeks, lakes, waterfalls and ponds. Some of that water goes to Amarillo, due to city council's vote in July 2022 to purchase 15,768 acres of water rights in Roberts County.

Alana Edgin is a journalist covering Business News in Lubbock and the surrounding area. Send her a news tip at aedgin@lubbockonline.com. 

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Texas Panhandle ranch owned by T. Boone Pickens sold for $170 million