Farm had been in same family for three generations

T Lake Ranch, a 13,000-acre property that includes a feedlot for 2,500 head of cattle, was recently purchased by a group of investors that will preserve the property’s existing cattle operations and use it for hunting and fishing.

Courtesy Hayden Outdoors Real Estate

December 13, 2024

Ty Beaver

A group of investors has bought T Lake Ranch outside Connell, the largest contiguous piece of property in Franklin County, according to the national real estate brokerage firm that handled the $18 million sale.

T-Lake Cattle Co. LLC, the new property owners, have said they will continue the property’s cattle operations while also using the land for fishing and hunting, according to the brokerage firm, Hayden Outdoors Real Estate, which announced the sale in early December.

Named for the T-shaped lake in the middle of the property, the ranch covers much of the land between Highway 395 and State Route 17 south of Connell. It also includes land west of 17 near Scooteney Reservoir and Park and small portions on the southeastern side of 395.

T Lake is a natural lake stocked with fish and sits in the middle of the 13,000-acre T Lake Ranch. The property has been owned by the same family for three generations.

| Courtesy Hayden Outdoors Real Estate

The ranch went on the market earlier this year and was one of Hayden Outdoors’ busiest listings, said Paul Valentine, the agency’s supervising broker for Washington state. Outside of the current cattle operations, the property’s potential for outdoor recreation made it a rare opportunity.

“That area has great flyways for waterfowl and the fishing is incredible,” Valentine said. “I caught four bass within 15 to 20 minutes.”

The new owners declined to comment on the sale, Valentine said.

T Lake Ranch is about 12,500 deeded acres, with an additional 1,300 acres leased from the Washington Department of Natural Resources. Most of the ranch is rangeland but it also includes nearly 300 acres of currently irrigated land with water rights for additional acreage and a feedlot capable of handling 2,500 head of cattle. There are numerous structures and facilities, including three manufactured homes and two historic barns.

T Lake Ranch is considered the largest contiguous property in Franklin County and one of the largest in the state. Map boundaries are approximate.

| Map by Ty Beaver

Two different entities currently lease the property, one using the feedlot and the other the rangeland for cattle, Valentine said.

The property is recorded as having the first water source west of Connell available for travelers needing to water their animals beginning in the early 1900s, Valentine said. John Schlomer built the oldest structures on the property – two historic red barns for lambing sheep – in 1906. Modeled after a style used in northern Germany, both barns have concrete foundations that extend up the walls to prevent drafts.

The Schlomer family sold the ranch to the Aubert family – the namesake of the property’s street address – and the Aubert family sold it to Herb Camp in the 1950s. The Camp family has held it for the past three generations, Valentine said.

Valentine said the last property owner died several years ago and her two children haven’t been to the ranch in decades, live out of state and are elderly themselves. They decided to list the property after settling their mother’s estate.

Not all of the ranch is going to T-Lake Cattle Co. LLC. About 200 or so acres of industrial land attached to ranch was under contract with Lamb Weston. That sale fell through around the time that Lamb Weston shut down its Connell facility, Valentine said. Hayden Outdoors will be relisting the property.

Additionally, a firing range on the property off State Highway 260 used by the Connell Gun Club was donated by the Camp family to the gun club as part of the sale, Valentine said.