Lodging at Big Bend Ranch State Park's the Big House

Deep within the center of Big Bend Ranch State Park, miles from any other lodging opportunity is the lovely 1908 historic ranch house.  Restored in the 1940s, the house has a relaxed graciousness that offers a cool refuge from the heat, and comfortable modern conveniences. 

You won't find television or internet in the Big House, but you will find comfortable beds, elaborately tiled bathtubs, a full kitchen, and plenty of places to relax including a large patio.

Information about booking a room in the Big House and the park's nearby bunkhouse is here.

The Big House is located in the center of the Sauceda Historic District.  Click here to download a walking tour!  An excerpt from that walking guide of the district is below:

The Bogel sons established their ranch headquarters

here. They began running stock on the once rich grasslands

of the surrounding plateau, turning later to raising

sheep and goats. In the years before the widespread use

of barbed wire, stone fences helped manage the livestock,

and the fences stand today as reminders of the Bogels’

enterprise. By 1923, the Chillicothe-Saucita Ranch

exceeded 25,000 acres.

The Bogel brothers introduced their brides to this place

and modified the complex to suit their growing families

and ranching needs. Gus’s wife, Maude, remembered

seeing Sauceda Ranch for the first time, describing it

as “beautiful, [with] a running creek just in back of the

house—and beautiful cottonwood trees on both sides of

the stream. There were several places where natural

waterfalls and clear deep pools with beautiful maidenhair

ferns were growing around the falls.” World War I

interrupted the ranch’s calm when members of the

Bogel family were called into military service. Drought

and the Great Depression finished off many family

ranches in the area, and by 1934 the brothers were

forced to sell their ranch.