There is no cultivated land on the ranch although there are two areas that appear to have been historically cultivated. The soils are good in these areas and a serious hunter of elk and upland birds would be well advised to consider appropriate crops for these areas. Currently, the ranch is made up of open to timbered grazing land with small riparian corridors in the valleys.
The building complex on the Morris Place Ranch has the look of having been there since homestead days, although construction of the buildings that exist on the site of the original homestead actually began in 1995. The buildings are briefly described as follows:
Owner’s Home: This is a comfortable ranch home designed after a European hunting lodge with a lovely front porch that overlooks the ranch’s trout pond. On the main floor there is a dining room, living room, entrance hall, kitchen, pantry and two guest bedrooms each with a bathroom. The upstairs contains the expansive and comfortable master suite. This residence also has a large basement for wine storage, laundry and a gun vault. The log siding was reclaimed from a sheep shearing barn in the State of Washington.
Guest House: Immediately above the owner’s home is a guest cabin that includes two bedrooms and two bathrooms along with a sitting room and small kitchen.
Bunkhouse: Affectionately referred to as “the bunkhouse”. This building contains two bedrooms, bathroom, tack room, equipment storage and covered parking for two vehicles.
Caretaker’s Apartment: Main level consists of a kitchen, sitting area, bathroom and single car garage. There is a small apartment upstairs with a bedroom, sitting area, kitchenette and bathroom for either a caretaker or additional guests.
Sophia’s Cabin: Named for the owner’s daughter, this cabin was built on the site of the original homestead house which had to be taken down. Well-regarded local builders TJ Construction sided this charming small house with reclaimed wood from a local area barn giving it the appearance of having been there since early in the last century. It has a kitchen/dining room/living room area and 3 bedrooms and two bathrooms and, like the other two houses, an appealing front porch that draws one out to overlook the compound, the lake below and the Yellowstone Valley.
The primary water rights involve stock water and two domestic wells utilized by the building compound including irrigation of the lawns. There is one frost free well on the upper end of the property and four springs which provide excellent year around water for livestock, horses and wildlife. Both Cort Creek and Sawmill Creek are live streams that pass through the ranch. The big spring on the unnamed drainage between Cort and Sawmill has been developed and is a real draw for the big mature bulls that hide out on the ranch. There is also a lovely pond below the building compound that supports rainbow trout.