House of the Day: Sunset Ranch Shows West at Its Best

We love a good ranch. Colorado ranches, Wyoming ranches, Montana ranches, we've done 'em all. But in our opinion, nothing beats a Texas ranch, and this one's about as good as they come.

Nestled in the Balcones Canyonlands Wildlife Refuge, the flawless and unspoiled $30 million Sunset Ranch in Lago Vista offers two large tracts of land totaling a colossal 2,282 acres. (You know what they say -- everything's bigger in Texas.) The ranch's larger, northern portion is insulated from development by the wildlife refuge, and the ranch's southern portion boasts over a mile of Lake Travis shoreline and the deep water trough of Cow Creek.

With all of that in your "backyard," who would want to stay indoors, right? Well, with a main house that matches the grandeur of its natural surroundings, we would.

The sprawling six-bedroom, five-bathroom limestone ranch house offers endless hill country views thanks to its elevation 1,300 feet above sea level. ("The deck behind the ranch house provides a place where you can see forever," the listing says). Plus, with three living rooms, three dining rooms, a huge library, patio, a swimming pool with waterfall, and a separate guesthouse, it's like a luxury California bungalow rolled into a South American hacienda. What's not to love?

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Furthermore, Sunset Ranch has been owned and operated for over a century by the family of Richard Rodgers, an early Texas developer who acquired the land in 1911 -- and they're looking for new owners who will take as precious care of this remarkable parcel of land as they have.

Jack Carter and Brian Langlois of Sotheby's International Realty have the listing.

Click on the images below to see more homes for sale in Lago Vista, Texas.

See more Houses of the Dayon AOL Real Estate.

Got a tip for House of the Day? Know of an exceptional or unusual property currently listed for sale? Please email krisanne.alcantara@huffingtonpost.com with your suggestions and be sure to include links to listing details and photos. (Due to the volume of response, we unfortunately are unable to reply to each submission.)

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