The historic Frawley Ranch in Spearfish, South Dakota, dates to the 1870s when it was once known as the largest and most successful cattle ranch in western South Dakota. It was later declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977. In 1998, Daryll Propp and his business partner, Mike Kreke, formed Elkhorn Ridge Development Company and bought the historic Frawley Ranch property. At the time, Frawley had borrowed so much money to restore the historic structures on the 4,500-acre ranch that he was facing foreclosure and the bank was planning to put the entire ranch up for auction and carve the property into 40-acre tracts, including Frawley's cherished homestead. After the land was secured, the new owners gave Hank his house and 120 acres around his homestead and started restoring the crumbling historic structures throughout the ranch while maintaining a growing buffalo and cattle business.
Over the past 20 years, Wyss Associates, Inc., a landscape architecture firm from Rapid City, South Dakota, has coordinated the planning and design efforts for this National Historic Landmark. Their work included master planning, preservation planning, governmental permitting, consultant team selection and coordination, design, construction coordination, and client relations.

New Design
The Elkhorn Ridge master plan emphasizes historic preservation of the existing historic ranch properties while clustering new uses within previously disturbed portions of the ranch, specifically, the Interstate 90 exit constructed at the western boundary. This dense, 1,000-acre development is in the direct vicinity of this exit, allowing for 2,400 acres of the ranch to remain open space. This process was necessary and required special zoning to preserve the ranch's context and history. Another important component
to the restoration and preservation of the ranch was placing all the overhead power lines below ground that were detracting from the open vistas that can be viewed throughout the ranch and along the highway and road corridors.

Over these 20 years, the owners of Elkhorn Ridge have funded the mixed-use development while they invested in a complete restoration of the courtyard barns, the Anderson Ranch homestead, the schoolhouse building, a classic sod homestead, and various supporting ranch structures and artifacts. North American bison were reintroduced onto a portion of the shortgrass prairie landscape for the first time since their near extinction. Ranch staff also implemented an active annual program of invasive noxious weed eradication to the natural habitat. The developers have set aside 2,400 acres to be protected in an open space and conservation easement preserving the land forever.

 

Historic Inspiration
All new commercial structures on the ranch were designed to reflect on the western agrarian architecture of the ranch's historic buildings. The intent is not to "copy" but rather to be "inspired" by the historic structures. Wyss Associates, Inc. and various consultants have master planned and orchestrated the design of all built elements of the property including an award-winning Elkhorn Ridge RV Resort, 18-hole championship golf course, clubhouse facilities, a residential golf community, trail network, travel center, preservation of the waterways within the ranch, and all open-space coordination.

Resort Amenities
The resort amenities and facilities are inter-connected by a 4.5-mile hiking and biking trail. The Elkhorn Ridge Golf Club is a modern 18-hole championship layout, designed to lay gently upon the landscape. The front nine is nestled on the side of a mountain, giving way to incredible views of the Centennial Valley, while the back nine winds through the Polo Creek tributary to its confluence with Miller Creek and its rock wall backdrops. The course has shuttle access to and from the Elkhorn Ridge Resort and features eight tee box combinations to fit the needs of all golfers.

The practice facility provides multiple teeing areas, two practice putting greens, a green side, a fairway practice bunker, all replicating the various conditions golfers encounter on the course. Wyss Associates worked closely with the South Dakota Army Corps of Engineers and the city floodplain development to ensure that the golf course design protected these waterways and the firm provided oversight and reporting to the agencies during golf course development.

In 2020, the Miller Creek Pub was added as an amenity and community gathering space to the golf course. The open-air pavilion overlooks a new 10,200-square-foot USGA putting green and an additional chipping green. This new facility provides the Elkhorn Ridge Golf Club the resources needed to host state tournaments, wedding receptions, casual dining, and corporate events. Golf Digest ranked Elkhorn Ridge in the top five courses in South Dakota.

The RV Resort is buffered from the highway with a 15' tall, vegetated berm that meanders along the resort's highway frontage, screening the RV from the highway and buffering highway noise from the camping center. The Elkhorn Ridge Travel Center design is compatible with the agrarian architecture of the ranch. The Travel Center provides full fuel sales, a convenience store, casino, bar, and restaurant allowing tourists and visitors a "one-stop shop" for necessary items while traveling.

Next Steps
Current active projects include golf course housing expansion, electrical upgrades to the resort, utility expansion to meet demand, commercial development, travel center expansion, and a 42-acre senior living memory-care community. Additionally, the Peaceful Pines Living Community, with the first phase that includes a senior living facility that provides 30 memory care units, 31 assisted living units, 63 independent living units along with three townhomes (eventually 42 townhomes), is under construction within the 42-acre development.

When annexed into the city, the Elkhorn Ridge properties near Exit 17 were zoned Development Review District (DRD) to promote development sensitivity to the area's historic and scenic value. All new structures within the DRD district go through a strict review to ensure architectural standards are met and continue the historic ranch agrarian architecture.

The owners, employees and consultants have proven to be good stewards of the land perpetuating the legacy of the historic Frawley Ranch. In 2019, the Elkhorn Ridge Development Company/Frawley Ranch received the SD Governor's Award for Historic Preservation. The master planned development won a Chapter Merit Award from ASLA.