Deer Run Ranch Bed & Breakfast

OPEN ALL YEAR ROUND ~ Deer Run Ranch Bed & Breakfast is the perfect hideaway for a private, secluded getaway any time of the year. Alfafa fields surround the complex, which has spectacular views of Washoe Lake and the Sierra Nevada mountains to the west. Tall cottonwoods shade the pond deck, a favorite spot for watching the abundant wildlife that call Deer Run home.

Our casual, contemporary ranch house combines luxury with the charms and pleasures of a simpler time. This owner-built passive solar home was designed to be cool in the summer and warm in the winter, reflecting the extremes of climate typical of the high desert mountain west.
 

The private guest wing has two comfortable guest rooms with queen beds and private baths, and guest sitting room with private entry. In these tranquil guest rooms you can sit on the window seats and look out at the Sierras; or you might want to sit by the cozy fireplace in the sitting room, which is decorated with Navajo rugs and paintings, and enjoy the extensive library collection. We have TV satellite, DVD and VCR, coffee and beverage service, and guest refrigerator in the sitting room for your convenience. Free, high-speed internet access is available!
 

With expansive views to the south and west, this house reflects its western heritage. Spacious patios and outdoor areas surround the house, and the evening breeze down the canyon brings the smell of the sage and the haunting cry of the coyote. In the winter Deer Run is a great place to curl up with a book by the fire or try ice skating on the pond.

Deer Run Ranch is only ten minutes from Carson City and twenty-five minutes from Reno. Though secluded, it is not isolated, and there are many things to do and see in the area. There are excellent restaurants in Washoe Valley, Carson City and Reno.
 

View of Deer Run Ranch complex, Virginia Mtn. Range
in background, haying in progress in foreground. In the summer, relax outdoors by the pond, and watch the deer grazing in the fields at sunset.
 

Your hosts, David, an architect-builder, and Muffy, a professional artist-potter, are both longtime Nevada residents, who are knowledgeable about local lore and activities.

We are an Audubon bird count site; a lot of large birds live here and are seen regularly - red tail and other hawks, great blue and other herons, lots of ducks, geese, and our resident great horned and barn owls.

Coyotes, deer, bobcats, badgers, are often spotted in the fields or drinking from the pond at dawn or dusk. We provide a (free) pass to Washoe Lake State Park - lovely walks along the beach. We are happy to put guests in contact with our favorite local outfitter to arrange half or full day horseback rides into the hills to see Nevada's famous wild horses and other wildlife.
 

"Site and structure from a perfect union, creating a spacious, secluded and sensuous Bed and Breakfast experience." America's Best Bed and Breakfasts - Fodor's

"It's the kind of setting that one might be tempted to call a land of milk and honey." Sunset Magazine - January 1999

"We very much appreciated your warmth and hospitality. On looking back, we realized that we had stayed in one of the nicest B&Bs ever." visitors from New Jersey

"We have stayed at several B&Bs on the east coast, but none compare to yours." visitors from Maryland

"Thank you for such a glorious time; everything about our stay was truly sublime." visitors from California

The original ranch, called the Quarter Circle JP, was purchased in 1937 by Emily and Jim Greil (Muffy's parents) for back taxes of $2400. It and the "Goat Ranch" at the foot of Jumbo Grade two miles north of here were the only residences on the one lane, dirt road around this side of Washoe Lake. All the children in the valley went to the one room schoolhouse in Franktown, directly across the lake - grades 1-8, one teacher.

Legend has it that the ranch springs - including our spring and pond - watered small truck gardens, the produce being carried by wagon up "Deadman's" (our main driveway) and Jumbo Grades to Virginia City during the height of the mining boom on the Comstock in the late 1800s.

Sometime after the end of World War I, prohibition became the law of the land, and the "Moonshiners" gravitated to isolated lands with plenty of water to set up their stills. The spring tunnels here on the ranch were used for that purpose, and at some point before the repeal of prohibition in 1933, government agents blew up the stills, destroying the tunnel at our spring. Excavations for our house unearthed pipes and other distillery relics, as well as some of the old shoring from the original spring.

Both David and Muffy enjoy sharing their idyllic lifestyle with their guests, and helping them plan a perfect few days at Deer Run. Both long-time Nevada residents who are knowlegeable about local lore and activities. We can also help with information for relocaters, etc.

David is an architect-builder, who designed and built our house, and then remodeled it for use as a Bed and Breakfast - in the process building new library shelves, tables, and window seats. His other interests include agriculture, gardening, and mechanics, but he is first and foremost a builder/designer/planner.

Muffy has taught high school art and English, and now maintains her pottery studio at the ranch. The studio is open for guests at the Bed and Breakfast to visit. Other interests of hers include gardening, cooking/canning/preserving, and photography.