The Historic Beckwith Ranch

Nearly 30 years back, I drove our three children from coastal South Carolina to southern California and back. As we explored National Parks, other sites and small towns, we drove through and visited Colorado, from east to west and then from west to east.

My wife flew home from San Diego, and I was driving the kids back on my own, when one of our sons broke his wrist badly in Telluride. We lingered a few days as he recovered in the hospital. And the mountains grew on me again, as they had when my wife and I got started in Telluride, back in 1982. I didn’t want to leave but had to get the kids back to school and their mom.

A map showed me how to see the mountains for an extra hour or two while still making progress toward Wichita and the kids’ grandmother. At the tiny town of Cotopaxi, along U.S. 50 and the Arkansas River, I took a right, climbing from Bighorn Sheep Canyon into the Wet Mountain Valley and CO 69 South. The stunning Sangre de Cristo Range rose to our right for some 70 miles en route to Walsenburg, where lonely CO 10 angled us back to U.S. 50 East.

As we topped a rise, I saw the red roofs of the Historic Beckwith Ranch. I stopped and made a picture of its Victorian architecture, with those red roofs standing against a gray sky and stunning peaks. The slide that resulted was OK, but the scene stuck in my head.

And a dozen years later, as we searched for a new home in eastern Colorado, it was still right there, coloring my vision. It helped bring me back to Westcliffe, which we’ve called home since 2013.

During our first years here, I stopped often to make pictures of the ranch buildings with the Sangres behind – at sunset, at dawn, under amazing clouds and even under the Milky Way. It was a venue for the Wet Mountain Western Pilgrimage, which we helped stage for a couple years, highlighting the history and culture of our community. There, a re-enactor played Mrs. Beckwith, telling tales of the house, of life in the late 19th Century near a boomtown, and about her philandering husband, who helped create one of the first large ranches to ship beef east and even served as Colorado’s lieutenant governor.

In 2025, the nonprofit foundation that has preserved the old ranch house, outbuildings and a few acres of the property, asked me to make photographs to help market the property for events, especially weddings.

I didn’t hesitate. I hope these pictures from the past 15 years move you as the scenes there have moved me. All are available as signed prints. Please let me know your interest via our contact form. You can learn more about the Historic Beckwith Ranch by clicking here.

Click any picture to enlarge into a slide show where you can arrow through images. Click “Esc” or “X” to exit.

Ranch house with red roof under gathering clouds, flanked by yellow-leafed trees
An autumn scene of the Historic Beckwith Ranch with the Sangre de Cristo Range in the background.
Barn with red roof under threatening clouds with mountains in background.
An autumn scene of a barn at the Historic Beckwith Ranch with the Sangre de Cristo Range in the background.
Low clouds catch the sunrise over red-roofed barns and paddocks at ranch with snowcapped peaks in background
The barns of the Beckwith Ranch at dawn in the Wet Mountain on autumn morning.
A lenticular cloud below higher cirrus clouds stretches over the red roofs of the ranch
A huge, flat, lenticular cloud stretches above and beyond the red roofs of the historic Beckwith Ranch.
Woman in Victorian dress and wide-brimmed hat with pink and white feathers stands on curved porch with prairie in background
Elizabeth French used to portray “Mrs. Beckwith” to guide tours of the Historic Beckwith Ranch, north of Westcliffe.
The "ballroom" features open wooden floors and a black-marble fireplace, with French doors and a bay window
The “ballroom” at the Historic Beckwith Ranch a half-dozen miles north of Westcliffe, CO.
Bay window looks out on pastures and mountains.
A bay window inside the Historic Beckwith Ranch house’s parlor looks out on the landscape.
Victorian-style dining room with wallpaper frieze and ceiling, lit by Tiffany-style light fixture
The dining room inside the Beckwith Ranch house features period furniture, silver tea service and more.
An enameled sink, table with chairs, antique gas stove, high chair and more in the kitchen
The kitchen at the Historic Beckwith Ranch a half-dozen miles north of Westcliffe, CO.
Office features roll-top desk, wallpapered ceiling and frieze and bay window
The office inside the Historic Beckwith Ranch house in autumn features roll-top desk, wallpapered ceiling and frieze and bay window.
Carved oak bed, bird cage, oak wardrobe and more antiques fill the master bedroom
The master bedroom at the Historic Beckwith Ranch a half-dozen miles north of Westcliffe, CO.
Bedroom with two windows, mannequin sporting a period blouse and skirt and other antiques
A bedroom in the Historic Beckwith Ranch a half-dozen miles north of Westcliffe, CO.
Bathtub in small room with windows rimmed with stained glass at the Historic Beckwith Ranch
Bathtub in room with windows rimmed with stained glass at the Historic Beckwith Ranch, a half-dozen miles north of Westcliffe, CO.
Red-roofed barns viewed through arched portico with antique carriage in foreground.
Looking at barns through arched portico at the Historic Beckwith Ranch.
Red rocking chair sits on curved porch with rail and spindles, looking at front portico
A rocking chair cast shadows with rail spindles on the south porch at the Historic Beckwith Ranch a half-dozen miles north of Westcliffe, CO.
Red roofs of ranch house stand against snow-streaked peaks with fog rising
The Historic Beckwith Ranch stands before Horn Peak and the Sangres on a frosty February morning.
Fresh snow covers ranch house with tall spruce in foreground and snowcapped peaks behind
Historic Beckwith Ranch framed by snow-covered peaks.
Red roofs of barns frosted with snow and snowy peaks in background
The barns of the Historic Beckwith Ranch on a frosty morning.
Milky Way and other stars glow over historic ranch house, with trail of lights from passing plane during long exposure
The Milky Way spreads above the Historic Beckwith Ranch and Sangre de Cristo Range, a few miles north of Westcliffe, CO, with the lights of a passing airliner leaving a streak during the long exposure.
Red and green sky from Aurora borealis shines over barns of ranch, viewed through arch in portico.
The northern lights, rare at lower latitudes, glow spectacularly over the Historic Beckwith Ranch.
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