From the windy drive in, along ridges at 8,500 feet, Big Rack—Amy Phelan’s 5,000-acre lodge in western Colorado—looks like a classic ranch. One could assume its name refers to the large elk that reside in the sheltered valleys on the Phelans’ property. But inside, it’s pure Amy: the front door opens to a busty Richard Phillips nude over the hearth. “It could have a double meaning,” she smirks. “Growing up, I wanted to be a little bit of everything—a cowgirl, a cheerleader, and ultimately, just a good human being who spreads positivity and kindness. Always make someone’s day.”

Amy and John Phelan, who live between Palm Beach, London, and Colorado, found the former hunting ranch after searching five years for an inspiring summer property within a two-hour drive from their home in Aspen. (John is chair of the board of the Aspen Art Museum and Amy is a national council member there, as well as at the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet and Anderson Ranch.) They renovated several existing structures, including guesthouses; a gym; shooting ranges for rifles, pistols, and shotguns; they also built a ranch manager’s house; a horse barn; and the “lodge”—the beating heart of big rack, into which they moved in 2019, above left. In addition to sharing the land with the elk herd, their home is surrounded by ridges populated with mountain lions and bears; the Phelans also have horses, chickens, cats, and dogs, as well as two mini donkeys.

“My grandparents owned a small farm in east Texas and I would spend a lot of time there with them,” says Phelan, a former professional cheerleader for the Dallas Cowboys. “My father is from west Texas and an original cowboy. He rode bulls.”

 

“The ranch is a sanctuary,” says Phelan. “A place where I can bring my friends together. It captures the essence of connection, being surrounded by nature’s beauty.”

“My mom loves having the whole family together and adores animals, so the ranch provides her a space to be her authentic self—which is a true Texas girl,” explains Phelan’s daughter, Makenzie. “Friends who visit see that she is a spiritual person, secretly a cat lover, and likes to get down and dirty at the ranch. I think she was a cowboy in a past life.”

Amy Phelan

Amy’s mother, Sandra, and daughter, Makenzie, who, like many friends and family, visit for extended periods.

 

A sculpture by Nobuo Sekine hovers over Big Rack with the Grand Hogback Ridge in the distance. “This particular series of work is always a large rock that is sourced from the earth in which it will be installed, and mounted on a steel plinth to reflect the area around it,” Phelan says of the granite piece, which weighs 35,000 pounds and required two cranes to construct.

“The ranch is a place to restore and relax and invite friends to do the same. You really have to import your fun and create it,” Phelan says of its uniquely remote nature. Some evenings, she lights a fire and summons her guests into a darkened parlor where she hands out cowboy hats and hosts “ranch karaoke” amidst a spinning disco ball and light-up speakers that blast “Gloria” by Laura Branigan as she dances.

The Phelans left the property’s abandoned 19th-century log cabins, once occupied by shepherds using the lower fields for raising sheep, as they were. “Some of my favorite moments at the ranch are the quiet evenings when you can hear the rustle of leaves and the distant calls of wildlife. The stars are breathtaking—so clear and bright that you can almost reach out and touch them.”

 

This story is an excerpt from PALMER Vol.6. To see the complete story, pre-order your copy of the magazine, here.