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Rocker B Ranch started as a “family escape” for president and CEO Lance Byrd, his wife and their son and daughter. Byrd, who’s known in Fort Worth for playing a key role in the development of Mopac Event Center, purchased the property in 2005 as a place to dove hunt and ride four-wheelers while enjoying the sweeping views of Palo Pinto County.
The ranch has since evolved to become a 320-acre luxury resort, featuring rustic-chic accommodations, meeting space equipped with audio/visual capabilities, and an array of sports facilities including two Little League regulation-size baseball fields. It’s located in Graford, Texas, about an hour drive from Fort Worth.
The ranch has come a long way from the dilapidated two-room house and barn it once was. When Byrd purchased the property, he tore down the house and kept the barn as he ventured into the cutting horse business. At one point, Byrd says he had 40 horses on the ranch, including a pony named Cowboy that his daughter received for Christmas when she was 6. But, as his grandfather warned him, “the horse business is a tough business ... it’s a lot of work,” so Byrd did away with the horses, keeping Cowboy and one other.
Byrd then shifted the ranch’s focus from cutting horses to sports and hospitality, hand-sketching the architecture and construction plans for Rocker B Ranch.
“Usually, my wife tried to talk me out of it, but I’m hardheaded and pressed on!” he says.
Today, Rocker B Ranch offers a variety of accommodations, from bunk rooms to free-standing cabins. Interiors — designed by family friend Ro Rynd, whose company Ro Rynd Interiors currently offices at the LOCAL Design Studios + Gallery at West Vickery Boulevard — are rustic yet modern: Think cowhide rugs and wood furniture. Guests also have access to a fitness center with an indoor hot tub, massage room and changing area.
Visitors book the ranch exclusively; rates range from $5,000 per night on weekdays to $12,500 on weekends for a two-night stay, and while this does not include taxes and food, it does include use of all facilities and activities.
For work, the 3,000-square-foot, multi-use facility is ideal for corporate meetings. The room is dubbed Dalton City Diner, named after an oil boom town that existed on the property from 1914 to around 1922. Inside are four 82-inch, 4K TVs equipped with Apple TV and video matrix switchers for showing presentations. While Rocker B offers in-house catering, guests are also welcome to bring outside caterers as well.
For play, guests have free rein to roam the resort and enjoy a pool with a waterslide, a golf driving range and a fishing lake among other activities, with no additional charge.
What sets Rocker B Ranch apart, however, is its dedication to sports. The property also features a tennis court, basketball court, and volleyball court — plus Little League fields where youth tournaments are held regularly. It’s especially personal for Byrd, whose daughter Blakely, 14, played softball and baseball in Westside Little League, and son Ryland, 12, currently plays at Westside. One baseball field can be converted to an amphitheater for music festivals, the most recent being the Texas Country Music Festival where names like Pat Green, Wade Bowen and the Randy Rogers Band made an appearance on Fourth of July weekend.
Byrd says Rocker B Ranch is currently in the process of building a 70-yard multipurpose lawn that can be used for football. Seeing what once started as hand-drawn sketches becoming reality, he says the ranch has become more than a business venture; it’s a passion.
“The ‘passion’ has changed in a good way,” Byrd says. “Now our family is passionate about seeing all the people, including thousands of youth, who visit the ranch every year and enjoy the natural beauty and outdoor activities with their families and friends.”