Thanks for stopping by to learn more about Diamond Bar Seven Ranch. The Ranch is no longer a vacation rental & is occupied by permanent residents.


For your convenience, there are many links to help you plan a southwest Montana vacation on the right >>

HERE are pictures of SUMMER around the ranch.

Click HERE to read the history of DB7.

HERE you can see the ranch in WINTER, and HERE are some ideas for off-season gatherings.

Click HERE to see the ranch in FALL, and HERE to see the ranch in SPRING.

HERE you can see more pictures of the ranch house and see THE FLOOR PLAN.

For a look at the grounds & outbuildings, click HERE.

Before & After

In celebration of the completion of the ranch house renovation, here's a little before-and-after post (click images to enlarge).

Here are Jess & Mark Melin doing kitchen demolition back in January--priceless.

Here is an old picture of the Ranch that was hanging on Vivian's wall.

1= the quonset hut

2= the ranch house

3=the original house (just a foundation now)

4=the boathouse

5=the barn (burned down in 2007)

6=the garden & treehouse & root cellar

We've come a LONG way!

The Last Few Photos...

The Melin Boys cranked out this awesome deck over Independence Day weekend

The dining room

Another view from the deck

(I know, amazing. So come on over!)

Renovation, part...zillion

We're almost done!

Here are a few pix of the house (the back deck and driveway are pretty much all that's missing)...Stone work on the house is done--go, Mike!

Kitchen and breakfast nook--check!

Upstairs King Bedroom

Upstairs Queen Bedroom

Upstairs Bathroom #1

Upstairs Bathroom #2 (off laundry room)

Downstairs Family Room

Downstairs Queen Room

Downstairs Bunk Room aka The Bear Cubs' Den

***

There are a few more rooms we need to take pictures of , and of course the finished deck and its amazing view, so stay tuned! First guests are enjoying the house this week--YAY!

**

PS: If you''d like an amenities checklist, including what exactly is stocked in the kitchen or what outdoor gear we have, please email me and I'll email the lists to you. Also, we took the floor plans off the vrbo site, so here they are:

OUTSIDE!

We are still doing tiny details and solving decorating dilemmas inside the ranch house, but most of the work has moved outside to the exterior. We have had way more than our share of rain (in fact, it's raining again right now), but when it's not pouring, the guys are working on the new rock and siding on the house. The "up-side" to all the rain is that it's a very green spring!Entrance
Here's the house (right) and the boat house (left) from across US Highway 89...the river is high!


And here's the house again from across the highway, looking southeast.

The boathouse and the pavilion

The house as of the first of June

(you can see the new rock work on the right, and the old yellow brick on the left; the greenish stuff is backer board for the new siding).

James & Uncle Mike planting the garden last weekend

(we finally had some sunny days and the garden stopped being a mudhole)

It's going to be a great apple harvest next September...look at those blossoms!

Here's the picnic pavilion on the river, with the fire ring and brick bench to the left

Another view of the boathouse/pavilion/tree house

Renovation, part IV

These images are from the beginning of May--I've been slacking on my blogging!--and there will be many more to add this week as the exterior rock work begins and the interior finish work gets done and carpet is installed.

First of all, Rich took these pix of a trail ride poster because we have had guests ask us for referrals. Truth be told, we don't have any personal experience upon which to base a referral, but we've heard good things about Flynn Creek (below) and the Wineglass Trail Rides (click).

Now, here are some shots around the house...

This is the place for the downstairs fireplace/woodstove

These are the downstairs bathroom sinks.

(Nothing in this bathroom looks like what we chose, so these pix really took me by surprise. That's part of why it took me so long to post them)

The upstairs living room fireplace,once was brick, now it's rock--great work by Mike!

(I'm having issues with the assymetry here, but hopefully it won't be so obvious once the room is decorated)

New flooring in the upstairs breakfast area (ktichen is off to the right)

Kitchen (sans dushwasher) looking toward dining room from breakfast area

The other side of the kitchen (waiting for the cook top)

Kitchen from dining area, looking back toward breakfast area

Dining Room

My mom's hutch in fits perfectly in the dining room!

***

Lastly, I was reminded today of what a GREAT show Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations is, so here's a link to his episode about Livingston. It's a great portrait of our life here--ENJOY!

No Reservations- Livingston- Part 1

No Reservations- Livingston- Part 2

No Reservations- Livingston- Part 3

PS: Russ Chatham lives about 6 house down from us on our street and he wears those overalls everyday:)

--JM

Renovation, Part 3

The basement walls got taped and smoothed this week, so Saturday, April 9th was mostly a paint-the-basement day. I snapped a few pix of the kitchen cabinets, which are now awaiting countertops, backsplash, and appliances... from teh breakfast nook looking forward to the dining room...

(the lovely tile work is under all that cardboard) beautiful!

Here is a sample of the backsplash tile, as well as the final two samples for countertops.

Heidi helped Uncle Mike paint the downstairs bathroom for a while.

Go, Heidi!

Daddy/Rich cut in the brick-red accent wall in the downstairs living room

Addie got to paint the nook in the Bear Cubs' Den where the bunk beds are built-in.

It's slow and steady, but it's coming along. We purchased lots of housewares and linens and mom found a nice rug for the upstairs living room last weekend in Salt Lake City (mostly at IKEA). We are excited for the next few weeks as all the finished details begin to come together!