Triangle Ranch Bed & Breakfast in Philip. South Dakota

Triangle Ranch Bed & Breakfast in Philip

The Triangle Ranch was named for its horse and cattle brand. Lyndy's great-grandfather, H. H. Williams, traded a good team of driving horses and buggy for it in 1903. We are blessed to live where the prairie meets the Bad River breaks north of the Badlands. Triangle Ranch is centrally located to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Missouri River & Black Hills attractions. Our area boasts prime, but relatively undiscovered, mule deer, whitetail, wild turkey and varmint hunting. Triangle Ranch now offers a limited number of exclusive hunting packages.

The history: In 1904, H.H. Williams drove his livestock west across a pontoon bridge on the Missouri River at Chamberlain, S. D., descending the same river bluffs where "Lewis & Clark" stood 100 years before. The panorama of virgin prairie and rough river breaks on the ranch is much the same as it was when H. H. and his family came west of the Missouri River. He expected to build his home that summer of cottonwood logs, cut and cured by the former owner. But much to his surprise there were no logs in sight! An enterprising lady homesteader in her 50's had "appropriated" the logs and built her own home during the previous winter.

So the Williams family had to resort to a creekbank "dugout" with sod front until more logs could be cut and cured. The log house they built the following year was a cozy home and many pioneer dances were held within it's walls. However, about 1917, when the ranch was more established, H. H. and Grace began perusing the Sears, Roebuck & Co. Catalog of homes and dreaming of building one of those beautiful, but practical dwellings. Sears had become a leader in the manufacture and sales of "precut" homes. Perfect for folks way out on the prairie with no building centers nearby.

While neighbors were wishing for a "bungalow" or "foursquare", the Williams' kept returning to the color illustrated page featuring the "Alhambra". The adobe stuccoed, 2 1/2 story with it's mission-style parapetting, red tiled roof and red brick trim caught their fancy. Or maybe their teen aged daughters prevailed because of it's stately, "romantic" appearance.
Though it's blueprints are dated 1917, it evidently took several good alfalfa seed crops to purchase and complete the Alhambra in 1923 for $3,825. It arrived on 2 railroad cars at Cottonwood, So. Dak., the local railhead. H. H.'s son "Willy", spent 2 weeks with horses and wagon hauling the precut and labeled materials to the ranch 9 miles southeast.

With it's 409 windowpanes glistening in the South Dakota sun, it has stood overlooking the Bad River for six generations. 82 Christmas eves have been celebrated, wedding vows said, birthday parties, reunions and funerals have all taken place here. Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the "Alhambra" houses the Triangle Ranch Bed and Breakfast where H. H.'s great-granddaughter, Lyndy, and her husband, Kenny Ireland welcome guests with that same traditional South Dakota hospitality.

Innkeepers: Lyndy & Kenny Ireland

Recipes included in the cookbook: Golden Triangle Ranch Fruit Compote, Triangle Ranch Ham & Broccoli Bake, Triangle Ranch Butter Dips, Triangle Ranch Best Apple Pie, "Grandma Weeza's" Buttermilk Pancakes-Plus.

This BnB (along with delicious recipes and wonderful stories) is featured in Sunrise Sunset Across America, Bed & Breakfast cookbook. Purchase it by clicking on the link in the upper sidebar. Click on the review to read more about it.