Hi! I’m Loran Nordgren.
My grown children and I own New Sundborn Ranch, 410 mostly
wooded acres, a remote and very private sanctuary located smack dab in the middle of the Heartland
of Southwest Wisconsin, God's country
 . Our nearest neighbor is a half mile away. I live here alone...
except when my far flung family come to visit, which isn't very often.
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It took just over two years to build the compound
 .
There's the main house and the Carl
Larsson Cottage,
 the place where the kids and friends stay when they come calling. It sleeps 5, or 9 if you know
each other well. A unique gazebo
is perched on top of the garage...great views of the pond stocked
with fish and you can also see my airplane hanger
 and the private sod runway bordered with natural
grasses and wild flowers
 , lovely to see and a great hangout for meadowlarks, bobwhites, wild turkeys, and of course
whitetail deer...lots of deer! There's also a stubor,
 a storage house with a sod roof, a barn and pasture where I
raise alpacas. All of it is nestled in a deep valley called Runge Hollow.
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The compound was featured in two issues of Country Living magazine, February and October of 1997,
and also the subject of a book titled "The Scandinavian Look" by Hearst Books
 . ISBN 0-688-15096-9. I share this only
to suggest that you consider ordering one, now out of print, from Amazon
or Powells.com. Friends have paid less than $20
for a copy, low cost way to see if New Sundborn Ranch is the kind of place where you would like to spend some time.
A place to stay for a weekend or longer.
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If you are into fly-fishing, about a mile of the North Fork of the Bad Axe River,
 loaded with brook and brown trout, meanders through the Ranch. There's our pond
 , with rainbow trout
where you can get the kinks out of your cast or show the kids
 how it's done. I have a guide to take you to the hotspots...Timber
Coulee, the West Fork of the Kickapoo, Coon Creek and those unamed streams that rarely see a fly. Runge Hollow Reservoir,
a 52 acre lake for bluegill, bass, crappies, even some Northerns
 , is a short trip downstream in one of our canoes. Or another
friend can show you where the big Northern and Walleye hang out in the Upper Mississipi River sloughs
 , about an hour away.
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I forgot, the cottage has a complete kitchen,
 2½ baths, and a TV set
 . And then of course, there's the
whitetail deer. There are more deer per acre in southwest Wisconsin than just about any place on earth! Last year we harvested 21
of them off our 400 acres...does and bucks...rifle and bow. There's Grouse and Pheasant too and rabbits, too many rabbits. Last year a friend shot a 26lb Tom ½ mile from my front door.
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If you are looking for a place to hunt, give me a call. Maybe we can work something out.
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What else is there to do around here. Well, in the spring there is hiking in the woods
 ...wildflowers
 everywhere...the best time for bird
watching. The migration of hundreds of colorful birds is a thing to behold. And Morel mushrooms
 to hunt.
And of course, sounds you don't hear in the city, songbirds in the daytime, and frogs, oh my, the
frogs and owls at night. And when the sky is clear, thousands of stars to see.
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| In the summer the wild berries are ripe and there are alpacas in the pasture. The
Wisconsin Dells are a little over an hour away, Old Man River is even closer.
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| No place has a higher concentration of arts and crafts, skills and products. Vernon County
is also the home of scores of Amish families. We are able to arrange tours of their farms, where
many of them make furniture, quilts, baked goods, maple syrup, and other handcrafted items
for sale.
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Fall is my favorite time of the year. The autumn leaves, yellow, orange, red, brown,
and still some green on the 400 foot tall wooded hills that surround us are magnificent. In late October or
early November Tundra Swans
 , thousands of them, feed and rest on the Mississipi backwater before continuing
their journey south, what a sight!
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| The last 2 winters brought lots of snow, great for Nordic skiing on groomed
trails, snowshoe trekking, and skating on our pond.
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| Just exactly where in the world is New Sundborn Ranch?
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| We are about 90° west longitude, halfway across the western hemishere, and 45°
north latitude, putting us halfway between the equator and the North Pole.
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We are in the Heartland, the Coulee region of Wisconsin, known as the Driftless
area. The glaciers that covered much of North America missed us. It left the lush hidden valleys,
steep hills and ravines untouched and still mostly unspoiled.
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| New Sundborn Ranch is about 5 hours drive from Chicago, 3 hours from Milwaukee
or the Twin Cities and 25 minutes south of La Crosse. If you decide to come, we'll send you a map.
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| Come for a weekend or longer! When you do, it will be your own private place,
a half mile from the nearest county road. It's quiet!
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| The Carl Larson Cottage Layout
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Main floor:
Living, dining room, bathrooms, a completely furnished home,
Kitchen: refrigerator, range,oven and microwave.
Lower floor:
Large family - TV room, bathroom with shower, large outdoor deck overlooking the pond.
Upper floor:
 
Two bedrooms with double beds
Two built in alcoves with full beds and mattress and one built in twin
Full Bathroom - tub and shower
There is central heating and air conditioning - modern applicances, towels and linens, just about all the comforts of a well furnished home.
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| Click Here to view more photos |
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WHAT ABOUT THE COST?
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APRIL, MAY, JUNE — SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER, NOVEMBER
2 STARS **: Entire Carl Larson Cottage for two persons $235 per night
4 STARS ****: Entire Carl Larson Cottage for three or four persons $325 per night
5 STARS *****: Entire Carl Larson Cottage including 2 bedrooms and alcoves for up to 9 persons $395 per night
Minimum stay: 2 nights
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JULY, AUGUST — DECEMBER THRU MARCH
2 STARS **: Two persons $195 per night
4 STARS ****: Three or Four persons $275 per night
5 STARS *****: 5 to 9 persons $325 per night
Minimum stay: 2 nights
Plus sales tax of 5.5%
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For more information and reservations,
Please don't hesitate to call me or my son.
| Call: | Loran Nordgren | Loran Nordgren Jr. |
| | 608-634-2335 | 312-852-1160 |
| Email: | loran.wisc@mwt.net | lorannordgren@yahoo.com |
| Address: | E-5155 Helgeson Rd | |
| | Westby,Wi 54667 | |
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A 50% deposit, check or money order should be sent to the above address.
Balance must be received
30 days before arrival.
The deposit is non-refundable.
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"A stranger is a friend I haven't met yet". Will Rogers
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