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This marketing image depicts a residence on one of the Teton Valley Ranch lots scheduled for an auction in mid-July. PHOTO COURTESY TETONVALLEYRANCHAUCTION.COM

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An historic ranch in Kelly is slated for auction in mid-July, with a starting bid of just $15 million, down from $47 million sought a year ago.

The sale of Teton Valley Ranch is being conducted in cooperation with Concierge Auctions and listing broker Richard Lewis of Sotheby’s International Realty.

“Most of our clients seek out the auction opportunity as an alternative to the traditional broker method typically because they seek to have a sale by a certain date,” said Laura Brady, vice president of marketing for Concierge Auctions. “[The ranch] has been listed for quite a while, and they just have not been able to generate a suitable price for the client. ... The auction process helps to let the market know the seller is truly motivated.”

The storied property will go to the highest bidder during a live, on-site auction at 11 a.m. on July 16. Attendance will be limited to registered bidders and their representatives. Bidder registrations are due by July 14.

The property is available for preview daily by appointment. For information, visit www.tetonvalleyranchauction.com.

Lewis would not disclose the property owner’s name, but Teton County records show that Lou Pai was involved with subdividing the property and granting conservation easements on portions.

Pai began working for Enron in 1986 and resigned from the company six months before it filed for bankruptcy protection, according to The New York Times.

He left the company with $271 million, the Times reported. He paid the Securities and Exchange Commission a $31.5 million fine and settlement over insider-trading charges, The Atlantic reported.

Maggie Schilling, a TetonCounty staff planner who worked on the property, confirmed that Pai was once involved with the property but said she is not sure if Pai is still involved with the LLCs that are officially listed as the property owners.

The ranch dates to 1927 and Wendell Wilson, who put the ranch together over the years, amassing up to 1,500 acres. Much of it was traded off to the National Elk Refuge and National Park Service, leaving the 153 acres that were sold in 2004.

Since 1938, the property had been the home of the Teton Valley Ranch Camp, a youth camp that ran at the site until 1999. When the property operated as the camp, a conditional use permit granted in 1988 allowed 55 structures, a racetrack, 150 guests and 50 employees.

Camp operators, who sought to buy the ranch through a fundraising drive among alumni, have since relocated to Dubois.

The ranch was sold in 2004 to an undisclosed buyer. The property was listed for $37 million, but a sales price was not disclosed.

According to a warranty deed on file with the Teton County clerk, one parcel was transferred to Western Properties Investors, Jaroso Creek Ranch and Beaver Dam Ranch in December 2006.

Since then, owners used the state 35-acre subdivision exemption to divide the 153 acres into three parcels of 52, 50 and 47 acres.

The 52- and 50-acre ranch parcels will be sold at auction in three bidding segments, Brady said.

The third parcel was sold in May 2008 for less than the $15 million listing price, Lewis said.

The first parcel, originally listed for $29.5 million about a year ago, has a reserve of $11 million. The second parcel, originally listed for $17.9 million about two years ago, has a reserve of $4 million. The auction for both parcels, originally listed for $47.4 million, has a reserve of $15 million.

The seller is obligated to sell the properties to the highest aggregate bids above the reserve amounts, Brady said.

“The bidding needs to exceed the reserve numbers for them to sell,” she said. “The seller is obligated to sell the property at or above the reserve amount.”

The first parcel features a 10,000-square-foot main residence that is 90 percent complete, according to marketing materials. A warm springs lake that stays 70 degrees year-round is situated on the property.

Marketing information describes the home as “castle-like,” with materials imported from Europe used throughout its construction.

The second parcel sits on the Gros Ventre River and is home to the Marlboro barn, made famous by the 1971 Western epic The Wild Country.

This estate includes a 1,700-squarefoot home with three bedrooms and three baths, as well as two log cabins.

Each parcel has a nonsubdivison, planned residential development approved, which allows for expanded development. That means a new owner could not split the lots, build homes and sell those off. Instead, an owner could build some combination of homes, guest homes or barns.

The decision to go to auction was made to sell the property quickly.

“The client is not distressed and made a business decision to sell it this way,” Brady said.

The owner purchased another property outside of Washington, D.C., and is “ready to move on,” Lewis said.