Sisters couple takes the reins at ranch

Jennifer and Glenn Cole have been coming to Sisters on and off for 20 years, were married at the Head of the Metolius, and for the past 10 years they've had a second home here. They know as well as anyone else where to find the iconic images of Sisters Country.

"We just love going there (to Sisters)," Jennifer said. "It's a beautiful, inspiring place to be."

Now a big piece of that classic, inspiring landscape belongs to them. The Coles have purchased the 345-acre Patterson Ranch - which is now the Cole Ranch.

"I've always admired it, since we were younger," Jennifer told The Nugget last week. "We love the way it looks."

And the ranch will continue to look as it does, expansive hay pastures lying green under the snowclad peaks of the Three Sisters.

Cole said that the couple is not interested in development of the property.

"Our mission is really to be a good neighbor to our neighbors," she said. "Right now we're just going to keep making hay. We're learning from Richard and Linda (Patterson)."

Richard Patterson built the ranch into a beautiful and successful enterprise. Patterson was a horse breeder specializing in Polish Arabians when the ranch was purchased in 1968. He moved out from Ohio in 1973 and brought the horses and some llamas with him.

Patterson was a pioneer in the booming llama ranching industry, and for many years the Patterson Ranch was the largest llama ranch in the United States.

"The horses were sold in '89, and I thought a farmer needs two crops," he told The Nugget a decade ago.

So he started his elk herd. In 1990, the ranch produced its first calves. In 2009, he sold the last of the elk to an operation in New Mexico.

The Coles own 72 and Sunny, a full-service advertising agency in Los Angeles, California, http://www.72andsunny.com. According to Jennifer, Glenn will continue to focus on the agency's business, while she takes on management of the ranch.

Glenn is a University of Oregon alumnus, and they both worked at the major Oregon advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy for years. She has worked in education, running a charter school and working in a program at Cal State Dominquez Hills to develop educational leaders. This is her first experience in agriculture.

"We're total newbies," she said.

Fortunately for them, Caleb and Billy Kelleher, long-time ranch hands, are continuing on.

"We're super grateful that they're going to stay and help us," Jennifer said.

For information on Cole Ranch hay, contact Diane Prescott at 541-213-8959.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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