An influential Idaho family has put its sprawling, famed 450-acre equestrian Parma ranch up for sale for an eye-popping $22.5 million.
Larry and Marianne Williams have owned and operated Tree Top Ranches for over 25 years and are selling it to scale down their holdings, according to Trent Jones, the broker representing the sale with Montana-based Hall and Hall. Canyon County has assessed the property’s value at about $6 million.
The Williamses, both from Midvale, made millions founding the Idaho Timber company in 1979 and have had a commanding presence in Treasure Valley society and within Idaho sports and political circles for decades.
The duo have donated heavily to the Saint Alphonsus Health System. In 2005, Larry Williams donated Marianne Williams Park to the city of Boise in honor of his wife. They are some of the biggest donors to Boise State University’s athletics programs, and their names adorn Boise State’s Caven-Williams Sports Complex and the Larry and Marianne Williams Plaza at Albertsons Stadium.
Larry Williams was also named by some sources during the most recent legislative session as mounting a pressure campaign against legislators, alleging that he would fund their opponents if they did not support certain bills, according to prior Statesman reporting. He has denied the claim.
He was also named in an elections complaint in 2022 about violating campaign contribution limits over a bill in support of charter schools, according to the Idaho Capital Sun.
The Williamses have spent their lives in agriculture and ranching and own a number of other rural properties, Jones said. The Tree Top Ranches property does not mean the Williamses are leaving their roots, he said.
“They’ve loved owning it and developing it … but they’ve reached a point where they’re looking to simplify things and scale down the demands that these types of assets might hold,” Jones said by phone. “(Larry Williams is) still very active in his farming and ranching efforts around the region. He’s not giving up his passion for those activities.”
A sprawling home for Idaho equestrian royalty
The Williamses’ interests are wide-ranging, Jones said, and the property reflects an embodiment of their involvement in hunting and thoroughbred horse racing.
The real estate offers over a mile of frontage on the lower Boise River, wildlife habitat flush with waterfowl, and a 9,000-square- foot owner’s lodge overlooking a series of interconnected, year-round lakes, according to a sales brochure from Hall and Hall.
But the property’s largest building is a 12,000-square-foot horse barn built in 2000 with 18 stalls. It includes a foaling stall, wash rack, vet room, feed room, a breakroom with a bathroom, show room, manager’s office and a reception area with another office and bathroom, according to the brochure. The building also includes a training pen and built-in barbecue.
The duo bought the property as a private retreat and developed it into “one of the most successful thoroughbred breeding operations in the western United States,” according to the brochure.
“Parma Lodge and Stables has been home to some of the country’s finest thoroughbreds, with horses having produced millions of dollars in total winnings and competed in two Kentucky Derbies,” according to the brochure.
The Williamses have brought in nearly $19 million in earnings across almost 3,100 equestrian race starts, according to Equibase. Their top-earning horse, Rousing Sermon, won $821,572 in 36 starts and finished eighth in the 2012 Kentucky Derby.
The Williamses owned Lucky Pulpit, the horse that fathered 2014 Kentucky Derby winner California Chrome, according to prior Statesman reporting. Lucky Pulpit’s bloodline includes Triple Crown winners Secretariat and Seattle Slew.
Larry Williams was also involved in the now-defunct Les Bois horse racing track at the Expo Idaho fairgrounds in Garden City. After live horse racing ended there in 2009, he was one of five investors who tried to raise revenue to keep Idaho’s horse racing alive by turning Les Bois’ Turf Club into a space for horse betting with slot machines, according to prior Statesman reporting.
The slot machines were turned off in 2015. The now-dilapidated horse track is set to become a 97-acre park.
The Parma property has been the headquarters of all the racing success, Jones said, and the Williamses are not getting out of the sport entirely.
Jones said he expected the next owner would have a strong equestrian interest, but added, “There’s certainly that opportunity to repurpose those equestrian facilities.”
A “luxury retreat” in the Treasure Valley
According to Jones, it’s difficult to understand the scope and diversity of the real estate the first time visiting.
“You can really get lost in it,” he said. “There’s just a sense of scale.”
The 450-acre property is nearly twice the size of the city of Notus, which is about a 10-minute drive east of Tree Top Ranches. You could fit Boise’s Ann Morrison Park into the property about three times.
According to the brochure, buildings that combine elements from classic Kentucky horse farms with “western sensibilities.”
The main lodge, built in 2001, includes a main living area with a vaulted ceiling, fireplace and large windows; a kitchen with breakfast nook; a mudroom and hunting room with a full bathroom; a wooden bar; and an outdoor area that includes a hot tub, fire pit and built-in barbecue.
The second floor includes a master bedroom with a gas fireplace, a separate steam shower and bathtub, three guest bedrooms with bathrooms, an office, gym and laundry room. Every room has a porch, while a dome-like structure on the roof provides 360-degree views.
A nearly 2,500-square=foot “manager’s home” built in 1998 has four bedrooms, three bathrooms and a two-car garage.
“(The property) is among the Northwest’s premier equestrian, sporting and lifestyle properties,” according to the brochure.
About two-thirds of the property is dedicated to cropland, pastures, wildlife habitat, wetland areas and wildlife-food plots, which aid in hunting birds including ducks and geese, quail, pheasants and wild turkeys.
“It transitions between these really well-manicured grounds where the home and barn are located … to really high-quality grow-crop (and) agricultural fields where they produce mostly grain corn,” Jones said. “And then transitioning to these habitat areas.”
The Parma area, Jones said, is a popular destination for waterfowl and upland bird hunters. In the fall and winter, there’s plenty of waterfowl that visit the property.
“(Larry Williams) developed it in this really amazing way,” Jones said. “It serves the different functions, all of which align with his deep-rooted interests.”
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