The property offers diverse possibilities: corporate retreat, eco-tourism, private ranch estate. Or development potential with density for 55+ homes.

I’m guessing that the assumption is that the condition of the extant houses is immaterial, ergo, no photos.

Not sure if I should repeat myself and risk repeating myself,

?

Gist of it was that farming on the San Juans seems to be mostly small-scale production intended for (relatively) local consumption — island residents and chi-chi Seattle restaurants.

And, I think those animals are alpacas, not llamas, and being raised for their wool. Googling* “llama farms, San Juan Island” only brings up results for alpaca farms. Honestly, I can’t tell the difference comparing the photos. Llamas are supposedly bigger than alpacas, but… Need a banana for scale.

*Duck Duck Going, actually. Not a Google fan.

Although… I suppose if you were really bad they’d just turn and walk away… right after “making a deposit.” LOL!

“As for the “awkwardly staring cows…” Hey, it’s what they do.”

Yes! Classic! I have been known more than once to stop as I pass pastures near my house and deliver what I think must be humorous monologues to the cattle there. My sideways reasoning is that they look to be paying attention.

I’m with Frodo on this one – bringing in supplies and sending off product must be a real b*tch. Unless it’s a small operation and there are butchering/rendering facilities on-island, that is. Granted, it’s a 55 square mile island with around 7000 inhabitants, but with a rainy climate I can’t see successfully containing either manure or slaughter run-off if this is a major operation. Sorry to be graphic, but these things have to be considered in ranch country.

Now if they were dairy cattle most of the the issues would diminish significantly, but you’d still have problems with manure run-off. I dunno though, folks up that way seem to be a lot better at the organic thing than folks here in Kansas. Maybe they’ve got this figured out already. Crop and pasturing rotation seems to be a lost art, but maybe not so much on an island. Maintaining a closed ecosystem and all that.

Wish we had more images of the houses and other structures. I do like the feel of the barn space pictured, though I’m not sure about the rough-hewn tree trunk columns. Besides uneven moisture content if they haven’t been kiln dried, they also have a variable center mass, which isn’t optimal for carrying heavy loads predictably. There may also be a worrisome hint in the last, “October Farm” image; the dinner bells are rusted and there are some loose shingles on the facade. Maybe nothing, but hard to tell without more detailed images. (Gotta say, it’s kind of reassuring there are places the Google streetview car hasn’t gotten to… yet.)