The History of COD Ranch

Oracle is a small Arizona mountain town dating from 1880. The land where the C.O.D. Ranch resides was once Native American territory. The land was homesteaded on the late 1880’s by Frank Daily, he and his 13 children ran large herds of cattle. The name C.O.D. is believed to stand for Come On Down.

In the early 1927s the ranch was sold to Bill Huggett. This ranch, as well as the other ranches in the Oracle area, was a working ranch, complete with many head of cattle and the cowboys and ranch hands to run such a large operation. After Mr. Huggett's death in the late 30's, his wife, Elna, continued to run the ranch for 10 years before selling. However, she retained the portion known as C.O.D. where she lived until her death in the early 1990's. The Huggett's daughter, Wilma lived on what was a portion of the C.O.D. ranch until her death.

In 1996 Steve Malkin found the Historic C.O.D. Ranch in a state of “groaning disrepair”. Steve purchased and restored the Historic C.O.D. Ranch, which is now a premiere southern Arizona retreat and special event center.

Our Main House was built in the early 1920's and is still a remarkable example of the ranch architecture of that day. Our Bunkhouse and Barn are from that same period and over the years several casitas have been added to house our guests.

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