Muleshoe Heritage Center - Janes Ranch House

Janes Ranch House

Next to the visitor center is the large John N. Janes ranch house, which was purchased in 1915 for $2,763.53 as an Aladdin mail order (or kit house) and shipped to Muleshoe via rail. The house, which has a full basement and two complete stories, was built for Janes’ bride, Anna, whom he met in Kansas City, Missouri. The house had steam heat, electricity, the previously unknown luxury of two bathrooms, and running water provided by a windmill. On the second floor is a ballroom, presumably to permit Anna to hold grand parties for distant ranch families. The basement housed Janes’ office, a game room, steam boiler, coal bin, fireplace, and even a laundry chute.

On September 8, 1914, Anna gave birth to a daughter named “John Ann”. One of the upstairs bedrooms was made into a nursery. In October 1918, Anna died of influenza, which struck much of the post-World War I world at that time. In 1919, Janes sold his cattle and leased his 52,000 acres (210 km2). For a time, he kept the ranch house for use in the summers.