La Casa del High Jinks

The Ranch's area was called Campo Bonito and mostly populated by mine (gold, silver, other ores) diggers. The property still contains deposits of black diorite.[2]

In 1912, Buffalo Bill Cody and his foster son Johnny Baker established High Jinks as a gold mine and ranch; it is unknown which of the two came up with the name. Cody visited a cabin at the ranch until his death in 1917; however, the mine produced little gold, and Cody never saw a return on his investment. The High Jinks Gold Mining Company failed to pay property taxes on the mine for several years, resulting in its seizure by Pinal County in 1921; the county then sold the property to the State of Arizona.[3]

Lewis Claude Way purchased the property from the state in March 1922. Way was a Spanish–American War veteran and a U.S. forest ranger who served as superintendent of both Rocky Mountain National Park and Grand Canyon National Park; he was also a friend of Cody and Baker. With the help of his wife Marie Burgess Way and Mexican laborers, Way built the two-story ranch house over the next few years, completing it circa 1928. The Ways moved into their new house upon its completion; Baker and his wife Olive lived with them until Baker's death in 1931, after which Olive only lived at the house part-time. Lewis died in 1944, and Marie sold the property the following year, after which it passed through several different owners.[3] The original fur sheathing on the ceiling and walls of the family room and master bedroom were covered by pine paneling in 1964.[3]

According to Harold Bell Wright in his book The Mine with the Iron Door (1923), Johnny Baker used stulls found in surrounding mines to build the Ranch's juniper wood carvings.[2]

The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 16, 1996.[1]

For three decades and until 2007, the estate was owned by E. Dean Prichard who preserved it and contributed to the launch of the Arizona Trail.[4] E. Dean Prichard built the archway (porte-cochere) leading to the Ranch during the 1980s.[2] He also added a carport, a tackroom/entry/storage building, stables, a ramada, and the four rental structures, three of which are small, frame houses and the other being a mobile home. Inside the house, E. Dean Richard added stairs to the 3rd floor[3]

The house was abandoned up until 2010 when Dan Blanco and his wife Laurel Wilson purchased it and followed on its renovation until his death in 2016.[4][5]

La Casa del High Jinks is approximately 51 feet by 31 feet, 30 feet high. The foundation consists of granite and concrete walls.[3]

La Casa del High Jinks is an example of the Pueblo Revival style, a reinterpretation of traditional Pueblo architecture which was popular among white settlers in the Southwest in the early 20th century. The Pueblo Revival style, along with Mexican-inspired styles such as Spanish Colonial Revival, came to define regional architecture of the era. The two-story cube-shaped home was built with granite and wood, both of which were collected from the ranch site. The house features massive stone exterior walls with projecting wooden vigas, a characteristic element of the Pueblo style; other Pueblo elements of the house include its flat roof and wooden lintels. Later owners built several modern structures on the home site, including a carport, stables, and rental properties.[3]