In addition to a family inheritance, Patrick Henry Moellendorf—named after his grandfather, Henry Theodore Moellendorf—purchased a portion of the ranch from his aunt, Connie Schladoer, in 2017 and began developing what is now known as Tres Molinos Ranch & Resort. Patrick’s passion was to create a place where “families from the city, who might otherwise never have the opportunity, could experience a country lifestyle on a real working ranch.” The development includes the home known as “The Ranch House” where Patrick and his family currently reside, a beautiful event center, three luxury B&Bs, a regulation-sized arena, and a barn.
To honor the grandmother he loved so dearly, Patrick named the entry road to Tres Molinos “Wanda’s Wish,” a lasting reminder that family is at the heart of the ranch.
Some history on Wanda and The Ranch:
Wanda’s grandfather, John Klaehn Sr., migrated from Württemberg territory Germany in 1893, following and settling near his friend, Mr. Adolf Filter and his four daughters. John began purchasing land in Harper, TX, with a little over 200 acres in 1899, 365 acres in 1901, 320 acres (which is currently a game reserve), and the final 640 acres in 1924. Although 20 years her elder, John picked one of the Filter girls, Mary, who was “qualified to marry”. John and Mary had 9 children; Wanda’s father, Karl Klaehn, was their oldest boy.
Karl married Wanda’s mother, Lina Lange, in 1926 and later purchased the 1 section of land (640 acres) that Wanda grew up on, now known as Tres Molinos, from his father for $9,000 in 1929. Karl cleared the land and built them a barn, a house, and an outhouse, now known as the “old homestead”, which still stands today.
Wanda was one of 3 siblings, and they all had chores to do after walking home each evening from school. They grew vegetable gardens for their food “right over there behind the old house” which consisted of cabbage, beets, okra, beans, and tomatoes. Irish potatoes were planted in the field along with the crops to feed their animals as well. Wanda recalls that they weren’t worried about the deer eating up the gardens because “there weren’t many deer in those days”, but she does remember turkeys being plentiful back then. Part of their chores included taking care of the Angora Goats they raised. Wanda remembers using paint to mark numbers on the “Nanny” and their matching “Kid”. If a kid tried to nurse and the nanny wouldn’t let it, then they knew it was not the kid’s mother and they had to go looking for the mother. Although they didn’t worry about coyotes in this part of the country back in those days, they knew the nanny could get into trouble or disoriented and could not be left to wander around. They would place the kids in “those old traps over by the old house across the road.” Those traps still exist and are in use today. They also had milk cows and, according to Wanda, “milk equated to money.” They used a hand-cranked “milk separator” to make cheese, butter, and cottage cheese. But you won’t ever catch Wanda eating Yogurt…Ever! Her father and her brother used a combine to work fields of wheat and oats, and shelled corn with a hand-crank sheller until her father purchased a corn shelling machine.
When asked about parenting and “punishment” back in those days, Wanda enlightened us quickly, noting that “A hand on the backside can cover a lot of territory.” She regards her mother as a remarkable seamstress. Everything was sewn with a foot-pedal sewing machine or by hand. Wanda’s talents are equally as remarkable, although she accepts compliments with a shrug, followed by “Mother inspected every stitch…it better be straight, or you ripped it ALL out and started over.” The Klaehn kids were raised in accordance with “do your best, complete your tasks, and nothing less.”
They had their coldest winter in 1948-49. The trees were a sight with all the ice, and they were without power for two weeks. Not to worry, Wanda said, they just returned to the good old days of kerosene lanterns and firewood. “It wasn’t a big issue; we just cooked on a wood stove and were nice and warm too.” One good thing, they thought as kids that winter, was that with the heavy rains, they couldn’t get to school as the Doss Rd ruts were too deep.
Doss Rd or 783 that you see right here at the entrance of Tres Molinos, was a one-lane dirt road until the 1950’s. Wanda’s father, Karl, had the Doss-Harper mail route in the 40’s & 50’s. He drove an old Model A car with no rumble seat. There were many flat tires and a lot of gates; this was before cattle guards were installed. Wanda believes that the electricity that was brought in around 1935-36 was probably the biggest change in her lifetime.
Wanda was 5 years old when she attended the old “pocket school” where 1st and 2nd grade students were together. There was a bus…of sorts. It didn’t have heat or air conditioning, pretty much a “raggledy-shaggle” bus with seats along the outer walls and one row down the center. She was in 3rd grade when the school was later consolidated to Harper School.
Wanda met her husband (Patrick’s grandfather), Henry T. Moellendorf, at the age of 13, when the “Moellendorf Boys” came to work at the ranch shearing Mr. Klaehn’s sheep. She remembers feeding the workers lunch by “serving up one of the older hens that didn’t lay any more” along with some fresh vegetables from the garden. One of Wanda’s chores was to clean up the mohair (wool) and keep it out of the way while the Moellendorf boys were shearing the sheep. Wanda lovingly recalls the time when she bent over to gather some mohair off the floor, and young Henry Moellendorf whacked her on the behind with the heavy shearing handle, “and…. that was that!” she says. Wanda and Henry began dating, attending dances in Luckenbach, Spring Creek, and Caines City. However, they “weren’t allowed to go to Mason nor London dance halls”. After five years of dating, they became “of age”, married, and had two children, David and Connie.
A memory that Wanda recounts is, back in the late 60’s she and Henry were working at their locker plant business when they were informed that “there were people up on the hill “, where the B&Bs are now located. Henry promptly went to investigate, but was unable to get any sensible information from the gentleman whom he encountered. After some time, he was told that the FBI had discovered that the place on that hill was a vantage point to monitor an airplane that was trafficking drugs west toward Kramer Rd.
Wanda’s mother passed in 1967, and when her father’s health began to decline in 1975, he “gift-deeded” the property to her and her two siblings.
Keeping the ranch’s family heritage strong, Wanda’s son, David Carl Moellendorf, is the current and acting Consultant for the ranch while his son, Patrick Henry Moellendorf, is the current Owner/Operator of the ranch now known as Tres Molinos Ranch & Resort.
Guided by his vision of welcoming guests from near and far, Patrick remains dedicated to preserving the ranch’s rich family history.