AGENCY, MISSOURI
Off-grid ranch stay on 30 acres near Kansas City
Pause and reflect.
Thirty acres of pasture and ponds, about 45 minutes north of Kansas City and 15 from St. Joseph. Solar and geothermal, mostly off the grid, tech-free on purpose. A working grassfed Scottish Highland beef ranch, and a whole lot of quiet.
Every room has its own bath with a heated bidet and 36-inch doorways, and the lower level is zero entry, so everybody can get where they're going.
The Ranch
This place
Thirty acres, stocked ponds, and Scottish Highland cattle
The ranch runs on solar and geothermal, so the power and the heat come off the sun and the ground. There is no television in the guest rooms and nothing to plug into. Selah means pause and reflect, and the place is built to do exactly that.
Outside there are stocked ponds, a bonfire pit ringed with limestone boulders, an eight-person hot tub, and a Traeger pellet grill and smoker. The Scottish Highland cattle are grassfed and this is a working beef ranch, so they are not scenery. Guests share a full kitchen.
It sits about 45 minutes north of Kansas City and 15 minutes from St. Joseph, where the Chiefs hold training camp.
30
Acres
3
Rooms
10
Sleeps
36"
Doorways
Off the grid
Sun and ground
The ranch makes its own power.
Solar overhead and geothermal underneath. There is a meter, and the ranch runs on a net metering plan that uses the utility as its battery, so there is no wall of batteries waiting to fail in ten years. The only utility bill of 2026 came in February. It was $50, and that covered both residences. The geothermal loop sits at the bottom of the pond nearest the house, which is the one pond Brad will ask you not to bottom fish. One load of propane a year keeps the floors warm on the cold days, and the array will charge an EV on 220 volts if you need it. What it does not run is a television in your room, because there isn't one, and there is nothing to plug into. That was the point. Brad and Lorie cleared this pasture themselves and bought the ground in 2010. They lived in a camper, then in the garage, while the house went up around them, and the array on the hillside behind the lodge is part of that same stubbornness. Off the grid here does not mean roughing it. The water is hot, the floors are warm, and every room has its own bath. It means the place makes what it uses, and that the quiet you get at night is the real thing rather than a setting somebody switched on for you.
What you get
Outside and in
The hot tub, the ponds, the fire, and the cattle.
The eight person hot tub is the thing guests write about most, and it sits on the covered patio looking down over the ponds. Down the hill are two stocked ponds holding bass, bluegill and crappie, and people fish them and kayak them all summer. There is a bonfire pit ringed with limestone boulders, a Traeger pellet grill and smoker, and a full kitchen, great room and sun room you are welcome to use. There is a complimentary wine and coffee bar as well. The cattle are yours to feed while you are here. We supply the alfalfa cubes, you stay on your side of the electrified fence. Bring the dog. Check in is at three and check out is at eleven, and nobody will hurry you in between. There are board games in the great room for the evening the weather turns, and thirty acres to walk when it doesn't. Guests kayak the ponds right through the summer. What there is not is a television in your room, or much reason to look at your phone, and most people who come here say that took about a day to stop noticing and then became the whole point.
The place
Have a look
Thirty acres, as it actually is.
After dark
Eight of you
The hot tub is the thing guests write about.
It sits on the covered patio looking down over the ponds, and it runs all year. One guest called it brand new. Marissa, October 2025.
The covered patio
After dark
“Hot tub and complimentary wine and coffee bar they provided was amazing after our trip we had on motorcycles to Lake of the Ozarks!”
Kevin · Ivanhoe, Minnesota · September 2025
Getting around
Everybody
So everybody can get where they're going.
Every doorway on the place is 36 inches. The Queen Room on the lower level is zero entry, no steps at all, and the gravel parking runs level right up to it. Upstairs is one 8 inch step, and Brad will put a ramp on it if you ask him. Every room has its own bath with a heated bidet. Most places this pretty will not tell you any of that, which is exactly why it is here.
Rooms and Rates
Three rooms
The Rooms
You come in through the foyer, warm and woodsy under its arched knotty pine ceiling, and Lorie keeps fresh cookies on the center table. Every room has its own private bath with a heated bidet and 36-inch doorways. Rates are per night.
Book Now adds a 3% booking fee. Book Direct by phone, pay by Venmo, no fee.
Book Now adds a 3% booking fee. Book Direct by phone, pay by Venmo, no fee.
Book Now adds a 3% booking fee. Book Direct by phone, pay by Venmo, no fee.
Book Now adds a 3% booking fee. Book Direct by phone, pay by Venmo, no fee.
The Owners
Forty years
Brad and Lorie
Brad and Lorie met in a statistics class at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and have been married more than forty years.
They grew a dairy farm from 80 cows to 500 and came through a personal bankruptcy on the other side of it. They bought this pasture in 2010 and cleared it themselves, bit by bit. The family lived in a camper, then two years in the garage, while the house went up. They still keep a bedroom here with its own private entrance, and when somebody takes the whole house they move over to another residence and leave it to you. Selah means pause and reflect.
Reviews
Their words
What guests say.
4.90 out of 5 across 6 reviews on the whole house. Queen Suite 5.00, West Wing 5.00, East Wing 4.95.
Vrbo Premier Host · Airbnb Superhost
“Selah Hills Ranch is a place you need to experience. Not just a review to look at and pass up. It’s truly a piece of heaven on Earth.”
Rhonda · June 2026 · 5.0★
“We had 8, 13-15 year old girls with us. A glowing screen was rarely seen. Conversation, laughter, and memories were the attention getter.”
Ruth · May 2026 · 5.0★
“The cows are so fun and give this rental something that you just can’t get anywhere else. The hot tub seems brand new and is so nice.”
Marissa Eastling · October 2025 · 5.0★
“This is such a wonderful place and the owners have been great to deal with.”
Jane · May 2026 · 5.0★
“Brad and Lorie went out of their way to make our stay very memorable. Brad was very hands on and even helped out with some local knowledge while fishing in his stocked pond.”
Doug
“Such a lovely stay. My favorite part was seeing the cows they had, his favorite part was the hot tub. Brad was very kind, responsive and we felt very welcomed.”
Annalise
“Wonderful host! We only stayed one night but plan on returning. The home is beautiful as is the property it’s on.”
Carrie
“Selah Hills Ranch is a place you need to experience. Not just a review to look at and pass up. It’s truly a piece of heaven on Earth.”
Rhonda · June 2026 · 5.0★
“We had 8, 13-15 year old girls with us. A glowing screen was rarely seen. Conversation, laughter, and memories were the attention getter.”
Ruth · May 2026 · 5.0★
“The cows are so fun and give this rental something that you just can’t get anywhere else. The hot tub seems brand new and is so nice.”
Marissa Eastling · October 2025 · 5.0★
“This is such a wonderful place and the owners have been great to deal with.”
Jane · May 2026 · 5.0★
“Brad and Lorie went out of their way to make our stay very memorable. Brad was very hands on and even helped out with some local knowledge while fishing in his stocked pond.”
Doug
“Such a lovely stay. My favorite part was seeing the cows they had, his favorite part was the hot tub. Brad was very kind, responsive and we felt very welcomed.”
Annalise
“Wonderful host! We only stayed one night but plan on returning. The home is beautiful as is the property it’s on.”
Carrie
Book a Stay
Selah
Come Stay
Three rooms with private baths and 36-inch doorways. $125 to $175 a night, or $375 for all three.
6777 Monroe Rd SE, Agency, MO 64401