The Flat Creek Ranch is located northeast of the town of Jackson at the southern base of Sheep Mountain, also known as the Sleeping Indian because of its appearance from the west, at an altitude of approximately 7500 feet. While Cal Carrington had homesteaded and built structures at the Flat Creek Ranch sometime between 1901 and 1918, the current buildings date from the 1923 construction when Eleanor ''Cissy'' Patterson (at the time Countess Gizycka) took ownership of the property and developed it as a private retreat. The Flat Creek Ranch is significant because its origins and development reflect the settlement and social development of Jackson Hole. By following the history of the Flat Creek Ranch, the various contexts of local development--early settlement, dude ranching, the emergence of hobby ranches and retreats by outside owners--take a concrete form. The ranch formed a representative and key determining element in transforming Jackson Hole from an isolated ranching valley to a haven for outsiders, especially for the nation's elite seeking remote sanctuary.