When she was growing up, the Boss Lady's parents owned a home with rolling lawns, a pasture, and a barn. Marilyn started keeping her own horse when she was in 7th grade, often riding it to school. Now, she has a remuda of 20 horses, several colts, 36 long-horned cattle at last count (the darn things just keep multiplying), numerous pigs, goats, chickens, and a very friendly turkey named Giblette, plus the able staff to support them - all at Sandy Valley Ranch.

In 1997 Marilyn bought 110 acres of mesquite and joshua tree-covered range and began to carve SVR out of the hidden valley formed by the graceful mountain ranges that guard the entrance to the Las Vegas Valley. At the time, her attorney and fellow horse fancier, Al Marquis, had invested in Sandy Valley and offered her a chance to buy in. "When, I drove over the Columbia Pass into Sandy Valley to look at Al's property I knew: This was it. The whole place reminded me of the western spirit of my childhood," she concludes.

Once SVR was christened and mapped, Including a Piute Indian "smudging" ceremony to encourage good spirits, The Boss Lady and her team started construction, leveling the desert, hauling in gravel, installing power, water and telephone lines. Construction began on April Fool's Day, 1999 - a date whose irony is not lost on any of The Boss Lady's quirkier friends. SVR opened for business officially in February, 2000.

SVR is a family affair. Her daughter and part owner of the Ranch, Laura Dahl, is a women's clothing designer and has recently moved her business from New York to Los Angeles. She has sold her couture collections under the name Wifebeader and Laura Dahl to stores such as Bloomingdales, Anthropologie, and Nordstroms. In addition to designing she now authors a life-style blog called www.Dahlight.com. She is back in Nevada often, and trades her Prada and Manolos for Levis, spurs and the official blue denim of SVR.

Laura's husband, Timothy Dahl, created the original SVR website and has gone on to produce the sites of This Old House, Elle Decor, Metropolitan Home, and Woman's Day. He is also the founder and editor of Charles & Hudson, a premier DIY home renovation site. He has now expanded his business to include web optimization for medium sized companies.

And Matthew, the Boss Lady's 29-year-old son, enjoys a career as a filmmaker/photographer and actor. His credits include the character Nico in Wes Anderson's "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and "RV" with Robin Williams. For all the Chipmunk fans, he is the voice of Simon. He is a supporting actor in "500 Days of Summer" the Sundance winner that premiered in the summer of 2009. He can be seen every week at 9 p.m. Pacific Time on CBS' "Criminal Minds." playing the character of Dr. Spencer Reid. Matthew wrote, directed, and produced music videos for the song Reagan by Whirlwind Heat, and the Killers' 2008 Christmas video, both of which were filmed at the Ranch. His artistic touch is also seen in the "Horse Sense" safety videos shown to all who ride at the Ranch. For more on Matthew, check out his websites at www.matthewgraygubler.com, or www.gublerland.com.

"That's Matt just to the right of Bill Murray's head."