In The Oil Bust, This Texas Tycoon Sees A Land Of Opportunity

After selling 7 deals in 7 years for $7 billion, press-shy wildcatter Trevor Rees-Jones is better equipped than anyone to pick through the wreckage of the oil and gas bust. 
As Trevor Rees-Jones steps down from his plane, two black labs bound out after him, followed by his wife, Jan, and her terrier. It was a short hop from Dallas to the runway at Cook Canyon Ranch, on 26,000 acres between Fort Worth and Abilene. They have a bigger ranch on 58,000 acres a little farther north, but this one is nicer. Same deal with the turbo-prop they flew in on.
“How ya doin’ ” booms Rees-Jones, 64. “ You like my plane? If I knew you’d be here already I’d have brought the Gulfstream 550.” In voice and manner Rees-Jones is like a more garrulous version of former President George W. Bush, with whom he pals around in Dallas.
We set off in his Ford F-150 to see the sights: Longhorn cattle. Majestic oaks. Striking ravines. A beautiful horse stable that has never had a horse in it (too messy). Atop a hill he is building a castle-size “hunting lodge.” He has populated a 5,200-acre section with African animals, including the antelope-like addax, aoudad sheep and zebras. A 10-foot-high fence keeps them in. We stop at his legendary Party Barn. Built from reclaimed timbers, it features a stage and a long, polished bar right out of Lonesome Dove. Rees-Jones charters buses to bring in hundreds of Dallas friends for concerts at the barn headlined by the likes of Faith Hill and Bon Jovi. For Rees-Jones’ 60th birthday party the Eagles played, and his wife flew in actress Heather Locklear, “my longtime crush,” as a surprise. “Jan got the wife-of-the-decade award,” says Rees-Jones. “Unfortunately Heather had a round-trip ticket.”
The barn, built in 2008, was only the first step. “I had the Party Barn. Then I realized I needed a party patio. Then I got to thinking I might want to have bigger acts, so I had to build a party lawn over there.” Sometimes things get out of hand, like when Jim Belushi and Dan Aykroyd performed as the Blues Brothers. “They loved the ranch so much I had to throw them off the next day.”
Jan Rees-Jones presenting Heather Locklear, a surprise guest at Trevor’s 60th birthday party