Bacon pays sizzling $175 million for ranch

Maybe the housing market isn't tanking after all. Hedge fund manager Louis Bacon, head of New York-based Moore Capital Management LLC, last month bought the Forbes family's Colorado ranch for what is believed to be the largest sum ever paid for a home purchase in the United States: $175 million. The Forbes Trinchera ranch covers more than 250 square miles in remote southcentral Colorado and is the state's largest privately deeded ranch. It includes three 14,000-foot-high mountains and one of the state's largest elk herds. The property was purchased in 1969 by magazine publisher Malcolm Forbes, who used it to entertain guests. According to published reports, Mr. Bacon plans to use the ranch as a seasonal retreat.