Legendary heart surgeon Denton Cooley's Cool Acres is up for sale

ORCHARD, Texas (KTRK) -- The Brazos River retreat owned by the late heart surgeon Dr. Denton Cooley, is now up for sale.

The property, now known as Cool Acres, was purchased in 1958 as a vacation home for the Cooley family.

There are five homes on the property and a pond named "Lake Louise" after the surgeon's wife.

In addition to being a vacation home, the ranch served as the site of the annual St. Luke's Family Picnic for many years.

Starting in 1960, Dr. Cooley invited St. Luke's Episcopal's doctors, surgeons, nurses, residents and their families to Cool Acres.

"It was always a funny cast of characters, but there would be volleyball games, softball games, barbecue and fireworks - just an afternoon of everybody relaxing, drinking beer and Cokes and just having fun," daughter Susan Cooley told TMC News. "Dad always thought that people who worked together ought to know each other personally and play together."

Cooley, the founder of the Texas Heart Institute, died in 2016.

The large 406-acre compound can be yours for $7.3 million.