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Quiet Country Getaway in Horse County Close to Ocala/Gainesville, Pet Friendly!

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Happy Donkeys ready to meet new Guests!
Living Room/TV Area
Kitchen with all, stainless steel appliances and pass thru window to dining area
Dining Area seats 8
Feeding Our Sheep and Donkeys!

Reviews

10 out of 10
Exceptional
3 bedrooms2 bathroomsSleeps 8148.6 sq m

Popular amenities

  • Kitchen
  • Washing machine
  • Dryer
  • Pet-friendly
  • Free Wi-Fi

Explore the area

View map
Williston, FL
  • Place, O'Neill BOPODO Conservation Easement
    ‪5 min drive‬
  • Place, Cornelius Williams Park
    ‪6 min drive‬
  • Place, Epperson Park
    ‪8 min drive‬
  • Airport, Gainesville, FL (GNV-Gainesville Regional)
    ‪47 min drive‬

Rooms & beds

3 bedrooms (sleeps 8)

Living Room 1

1 Double Sofa Bed

Master Bedroom

1 King Bed

Middle Bedroom

2 Single Beds

North Bedroom

2 Single Beds

2 bathrooms

Guest Bathroom

Soap · Towels provided · Bathtub · Toilet · Shower only · Shampoo · Hair dryer

Master Bathroom

Soap · Towels provided · Bathtub or shower · Bathtub · Toilet · Shower only · Shampoo · Hair dryer

Spaces

Deck or patio
Porch or lanai
Kitchen
Separate dining area
Outdoor play area
Garden
Dining area

About this property

Quiet Country Getaway in Horse County Close to Ocala/Gainesville, Pet Friendly!

Little Ridge Ranch is located on a quiet country road lined with majestic Oak trees in the Marion County Farmland Preservation Area close to nearby natural springs and rivers, the World Equestrian Center and HITS. You will enjoy a blend of rustic charm and modern comfort, a getaway for nature lovers, families and groups looking for a quiet escape. Be sure to check our reviews, we are a VRBO Premier Host and more than 25% of our stays are repeat guests!
Our guests also enjoy visiting the nearby Rainbow River for kayaking and tubing as well as Devil’s Den and Blue Grotto for snorkeling and SCUBA. Maybe you would like to see/and or ride Elephants? Two Tails Ranch is an elephant rescue that has elephants and many other animals and is just a few minutes away.
We have 2 homes (some call them luxury cabins) on opposite sides of our 10 acres. As you enter the front gate and drive up the winding path through the pine trees you will find East House on the left. It has a huge screened front porch with its own dining table and gas grill. The porch is cooled by decorator ceiling fans for comfort on even the warmest days while enjoying the view.
The fully equipped kitchen has all wood cabinets, stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. There are ceiling fans throughout the home. There is a separate laundry room with Washer/Dryer and utility sink. The dining table seats 8 and the living room has a large screen TV with Sling TV and any streaming services you want to use. There is also a skylight in the living room that you have to see to believe.
Enjoy the firepit with Adirondack Chairs for stargazing and the pool with composite deck and chairs which is great for cooling off on a hot afternoon or enjoying a cocktail at the end of the day.
In addition to the pool and exploring the property, we provide balls, board games and frisbees. There is also a Foosball table, horseshoe pit and hook and ring game. Kids as well as Adults will enjoy our donkeys, sheep, and chickens as well as our neighbors’ cattle and goats. Please feel free to walk and explore the property (just be sure to close the gates when entering and leaving the pastures or paddocks).

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10.0 out of 10, Exceptional, (2 reviews)
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House Rules

Check in after 3:00 PM
Minimum age to rent: 25
Check out before 10:00 AM
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Children

Children allowed: ages 0–17
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Events

No events allowed
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Pets

Pets allowed: dogs and cats less than 23 kg per pet (limit 2 pets total)
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Smoking

Smoking is not permitted

Important information

You need to know

Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed
On-site parties or group events are strictly prohibited
Long-term renters welcome
Host has indicated that there is a carbon monoxide detector on the property
Host has indicated that there is a smoke detector on the property
Safety features at this property include a fire extinguisher and a first aid kit

About the area

Williston

Located in Williston, this holiday home is in a rural area. Micanopy Historical Society Museum and Florida Museum of Natural History are cultural highlights, and some of the area's attractions include Petting Zoo Ocala and Kanapaha Botanical Gardens. Travelling with kids? Consider Thomas Center, or check out an event or a game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
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Map
Williston, FL

What's nearby

  • O'Neill BOPODO Conservation Easement - 5 min drive - 1.9 km
  • Cornelius Williams Park - 6 min drive - 3.2 km
  • Epperson Park - 8 min drive - 4.9 km
  • HITS Post Time Farm - 14 min drive - 15.1 km
  • Devil's Den - 14 min drive - 10.5 km

Getting around

  • Gainesville, FL (GNV-Gainesville Regional) - 40 min drive

Restaurants

  • ‪McDonald's - ‬7 min drive
  • ‪Circle K - ‬7 min drive
  • ‪Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen - ‬7 min drive
  • ‪Hardee's - ‬7 min drive
  • ‪Sister's Place - ‬6 min drive

Frequently asked questions

Does Quiet Country Getaway in Horse County Close to Ocala/Gainesville, Pet Friendly! have a pool?

Yes, this property has an outdoor pool.

How much does it cost to stay at Quiet Country Getaway in Horse County Close to Ocala/Gainesville, Pet Friendly! ?

As of 28 March 2026, prices found for a 1-night stay for 2 adults at Quiet Country Getaway in Horse County Close to Ocala/Gainesville, Pet Friendly! on 17 May 2026 start from NZ$372, including taxes and fees. This price is based on the lowest nightly price found in the last 24 hours for stays in the next 30 days. Prices are subject to change. Choose your dates for more accurate prices.

Is Quiet Country Getaway in Horse County Close to Ocala/Gainesville, Pet Friendly! pet-friendly?

Yes, this property allows cats and dogs (limit 2 total) with a maximum weight of up to 23 kg per pet.

How much is parking at Quiet Country Getaway in Horse County Close to Ocala/Gainesville, Pet Friendly! ?

On-site parking is available at the property.

What time is check-in at Quiet Country Getaway in Horse County Close to Ocala/Gainesville, Pet Friendly! ?

Check-in begins at 3:00 PM.

What time is check-out at Quiet Country Getaway in Horse County Close to Ocala/Gainesville, Pet Friendly! ?

Checkout is at 10:00 AM.

Where is Quiet Country Getaway in Horse County Close to Ocala/Gainesville, Pet Friendly! located?

This family-friendly Williston holiday home is located in a rural location, 2.8 mi (4.5 km) from Epperson Park, and within 9 mi (15 km) of Devil's Den and HITS Post Time Farm. Petting Zoo Ocala and Kanapaha Botanical Gardens are also within 20 miles (32 km).

Reviews

10

Exceptional

Reviews are presented in chronological order, subject to a moderation process, and verified unless otherwise labelled.
Learn moreOpens in a new window
Rating 10 - Excellent. 32 out of 34 reviews
Rating 8 - Good. 2 out of 34 reviews
Rating 6 - Okay. 0 out of 34 reviews
Rating 4 - Poor. 0 out of 34 reviews
Rating 2 - Terrible. 0 out of 34 reviews

10/10

Cleanliness

10/10

Check-in

10/10

Communication

9.8/10

Location

10/10

Listing accuracy

Reviews

Verified

10/10 Excellent

Shauna G.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Great Location to HITS

Very clean, quiet spot with all the amenities.
Stayed 3 nights in Mar 2023
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Dora S.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

DS Williston Stay

Home was clean and comfortable for our stay. Property Managers were a delight to work with and very supportive.
Stayed 9 nights in Dec 2024
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Jacob G.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Great spot!

The stay was great! Very clean and comfortable. The hot tub was awesome! I would definitely stay here again.
Stayed 3 nights in Feb 2023
Verified

10/10 Excellent

lindsay h.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Horse show stay

Great place! Roomy!
Stayed 13 nights in Feb 2024
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Sharen

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Loved the house and the animals. Wally, the cat, became part of our family during our stay.

Excellent!
Stayed 7 nights in Feb 2023
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Holly S.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Review

Very family friendly and I loved being out in the country.
Stayed 3 nights in May 2023
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Caitlin S.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Perfect !

My husband travels to Williston for work every year and there aren’t any hotel choices . This house was perfect ! So clean and we will use again for future work trips!
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2024
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Donald K.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Awesome Property

We had a great stay, property was everything it said it was. Quiet country property, animals were great, especially Wally the cat. Quite the personality.
Stayed 3 nights in Mar 2023
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Megan N.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Softball retreat

We stayed here during a softball tournament in Newberry. It was only 30 minutes from the fields and offered the perfect retreat between/after games. The property was so clean, open and the perfect relaxation after a long day!
Stayed 4 nights in Jun 2023
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Hyla S.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, listing accuracy

Just what we were looking for

The house was very clean and perfect for what we wanted. The street the house is on is a little rough....that being said we were 5 minutes from our friends' house and the overall experience was great!
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2023
Verified

10/10 Excellent

JOANNA R.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Better Than Described

This home was so comfortable with space for 13 for Thanksgiving dinner. Spotless and well equipped. Host even dropped off a roasting pan for us to use. Lovely peaceful location. We will be back!
Stayed 5 nights in Nov 2024
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Paola V.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Wonderful

Amazing property, very comfortable and clean house, beautiful animals, excellent location. Great for family time. We loved everything! We will be back! Thank you!!
Stayed 4 nights in Nov 2022
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Christine H.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Peaceful and Beautiful

This was an amazing stay. We would recommend it to anyone who wants a break from the hectic world to relax in peace. Our children loved the donkeys. The nearby springs are beautiful. Williston had a fun 4th of July parade, festival, and firework display we were able to attend. All around it was a lovely 2 weeks.
Stayed 13 nights in Jun 2022
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Paola V.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Second time at the property and love it!

We came for the second time to this amazing property. We had a wonderful family time, enjoyed the calm, the animals, the view, the firepit and the pool. Very well mantain property, it offers everything we need, excellent communication with Dennis and we made new family memories. We will come back again!
Stayed 4 nights in Jan 2024
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Lacie S.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Peace and Quiet

My family decided to take a last minute trip before school starts. We needed some peace and quiet and found it! We were only 25 minutes from any of the springs or big attractions we wanted to experience, but still had the quiet country setting and home like feel. Even though there was ample WiFi, my teenage kids went outside... together...and enjoyed the pool and feeding the animals on the farm. The tub in the primary bathroom was wonderful after a morning of zip lining with the kids too! We love to visit this area and will definitely be back to stay in this house. We stayed in the East House.
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2025
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Tosha M.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Weekend trip!

We stayed here to attend the Backwards K softball tournament. The location was perfect, an easy drive to the fields for the games. The house was wonderful, clean and the kids loved the chickens, donkeys and the cat. The pool was nice to cool off after the long hot days. I wish we could have stayed longer, to explore the area more as there are many springs nearby.
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2023
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Jucimara K.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

It was a very unique weekend

Imagine staying at a very peaceful place with the people you love the most . Running after the chickens , having fresh eggs every morning for breakfast. Beautiful sunrise and sunset . Peaceful place
Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2020
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Thomas H.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location

Nice place to get away

The property was a great place to get away and forget about the fast paced life of our daily grind.It was just not evident by the wording of the add that the pool and the fire pit area were to be shared by both of the houses on the property
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2023
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Great spot

Place was perfect for our combined scuba group of about 12 people in the two houses. Clean and updated. Everything worked as expected. Dennis was great to work with.
Stayed 3 nights in Mar 2023
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Michael G.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Quiet getaway

We stayed her for my daughters graduation from UF. It’s about a 20-30 minute drive to the school but traffic is nothing. This place was super easy to check in. House was cleaned and well stocked with linens and kitchen stuffs. My kids really enjoyed the donkeys that live on the site, but they are very quiet neighbors. Definitely keeping this place in my favorites to stay again. Highly recommend.
Stayed 5 nights in May 2024
Verified

8/10 Good

DENNIS J.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Farmland tranquility

We enjoyed the animals and the nearby springs. The well did run dry while we were there but they did get it fixed the same day. There were donkeys, sheep, a very friendly cat, and some cows.
Stayed 5 nights in Apr 2023
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Katherine P.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Peaceful country life!

Such a great stay in spite of the deluges of rain. Who cares when you are surrounded by beautiful quiet countryside?! Dennis is a great host. Responds immediately to our phone calls, etc. Had never been to Williston before and now I find myself wanting to possibly live there. Great proximity to all that Gainesville has to offer: Starbucks, Whole Foods, CycleBar, etc. The house was clean and well laid out. Loved having a full-size washer and dryer; so handy! Would we stay there again? YES!! 👍😊👏👏👏
Stayed 10 nights in Mar 2022
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Kathie N.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Fantastic VRBO Experience

We had a terrific experience staying in Little Ridge. We stayed for three weeks and had everything we needed. The bathrooms, beds and kitchen were nice and well appointed. Dimmable lights were a nice surprise. The gate added extra security, which we appreciated. We were only about 10 minutes from HITs and about 20 from WEC, so it was very easy to travel back and forth. The internet worked very well unless you're working on the back porch. It works but is a little weak. Lastly, we enjoyed being able to go out each day to visit the animals.
Stayed 21 nights in Jan 2023
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Maggie C.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Quiet ranch a slice of heaven in the country

Was a bueatiful property filled with the most adobe farm cat and up I’ve ground pool and most well kept cows, sheep, and chickens on property. The East house was well stocked with everything we needed and well kept with various sets of information 2 sets of twin beds very count couch and smaller couch with large tv and seating porch outside and large master suite. The only complaint I had was the twin beds closet to bathroom were a little hard, so some of my friends had a hard time sleeping. And I wish there was a way to create more privacy when sitting out on porch as there is direct sight for both guest houses. I would definitely stay here agian very close to various attractions and things to do on and nearby property and host was very knowledgeable about the various activities and workings of property. And most of all we will miss Willy the cat, who came to join us throughout our time on the property. We hope next time to rent both guest houses and the price was very reasonable for medium groups for a weekend getaway.
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2023
Verified

10/10 Excellent

Sharon C.

Liked: Cleanliness, check-in, communication, location, listing accuracy

Loved our stay

We had a relaxing time at the East House. Dennis was very welcoming and available to answer questions about the area. Loved the animals, especially Wally the cat!
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2022

About the host

Hosted by Patty and Dennis Shannon

Host profile image
We are Patty and Dennis. We are transplants from Fort Lauderdale and we purchased Little Ridge Ranch in January of 2019, totally renovated the entire property, and hosted our first guest in August of that year. We live in Ocala and we are happy to share any information about the local area, attractions, restaurants, etc. with our guests. We are accessible by phone, text of through the VRBO portal anytime. We really enjoy hosting, proud to be Premier Partners with VRBO and also Superhosts on other platform and we have had many happy guests since 2019.

Why they chose this property

There is a lot to do in North Central Florida, Kayaking Rainbow River, Snorkeling at Devil’s Den, Scuba Diving at Blue Grotto, tubing the many springs and rivers, Zip line at The Canyons, Horseback riding, etc. The University of Florida at Gainesville. The major cities of Gainesville and Ocala are close as are the World Equestrian Center, HITS, and much more. (When they say that Marion County is The Horse Capital of the World, they aren’t kidding, most people have no idea how true that is). We have created a custom interactive Google Map with many of the nearby attractions pinpointed so you can click on them for the website, descriptions and contact info. Just ask us and we will be glad to provide.

What makes this property unique

Our guests come from all over and one of the things they say when visiting North Central Florida for the first time is something along the lines of “It’s a whole different world here” and they never knew existed.

Languages:

English, Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese

Premier Host

They consistently provide great experiences for their guests
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