Wyoming Company Builds Tough-As-Tank Security Gates For A-List Stars

When actor Michael Douglas was looking for someone to build a security gate to protect his privacy at his Wildcat Ranch in Aspen, he found himself making an unusual choice, selecting a little-known company in Cheyenne called Picasso Gate.

Douglas’ team “interviewed me several times for that,” Picasso Gate’s Brent Nichols told Cowboy State Daily. “But they didn’t want to give it to me because I was in Cheyenne.”

Ultimately, though, Nichols made a compelling case for the job. He credits his experience with Underwriters Laboratories Board for Gate Safety, as well as the American Society for Testing and Materials standards for automated gates. 

“They said, ‘Virtually you have more knowledge than anybody else we interviewed,’” Brent said. “We felt we had to give it to you.”

In short, he’s an expert in keeping those unwanted visitors out.

That one job has since led to multiple jobs for other celebrities that he said includes stars like Kevin Costner, Tom Cruise and a whole host of other names Brent and his son Alex Nichols, who is taking over the business, say they aren’t allowed to so much as whisper. 

“We do have a lot of non-disclosure statements we have to sign for the people we work for,” Alex told Cowboy State Daily. “So, we do have some names we can throw around, but a lot of them we just can’t mention.”

Celebrity Word Of Mouth

Picasso Gate does virtually no advertising for its gates but still has more work than it can handle. That’s thanks to celebrity word of mouth, Brent said, customers who are so happy with their security gate they recommend him to other celebrities.

Among Picasso Gate’s most recent security gate jobs was the Governor’s mansion in Wyoming. 

“I’ve worked on the White House when they have problems they can’t figure out,” Brent said. “I’ve flown there to troubleshoot their gates. And we did a vineyard in Virginia a few years ago, not too far from Monticello. We’ve got gates south of Las Vegas, we’ve got them in Jackson, in Idaho, Park City, Wilson.”

Picasso Gate doesn’t have a security gate in every state of the union yet, but the company has done quite a few in other states, from Texas in the south to Montana in the north, and from California in the west to Virginia in the east.

Why Wyoming

Brent moved to Wyoming because living in the Cowboy State had always been a dream. He loves hunting and the great outdoors, and settled on Cheyenne as an ideal location for everything he wanted to do. 

When he opened his security gate business, he decided right off the bat that he would only do 10 to 15 gates a year. It was enough to meet his own retirement goals, leaving the rest of the time for hunting and outdoor fun. But as word of mouth spread about his gates, he found himself turning down more and more work. Even from people like Madonna.

“She’s out in California, and they needed the gate in six weeks,” Brent recalled. “And I said I can’t do it in six weeks. I can start it in six months.”

“But, but it’s Madonna,” Brent recalled them saying. 

That didn’t matter to Brent. After all, he has clients on his list who are just as influential as the Material Girl.

“I told them, ‘You know, it doesn’t make any difference. I just can’t put somebody in front of anybody else. I won’t ethically do that.”

No Cutting Corners Allowed

That ethic also led Brent to turn down a job installing three new White House gates.

“We were one of three contractors who were qualified to do their gates,” Alex recalled. “And the Secret Service came out to vet us. I was a kid at the time. And he turned them down. Said, ‘We can’t do it in your timeframe. We’re not interested.’

“I still, to this day, kick him,” Alex said, shaking his head and adding, “It would have been a great feather in your hat.”

“But how do you do something if you’re already committed to other people?” Brent countered. “And again, that’s where our integrity comes in. We’re not going to push somebody off to the side to try to take somebody that’s more influential than them.”

Besides, Brent added, with a client list like theirs, everyone is wealthy and influential. 

Alex ultimately gets where his dad is coming from, even if he likes to rib him a little about the cool White House job that got away.

“When you do a good job, and you know what you’re doing, people will continue to use you,” Alex said. “And that’s what we’ve built, that’s what I’ve built off of what Brent started for us, by using only top-of-the-line materials, top-of-the-line electronics, top-of-the-line gate operators. We don’t, we won’t cut our price to get a job. If we’re going to do it, we’re going to do it right. No cutting corners.”

Tough As A Tank

As the name would imply, a Picasso Gate is truly one of a kind. Brent chose the name because he wanted to convey that each gate will be a masterpiece in both function and form. Each gate is a custom job, built to the exact needs of the customer.

“We have architects that will sometimes have a concept drawing, and then underneath it, it just says, ‘Gates by Picasso,’” Brent said. “They won’t even attempt to do the level we work at, to design the footers, to design how the gates are going to be put together, and how the construction all comes together.”

Each gate is also made from 100% solid steel. No hollow tubes — not in today’s society where people are willing to crash vehicles into security gates, trying to get inside.

That means each gate also literally weighs tons. One gate on the lot that was getting ready to go out weighed 6,000 pounds in all — tough as a tank.

But lightweight compared to some projects. Alex has put together some gates that weighed as much as 36,000 pounds.

Designer Gates

Just because the gates are solid steel doesn’t mean that these gates lack artistry. 

All of them, to one degree or another, have been designed with pleasing aesthetics in mind. The 6,000-pound gate, for example, was headed to a ranch where it would be allowed to weather naturally — aka rust — to an aged, bronze look.

“It will look like it’s 100 years old,” Alex said.

That’s a technique that really only works in the West, though, Brent added. Try that in the East, and the gate will eventually rust away.

There is a special kind of metal they can buy to do the same thing out on the East coast, though. It just costs significantly more. 

“You sandblast it and let it rust normally,” Brent said. “Once it gets to a certain rusting point, it seals itself and stops. It will never rust again.”

The gates also have custom electronics, with software for gate automation that Picasso Gate writes for the client. 

“That way, any caveat that they have, we can add to that,” Alex said. “Whether that’s to give them notifications, have it do certain things at certain times, and all of that’s done through us. So, instead of having to go back to a manufacturer to ask for something to be done, we can add all of that stuff into our program.”

Picasso Gate’s service also doesn’t end once the gate is installed. They will come fix any gate that’s not functioning properly for their clients. 

See If You Can Pick That Up

On one of the large worktables — which are solid, three-quarter steel plate — lie three steel twigs that weren’t used in a project headed to Aspen. Alex urged this reporter to pick up one of the twigs, to see just how heavy it is.

In fact, the twig was so heavy, it was difficult to pick up. The gates the twigs were meant for had dozens of these heavy pieces, which speaks to just how solid it will be once installed.

The surface of the twig, meanwhile, looked just like bark. And that’s another thing that makes a Picasso Gate special. 

Alex went to trade school to learn blacksmithing, so the company can make just about anything a customer can imagine.

Dragons, horses, wagon wheels, twigs — you name it, Alex can make it.

In fact, when Alex asked his future wife out on a date, he did it with a rose he had welded from metal. And when he asked her to marry him, he welded her yet another flower. She carried these welded beauties in a bouquet on her wedding day.

Alex does keep one of the flowers he welded for her in the office, though, so he can show it to prospective clients, along with other samples of his work.

Cheyenne Will Always Be Headquarters

Alex has also hired a few welders for his team. While his dad only wanted to do 10 to 15 jobs per year, Brent has many years to go before retirement. So he is ramping up the business.

In addition to more welders, he’s opened a field office in Utah, which will focus on crash-type gates for commercial events, to prevent people from running vehicles into crowds of people. 

But, Cheyenne will always be the headquarters, Alex added.

“Because I’m a Wyoming boy,” he said. “People ask me why don’t you just move to Aspen, because we probably have 500 to 600 sets of gates there alone. But there’s no part of me that wants to move to Colorado.”

Cheyenne sits at a cross roads that goes east and west and north and south, giving him easy access to three of his most popular territories — Aspen, Jackson, and Salt Lake City.  

“One of the reasons I love Cheyenne is that I was born and raised here,” he said. “Brent moved here because he loved elk hunting. Well, I love elk hunting and my sons love elk hunting. And, from where I-25 and I-80 merge, I can go any direction to go work that I want to from here.”

All of that makes it the perfect location, Alex said, to keep growing his security gate business to the stars.

Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.