A SUCCESSFUL Texas-based architect, Christy Blumenfeld had long intended to draw up her own plans for a vacation home on the banks of A Cedar Creek Reservoir, located about an hour from where she lives in Dallas. But years passed, and designing houses for clients kept getting in the way. Finally, her daughter took action and cold-called a real estate agent about touring a property. "She set up an appointment for us," says Blumenfeld with a laugh. "I told her I'd go, but I wasn't invested. I knew in my core that one day we would build a home for ourselves."
True to her word, Blumenfeld was prepared to keep her nose in a book on the day of the tour. But as soon as the agent steered them through the gates of the ranch, the idea of constructing a new build from scratch suddenly lost all its luster. "We were on this winding road through the woods. Then there was a clearing, and two horses came into view along with a giant spinning windmill, this incredible house, and the lake beyond that," Blumenfeld says. "We immediately started screaming."
While it was definitely love at first sight, two big coincidences made finding the property (which includes the spacious, guest-ready main house plus a boathouse and a barn) feel like kismet. “It turned out that Robbie Fusch, the architect who trained me for 10 years, designed this place," she explains. And once they walked inside, some very special artwork caused a full-on triple take. A decade before, Blumenfeld's husband had gifted her a Laura Wilson photograph of a cowboy's hand holding spurs. "It looks like my dad's hand. Laura printed only a dozen in that size," she says. "And there, hanging over the fireplace, was another one. That's when we knew this was meant to be."
CREATIVE HAVEN
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 2023 من Southern Living.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 2023 من Southern Living.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Forging a Legacy - A Fredericksburg, Texas, couple is creating a new class of heirloom cast-iron cookware
When Jay Mallinckrodt pitched the idea of crafting cast-iron cookware to his wife and business partner, Heather, in 2020, she was hesitant. I immediately said no, she recalls with a laugh. But I finally agreed as long as we made something that we would actually want to use ourselves. Like many others during the initial throes of the pandemic, their multigenerational family operation, Heartland Enterprises (which specializes in machining parts for jet engines and gas and oil equipment), was seeing a lull. “No one was flying; no one was drilling, says Jay. So we had time to try something different.
A Butterfly Haven - In the Texas Hill Country, a conservationist is helping monarchs adjust to the changing world
Twenty-four years ago, Monika Maeckle bought a small property on the Llano River in Central Texas as an escape from fast-paced San Antonio. A journalist and marketing professional by trade, she didn't at first realize the value of the location on which she and her husband would later build their ranch. She also had no idea how this decision would eventually transform her life.One October evening a few years later, a friend invited Maeckle to their nearby house, which sat on a watershed with several large cypresses. All these butterflies dropped from the sky and started to gravitate toward the trees, she recalls. Stronger people who could swing a big 12-foot-long pole began trying to capture them, and we waited. By the end of the evening, we'd tagged a couple hundred butterflies, and I left there enchanted.
Oktober Feast!
While I respect your right to serve spooky food in October, you won't find any gory grub at my house this month. Instead, I'm hosting a gathering that's inspired by biergartens across the pond. The focus of the menu is a fondue made with Gruyère cheese and crisp Riesling-like beer-cheese dip but more elevated. It's served with a smorgasbord of dippers such as smoked sausage, grapes, apples, and a few amped-up store-bought snacks, like Mustard-Glazed Pretzel Bites and Smoked Paprika Potato Chips. (Just one taste, and you'll want to add this spice to every bag you open.) Pour yourself a Cider Shandy, and get ready for a good time. Prost, y'all!
The Roast With the Most
Embrace the changing seasons with a cozy pork supper
Roll With It
Company's coming? Bake a batch of these apple-stuffed delights
VIRGINIA PASTORAL
IN MIDDLEBURG, THE COMMONWEALTH'S MOST STORIED SMALL TOWN, OCTOBER WELCOMES A HOST OF TREASURED TRADITIONS
TAKING ROOT
Turn the season's freshest veggies-beets, parsnips, sweet potatoes, carrots-into colorful fall sides
THE FAMILY PLACE
When it came time for a young Georgia couple to make an 1800s farmhouse their own, they took it apart piece by piece-then rebuilt it into a home ready to welcome the next generation
Loving Life in Fayetteville
This Northwest Arkansas college town is easy to love and hard to leave
The Road That Raised Me
This lesser-known drive offers the most breathtaking views in the Smoky Mountains
