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Kevin Fowler’s Rustic Ranch | Wimberley, Texas

Kevin Fowler’s Rustic Ranch from Altared Weddings on Vimeo.

What started as a hobby evolved into what you see today at the Ranch. Outside of the normal routine of touring and writing music, Kevin collects and restores buildings that have a unique history. Each structure has been carefully crafted back to a state which honors its history and location. Everything on the Ranch has a story that we are anxious to tell people about. We stay busy making sure that bits of history don’t get lost to a landfill and in the process give something back to everybody that comes through our gates. It’s this level of care that ensures that each person we get to share this with walks away with a personal experience that can’t be found anywhere else in the Hill Country. That’s why we tell people that we are real Texas country.

“Kevin Fowler never ceases to amaze us… it became clear that his passion for music and historic buildings have collided in a new project that folks in Central Texas will no doubt be crazy about.” – Sandra Greaney, Country Line Magazine

“All these buildings roughly surround the intended site of the marriage ceremonies, smartly positions in a natural amphitheater of sorts.  Was it ever intended to be a fans-only business? ‘No.  It’s for everybody.’”    –  Houston Press

“It’s a perfect representation of an old rustic Texas ranch. The location is a peaceful country setting…NO highway noise. Guaranteed to have beautiful hill country sunsets. Unending opportunities for photography. A fantastic place for weddings or just about any other gathering you might have. This place is really AWESOME!”         – Wimberley View

For the Texas belle who prefers a little glamour with her grit, a rustic wedding without some sophisticated sparkle simply will not do…the concept was fittingly brought to life at country crooner Kevin Fowler’s Rustic Ranch. Dotted with sprawling centuries-old oaks and outlined by Loneman Creek, the newly opened 130-acre ranch is home to a 19th-century cabin, a restored farmhouse, and an authentic Texas dancehall that calls for a twirl-worthy dress…”  –  Lauren Kathryn, Swooned Magazine

Animal Kingdom: Planning a Log Home for Jack Hanna

Tiny Houses, Tiny Homes, Tiny House Plans, Small House Plans, Micro Home Plans, Micro House Plans, Tiny Home Plans, Tiny House Builder, Tiny Houses Dallas, Tiny Houses Austin, Tiny Homes Builder, Small houses, Small Homes Builder, Small Luxury Homes, Little House Plans, Little HomesA love nest with southern charm and pioneer panache for famed TV host Jack Hanna.  Tiny Houses, Tiny Homes, Tiny House Plans, Small House Plans, Micro Home Plans, Micro House Plans, Tiny Home Plans, Tiny House Builder, Tiny Houses Dallas, Tiny Houses Austin, Tiny Homes Builder, Small houses, Small Homes Builder, Small Luxury Homes, Little House Plans, Little Homes

It’s a zoo out there. And no one knows this better than globetrotting syndicated TV-show host Jack Hanna, who spends his days in the wild exploring nature’s beasts.

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Love Nest
Measuring just 760 square feet, this jewel box of a house was designed for maximum fun in minimal space.

It’s a setting that easily sleeps (and feeds) four. Dubbed Elk Cabin for its location on an old elk farm, this mini-getaway is so sweet and secluded that Jack sometimes calls it “The Honeymoon Suite.”Tiny Houses, Tiny Homes, Tiny House Plans, Small House Plans, Micro Home Plans, Micro House Plans, Tiny Home Plans, Tiny House Builder, Tiny Houses Dallas, Tiny Houses Austin, Tiny Homes Builder, Small houses, Small Homes Builder, Small Luxury Homes, Little House Plans, Little Homes

Southern Charm
Part of what makes Elk Cabin so romantic is its air of authenticity, modeled after log homes that Jack remembers as a kid in Tennessee. There isn’t a lick of drywall in the guest cabin—just 8-by-12-inch white pine logs from Idaho and a few touches of fragrant juniper with purple and red undertones.

For timeless appeal, the crew minimized reminders of the modern world without eliminating any creature comforts.For timeless appeal, the crew minimized reminders of the modern world without eliminating any creature comforts.

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“We hid the TV, refrigerator, dishwasher and all the electrical work behind custom panels designed to match the cabinetry,” says friend and builder Randy Baker.

Outside the cabin sits a true piece of history: a covered wagon (built by one of Jack’s close friends) that was driven hundreds of miles for the Treasure State’s 1993 centennial celebration.Tiny Houses, Tiny Homes, Tiny House Plans, Small House Plans, Micro Home Plans, Micro House Plans, Tiny Home Plans, Tiny House Builder, Tiny Houses Dallas, Tiny Houses Austin, Tiny Homes Builder, Small houses, Small Homes Builder, Small Luxury Homes, Little House Plans, Little Homes

Source: Animal Kingdom: Planning a Log Home for Jack Hanna



Sting’s Home : Architectural Digest

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The musician Sting was on tour in Mexico when his wife, actress and film producer Trudie Styler, called to tell him that she had found the perfect house. “He asked if I liked it,” Styler remembers. “I told him I loved it. He asked why I wanted to buy it. I gave him a lot of reasons. There was silence. Then I told him that there was a three-hundred-and-fifty-year-old tree in the garden. ‘Buy it,’ was the quick reply.”

That ancient copper beech is now one of his favorite retreats. He disappears often. A fugitive look comes to his eyes and he’s off, guitar in hand, to the shade of that tree, to a hammock in the boathouse or cushions in a bay window, in search of a little solitude where he can “read or meditate or think or maybe not even do that,” always working out the music that is on his mind.

“Writing songs is a solitary business,” he says. “I like having people around, I like the house to be alive, and I’ll be sorry when the last builders go, but there’s always Sartre’s definition of hell. I can disappear in a house like this.”

From the solitude of songwriting to the final recording and editing in the studio he has made in the dining hall, Sting’s music is now a product of Lake House, the residence in Wiltshire that he and Styler have created. All the songs for his last album, Ten Summoner’s Tales, were written and recorded here. “Fields of Gold” was inspired by his love of the surrounding fields and the wildflower meadow beside the house. His next album, which will be released this spring, was also written and recorded at the house. Call it a cottage industry of sorts.

sting's music room

And that’s only part of what goes on at Lake House. Styler has her office here, and the couple’s four children, Mickey, Jake, Coco and the new baby, five dogs and uncounted cats find their territory everywhere else. One day Styler is working on a scene for the first feature film she produced, The Grotesque (which she also stars in, with Sting); the next day musicians and technicians are arriving to rehearse for Sting’s latest tour. One night it’s a celebration for the cast and crew of her film; the next it’s a birthday party for a gang of five-year-old pirates.

Never a dull moment, but, as Styler says, “If it all happens here, then we’re all here too.”

Getting themselves all in one place wasn’t easy. Moving around had become a habit. Sting, who was born Gordon Sumner, grew up in Newcastle, and as a boy he accompanied Beatles records on a guitar abandoned by an uncle. He became an English teacher by day, played in local jazz clubs by night and acquired his nickname the night he wore a yellow-and-black striped sweater. There was time on the road in the late 1970s and early 1980s when he was lead singer and bassist for The Police, then more touring when his solo career took off later in the 1980s and travel to locations for acting in such movies as Plenty and Stormy Monday.

See More At: Hollywood At Home: Sting : Architectural Digest