Six months ago David and Bex Hale were exploring the back roads of Wimberley helping Bex’s parents in their search for acreage in the Texas Hill Country. Checking the map, seeing that they were on Lone Man Mountain Road…close…ever so close to a property she had seen on the Internet, Bex said, “We’re so close, I have to show you my fantasy home.”
Tucked away down a narrow dirt road amid a sea of wildflowers sits Wolf Creek Ranch; an eleven-acre-world of ancient wood, creaking windmills, a vine entwined green house, stacked stone fences, lush gardens, giant agaves, a sparkling pool, an outdoor fireplace, a spacious cabana, two miniature donkeys and a docile old horse. Along with all of this, there are two wonderful homes…and more. The showpiece home was created out of an 1820’s log barn from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, that at one time sheltered Confederate soldiers as they slept.
Seeing it in person, Bex was hooked; so was her husband David. The thought running through Bex’s head was…We have to find a way to make this happen…but being a young couple with a baby on the way, Wolf Creek Ranch had not been part of the plan. However, upon returning to Abilene, Bex and David sold Bex’s retail furniture store and interior design business, packed up their belongings and headed toward their future.
Along with an assortment of furniture, Bex brought her talent and imagination as a designer to Wimberley, transforming a log cabin into a mélange of shapes, textures, color and styles. Walk through double tiger oak doors into a world of eclectic charm. The rough hewn logs of the exterior are repeated in each room, while the corrugated roof from the original barn lines other walls. With this interior backdrop of reclaimed rustic, a midnight blue upholstered couch is complimented by wheat colored faux silk draperies that soften the space while adding height and width to antique windows. Unexpected bling adds a touch of whimsy in the form of an oversized silver-leafed antler chandelier, while modern bentwood chairs are at home around a large circular hammered-copper dining table.
The headboard in the master suite — two-hundred-year-old faded turquoise massive hand-carved church doors from Guadalajara — are balanced by a silver-leafed gnarled-sequoia-wood side table, contemporary leather stools, and two art deco turquoise upholstered side chairs sitting on an acid washed, silver flecked cowhide throw rug. The stars of the attached bath are a copper double slipper tub with a nickel interior and a soaring circular walk-in shower. The twin master suite on the opposite side of the great room has another creative headboard in the form of a six hundred pound rusted iron gate. The yin of distressed-chic versus the yang of modern-chrome accent pieces round out all of the rooms.
At a right angle to this unique residence, separated by a sparkling blue pool and hot tub, is another home equally charming, dramatically decorated, and surrounded on all four sides with an expansive wrap-around porch with multitudinous places to sit, relax and absorb the bucolic magic of Wolf Creek Ranch. Seated on this porch, holding two-month-old baby Lulu, Bex explains how she and David were able to make their dream of a fantasy home come true. Looking to the future, they decided to share their space by utilizing the antique log cabin as a permanent vacation rental, with willingness on their part to rent out the entire property if the opportunity or need arose — which gives credence to the Latin phrase aut viam inveniam autfaciam — I'll either find a way or make one. Bex and David did both.
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