Smile on Spring Creek
Details & Features
Traveling down Highway 290, 10 miles west of Fredericksburg, Texas, it’s impossible to miss the ±124 acre ranch known as Smile on Spring Creek. Instead of an X, 25-foot-tall limestone letters affixed by rebar to a steep berm that spell out SMILE, mark the spot.
The one-of-a-kind property that fronts on Old Harper Road and HWY 290 W provides peaceful, elbow room minutes from Fredericksburg’s charming, revitalized downtown provides plenty of reasons to smile. A rare mix of natural beauty, abundant water, and history with touches of wonder and whimsy exist within its low-fenced boundaries
Acreage & Water
The land, which has been chemical-free and not hunted for more than 20 years, gently undulates. It includes uplands and the deeper richer soil found in the bottomland surrounding Spring Creek and a second unnamed spring-fed creek. Both banks of Spring Creek, one of Gillespie County’s major year-round creeks, run through the property for about 350 yards, so access is completely private.
The unnamed creek is within the watershed of the 2± acre stocked pond. The pond, which is supplied by a strong spring, did not dry up during 2023’s searing drought.
Improvements
The Schneer family settled this land with a one-room rock house in the 1850s. After a Comanche attack destroyed the structure, the family built a one-room wood structure that they lived in until a two-story limestone home was completed in 1904. In 1990, the limestone home was restored and expanded with a 5,000± sqft stone-clad addition that keeps the interior cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Alongside a 300-year-old live oak, the home is embellished with a gingerbread trim, a double-decker front porch and a metal roof that stands as a symbol of resilience.
The home has three to five bedrooms depending on the new owner’s needs. The house is completed with modern amenities, including a spa bath, galley-style kitchen and fireplace with an inset stone, that complements the original floors, beadboard, cabinetry and rough-hewn limestone walls that have stood the test of time. The outdoor areas also feature native materials for the pool deck, retaining walls and picnic area.
The guest houses are a short stroll from the main house and pool.
The Little Rock was constructed from the remains of the original one-room home destroyed in the Comanche raid. The historic dwelling includes a kitchenette and a rock fireplace.
The reconstructed Dog Trot Cabin that provided shelter to pioneers near Brenham, TX in the 1790s features a breezeway that separates The North Cabin, one-bedroom and bath, from the South Cabin, one-bedroom, one-bath and a kitchen.
The Frame House is a one-bedroom, one-bath house that could be repurposed as a private gym or yoga studio, an arts and crafts room or perhaps even a computer or media room.
The property also features a 30′ x 50′ metal storage building and horse stalls for those who enjoy equestrian pursuits.
Texas
Texas is massive, it’s second-largest behind Alaska. Venture from East Texas pines and rivers, to the deserts of West Texas across the sprawling high plains of the Texas Panhandle, the Edwards Plateau, and the Texas Hill Country down into the gulf coast region. With ten natural regions (or ecoregions) there’s an extreme variety in the land and habitat by region. Ranches vary in usage from commercial hunting and exotic high-fenced ranches to large cattle-grazing lands and quail-hunting grounds. With strong tax incentives from agricultural exemptions, one can still see thriving populations of longhorn cattle and well-managed white-tailed trophy deer herds. The Guadalupe Mountains stand at over 8,700 feet above sea level in West Texas, a disrupting site for those who still assume Texas is only a desert flatland. Texas has seen an influx of inhabitants from neighboring states in an effort to take advantage of no state income tax, and the favorable layout of large cities and wide-open spaces. It’s possible to be entirely isolated in many parts of the state while being within a 60-minute drive of a large city, airport, and all the amenities. There’s something beautiful for everyone here, whether it’s hills, mountains, desert, high plains or forest. Whatever view you love, you can find it in Texas.
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