Extraordinary estate artfully uniting history, function, and tranquil beauty. Sisterdale Farms is a highly productive 310+/- acre low-fenced, live water ranch located in Kendall County. It is perfectly situated between Boerne and Fredericksburg on Sisterdale Road, just under an hour from the San Antonio International Airport. This showplace of a ranch, set within the rare and beautiful riparian valley of the cypress lined Guadalupe River is bursting with history and culture of days past. Baron Ottomar Von Behr settled here in 1847 and gave Sisterdale Texas her name. Von Behr hosted several distinguished visitors, one of which was Frederick Law Olmsted, an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. Olmsted was recognized as one of the designers of Central Park in New York City. He actually wrote about this Sisterdale ranch, or Texas Latin Settlement...
Extraordinary estate artfully uniting history, function, and tranquil beauty. Sisterdale Farms is a highly productive 310+/- acre low-fenced, live water ranch located in Kendall County. It is perfectly situated between Boerne and Fredericksburg on Sisterdale Road, just under an hour from the San Antonio International Airport. This showplace of a ranch, set within the rare and beautiful riparian valley of the cypress lined Guadalupe River is bursting with history and culture of days past. Baron Ottomar Von Behr settled here in 1847 and gave Sisterdale Texas her name. Von Behr hosted several distinguished visitors, one of which was Frederick Law Olmsted, an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. Olmsted was recognized as one of the designers of Central Park in New York City. He actually wrote about this Sisterdale ranch, or Texas Latin Settlement as he called it, in his book A Journey Through Texas.
The original homestead was brought back to life as it was intended except with a twist, the owners added a full gourmet kitchen, laundry room and two full baths in keeping with the tradition of form, fit, and style to go with the rest of the home. Using skilled craftsmen, the house was taken down to the original paints, varnishes, stains, and flooring dating back to the late 1840s, including the barns surrounding the home. The main residence, both designed and built by Don McDonald in 2015, is perched atop a bluff, nestled into the landscape overlooking a picturesque Coastal field, a stocked pond, the twisting cypress line of the Guadalupe River and the original farmstead. McDonald, an AIA architect based in San Antonio, designs estates that utilize the culture, history, and traditional building materials of the region. Designers such as McDonald, extract real pleasure from both design and construction.
The result is a structure rooted in the land upon which it is built, yet playful and idiosyncratic to the unique needs of each individual. The composition and organization of the house is visually ambiguous, thus allowing for seemingly unintentional romanticism, rendered in a natural and picturesque manner. This home was designed to resemble an old German settlement consisting of three buildings formed into one design. The exterior, consisting of articulated rock work with taunt seams support a field of coarse stone known as Sisterdale Limestone. Hardwood hand split shingles weathered to a silver-grey echo the regions 19th century cypress shingles and sheath roofs. The indoor and outdoor spaces are harmoniously linked, providing for open, modern living and entertaining while allowing for contrasts in scale, intimacy and personality. From the motor court, guests descend to the beautiful front doors that open to one of two long bay loggias looking into and through the exquisite dining room with long range hill country views. The leftwing loggia leads you to the chefs kitchen open to the family room with walls of windows, an underground wine cellar, home office, utility room and two additional guest suites. The rightwing loggia leads you to the beautiful formal living room, library, master retreat, and upstairs childrens wing. There are hand crafted light fixtures, mechanical grilles and hardware throughout the home designed by Dwaine Simpson and Roy Bellows. The hand carved fireplaces and pizza oven constructed by Russ Thayer, adorn the most used spaces of the home to include the master bedroom and bath, dining room, formal living room, and kitchen.
The ranch's one of a kind home also boasts a separate guest house and office with 360 degree views. Sisterdale Farms is currently raising goats and chickens on the farmstead and the hay field can produce 400+ bails of hay per year. The property boasts 1/3 of a mile of the Guadalupe River and come with pumping rights at closing & funding. Exact mineral conveyance to be determined by a title search. This stunning ranch is sure to meet the needs of the most discriminating buyer.
Please contact either Michael Schultz (210-268-8510) or Ashley Robertson (210-601-0021) with any questions about Sisterdale Farms.