Our story begins in 1898 with Tilly and William Braxton Barr, who originally built our historic farmhouse for their family to live in, after purchasing 223 acres of land formerly known as Sprinkle, Texas - which included a post office, churches, a school, and a railroad station. The town remained active until the 1930’s and eventually was absorbed into the growing city of Austin.
The Mansion remained a home for the Barr family throughout the century, unfortunately eventually falling into disrepair. When I came across it in 1981, I knew with every fiber of my being that this was the right property to pursue my lifelong dream of renovating a historic building. Years of construction and hard work while raising my own family in the Mansion, turned into a passionate life in the events industry as Austin began to discover and share my love for this hidden gem. I started out doing all the cooking for guests myself, but through the years an event staff was hired and the space slowly developed into the majestic three buildings and gourmet kitchen we party at today.
While the Mansion has stood strong for over 100 years, a true piece of Texas history… we didn’t stop there. In 2000, we added an 18th century Artisan Ballroom to the property - shipped piece by piece from New York, because I knew Austin would share my love of huge glass windows allowing for guests to feel like they were outside, inside. Some of the barn timbers were trees when Christopher Columbus arrived in America, adding even more history to the property.
And in 2014, we added the farmstead – which is the latest renovation on the property, a modern take on an open-aired pavilion, and allows our guests even more options to use the sprawling grounds and gardens in various ways.
I’m fiercely proud of our roots, and of where we’ve come from - I look forward to sharing my life’s passion with you.