Dallas Family Finds Second Home Nirvana in Alpine, Texas Log Cabin

Last week, on CandysDirt.com,  we told you about Albany, Texas, kind of the new Marfa clone only a couple hours west of Fort Worth.

Well, many Dallasites still love the trek to West Texas. Take Tex Gross, Chairman of Commerce Street Capital in Dallas, and his wife, Vaughn. They had been looking for a vacation home for five years in the Ft. Davis/Alpine/Marfa area of West Texas. Finally, they found it in the form of a real log cabin! And isn’t she a beauty? Look at that view! Wait ’till you see the interiors!

Tex had spent six years of his childhood in Ft. Davis and Alpine, where his parents attended Sul Ross State University, and he had never lost his love of the Big Bend area. Tex and Vaughn had rented a house in Ft. Davis for several seasons, but they were ready to make the plunge of second home ownership. After several scouting trips with his interior designer, Dan Nelson of Vision Design, Tex finally hit pay dirt in April of last year. His realtor showed them a 6000 sq. ft. log cabin, with 360 degree views on almost 360 acres, in the exclusive Sierra La Rana estates that overlook Alpine. Together, with Dan, the Grosses came up with a plan of action, a contractor, and a desire for the home to be complete for a family Thanksgiving of 2013.

Here’s what they did, with Dan’s help:  added two bathrooms upstairs, built new stairs to replace the awkwardly pitched existing ones, added wood flooring in the loft and a picture window in the dining room, new appliances, lighting for art, and demolished the dated hot tub. That left a space for a fire pit/patio. Then, they turned to the issue of needing furniture in a hurry.

Dan had been hearing about Dallas’ profusion of good consignment shops and was amazed at what was available. He special ordered some items for the pine retreat, but also found great furnishings at a combination of design center sales, consignment shops and the Dwell with Dignity semiannual pop-up store, where he has been volunteering.

My guest room!

Even though Tex and Vaughn are avid art collectors who had fabulous pieces yet to be displayed, they were so excited about the new west Texas hideaway, they started buying treasures specifically for their Alpine home. Tex describes the result:

“Dan made the place so wonderful, we are either IN Alpine, or THINKING about Alpine almost all the time!” says Tex.

Next stop for SecondShelters: Alpine, Texas!