Rustic Elligence on a Working Ranch Vacation Resort With Lots of Water

Check out the Riachuelo Ranch video Web Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiJGE3-UyOY and our web site <www.riachueloranch,com> Also note that we have another vrbo listing , (our Lodge )Property #573890. The Creek House is Rustic Elegance in Serene Seclusion with plenty to do and see. All very well furnished with more than you would expect to find in a five star hotel. Not just clean sheets soap and towels, but a kitchen pantry with and utensils that you would find in your own home. Just bring groceries and enjoy life. If you do not find what you need, just ask the owners and they can probably fill your request. For even larger families and gatherings check out expanding to include our Lodge (Property # 573890) Outside, we have a fire ring on solid rock alongside the creek with plenty of fire wood. There is plenty of seating on the patio as well as Lazy Boy chairs and dining on the deck. Naps anyone? Or just read from our large library or chat and listen to the waterfall and watch the children play in the creek. Then there is WiFi and CDs, but who wants to be inside? The Creek House has recently been renovated and decorated in the Western Style. It has three bedrooms each with its own bath. Two bedrooms are located at opposite ends of the living area. The master bedroom has a King Size bed and the other bedroom features a Queen size Sleep Number bed, each have easy chairs and ample storage and closets. The private Studio suite is just across a carport and has a queen size Sleep Number bed and a set of bunk beds. Kids of all ages will love this hideaway setup. The spacious living/dining area has a rustic fireplace built of stones which were gathered off the ranch and there is plenty of firewood and comfortable seating. The dining table seats eight easily. and there is a four place round table just across the room that the kids may prefer. There is a spacious shaded deck that overlooks the creek with a walkover bridge in a stone dam that backs up a small lake which flows out in a stepped waterfall. On the deck there is a gas brazer for outdoor cooking as well as a table and a number of chairs. There is a large flag stoned creek side patio right alongside the stream. The ranch is our yard. We have 1200 acres that include woods and meadows and cliffs and canyons, a rock strewn spring fed stream with a number of lakes to explore. Animals abound and bird watching is one of our favorite sports. The hunting blinds are fed year around and just sitting in one of them in the evening and watching the deer of several species come feed is a rare treat. The wild turkeys roam at will and in the early spring they put on a real show. We have hunters that occupy our Lodge in hunting season. The Lodge is a quarter of a mile upstream. The hunters are here mostly on long weekends in November and December. They also come up to just visit and tend the feeders at a dozen blinds about every six to eight weeks and are just like part of our family. The Lodge (Property # 573890) is rented out for most of the year. Check it out if you need more space for a large group. There is a first class shooting range with target boards at 5, 25, 50, 100 and 200 meters where visitors can sight in their guns or just try their hand at pistol, rifle or shotgun skills. We discourage plinking around in the pastures. The naturally stocked lakes and ponds yield up plenty of fish. Black bass are put back if they are under 11 inches or over 15 inches. We are sure that many of the over 20 inch long bass have been caught a number of times. Eat all of the mid-sized bass, catfish and bluegills you are skilled enough to catch. This is a hiking and bird watching enthusiasts delight. Don't forget to bring your cameras. You will want to take lots of pictures. If you care to check out the Hill Country and the inclination, there are looping drives that you can take through the Hill Country back-roads and along the North and South forks of the Guadalupe River. Each little town has its share of unique eating places. In the spring wild flowers abound. Most people stay right here on the ranch. Shoppers may want to explore quaint old Fredericksburg which is less than an hour away. The land that is now Riachuelo Ranch was first settled by the Byas family thus Byas Springs and Byas Branch. We are told that their homestead porch rested on the rock walls that enclose the spring by the Lodge. There are still traces of midden rock in the area that attest to the fact that this spot was once an Indian tribes kitchen. The land has been passed down through many hands before ours. In 1988 Bernard ended a five year Odyssey of sailing the high seas and came home to the Hill Country of Texas. He purchased parcels of land over the next three years totaling a little over 1,200 acres. A wild fire roared through the area around 1965. Where this fire swept, a swath of half burned cedar with a thick regrowth of sumac and cactus evolved. The rest of the land was covered with cedar and more cactus. The first ten years were spent first studying what was to be done with this tangle of unproductive and mostly impenetrable land and then clearing the land in a premeditated sculpture leaving enough cedar brush for the wildlife to have cover and habitat and enough open space to grow the grass and leafy plants to feed them plus some domestic animals. Over the years a hunting lodge and two very nice homes were built, one by the creek and one on top of a high bluff overlooking several lakes. Limestone cliffs give birth to natural springs that are the source that feeds the lakes and three thousand feet of lovely shaded stream through the ranch. Byas Branch flows on beyond our place into Johnson Creek and on to the Guadalupe River. The property is divided into seven pastures designed to accommodate the handling of livestock. Over the years we have had sheep, horses and cattle but now we confine our livestock efforts to the raising of a clean line of badger faced black Spanish goats that are sold mostly to ethnic markets for their meat. There is a horse ring, corral and tack room where guests can keep their horses between long rides through miles of woods and meadow land and be with nature to their hearts content. Then there are many who will enjoy just hiking or riding their ATVs. A major portion of a lifetime has been devoted to making this into a place of natural beauty and now we want to share it with you. Help us by picking up every scrap of man's litter that you may come across, and be sure that you leave nothing behind. Enjoy every minute of your stay.