Rancho de Vida

10/30/2024

We're so happy to sponsor Lights Spectacular TX - Hill Country Style this year! It is truly an amazing holiday light display and festival and makes for great photos! The light switch goes on the Friday after Thanksgiving with a street fair and fireworks.

🐴 Hats Off to Rancho de Vida! 🐴

A big thank you to Rancho de Vida for helping make our Lighted Hooves & Wheels Parade a true highlight of Lights Spectacular! 🚗🐎 Your support allows us to bring this beloved tradition to the streets of Johnson City, lighting up the night with festive fun.

10/13/2024

Congrats to such a lovely couple, Jason and Courtney who tied the knot at the ranch last night on a beautiful Fall evening. Here's to many years of happiness together and thanks for sharing your special memories with us!

Photo credit: Portraits by Riley Avery.

09/30/2024

The ranch has the nicest, cutest lawn maintenance team! I mean, who smiles when weed-eating?? When our lawn crew wasn't available to come out, ranch frequent flyers Robbin Robertson Polter and Lisa Bailey Radebaugh generously jumped in and helped get the place in shape for three October weddings and a retreat. You. Are. The. Best. And thanks to neighbor Brenda Stone for the great handy guy referral and support. 🤠 Lucky us to have such great people in our orbit.

09/18/2024

This year, many couples have and will tie the knot at the ranch--in October alone, we will host three weddings. Here are some beautiful pics shared by Kara and Jacob, from their special wedding weekend at Rancho de Vida in March. We wish you a life full of love and adventures, Kara and Jacob!

The nice part about having your wedding at the ranch is you don't have to rush to set up and break down. The ranch is entirely yours for a weekend or longer. And, it's a beautiful blank Hill Country canvas to paint your dream wedding vision on. For more info, give us a holler at [email protected].

Photo credit: Mary at South Oak Photography www.southoakphoto.com

09/12/2024

We love full-circle stories. Like Dia, who is marrying Sean at the ranch this October. She grew up spending summers at the ranch with her siblings. You see, her grandparents owned and stewarded this beautiful place for nearly 30 years. Dia's family would fish in the creek, make crafts, ride horses, and go for outings in Johnson City. Throughout those three decades, the ranch was the site of numerous family gatherings full of aunts, uncles, cousins, laughter, and good food.

"To this day," Dia shared, "the smell of bacon in the morning takes me straight back to mornings at the ranch with Gram, my grandmother, cooking a full-on breakfast downstairs in the kitchen. One of my fondest memories is reading books at night with my mom in the quiet country summers, windows open, with only the crickets singing in the background."

Dia and Sean both work in construction and met on a project a few years back. And the rest is history. We are thrilled you can bring your family back to your special place and tie the knot. Here's to many years of happiness Dia and Sean! 🩵

09/01/2024

Thank you Ann Kasper for this gem and reminder. Can your soul use a reset this Fall? Rancho de Vista and Mary Pat Mueller is hosting the 4th Soul Reset women's retreat on Saturday, October 26th. Think Oprah Super Soul Sunday meets TED Talks. Seven inspiring speakers, activities, and connections. Learn more and save your seat at www.ranchodevida.com/retreats

08/16/2024

Some recent guests spent four days soaking in the Texas Hill Country at Rancho de Vida. Thank you Steenken Abraam and Avery for these beautiful pics! Ya’ll come back now, hear? 🤠

06/12/2024

Some ranch 🐐 goodness for your day. This Summer and Fall, we have some visitors from a nearby ranch—six cute female kids goats are staying in the barn pasture so they can be separated from the herd’s billy goat until they are old enough to be nanny goats. 🐦 🐝 Meet Hilda, Chloe, Latte, Mocha, Velvet and Tillie and their owner, Brenda Stone, the GOAT 🐐 farmer. Brenda actually grew up on the ranch and has great stories about the place and its history. She now lives over yonder with her herd. If you see her feeding her kids at the ranch, she’ll let you experience goat goodness, too.

06/03/2024

The ranch had some very special guests this weekend—Girl Scout Troop #9695 from Corpus Christi. They kicked off their summer there, gathering with their moms. Girls will surely change the world and we salute this fine group of young women.

05/03/2024

Did someone say pickleball? We've got your court. Play in the day, play in the shade. Paddle at night, it's got lights. Paddles up p-ballers!

04/22/2024

It’s Earth Day. There’s no sappy card, no anthem to sing, just a longing to hear our collective heartbeats in its rhythm with momma earth, loving her back. 📷 Wes Taylor

04/17/2024

Ode to the Outdoor Shower

There are showers we take that are routine,
Just a thing we do to keep us clean.
But showering outside,
With the breeze on our hide,
Whistling a tune, taking in the moon,
Leaves our souls refreshed, too.

Thanks to Lawrence Nourzad, Angela Hontas and Darrell King for creating this cool gabion (rock-filled cage) wall outdoor shower at the ranch. Using cow panel, metal 4 x 4s, and rocks from the ranch's creeks it's a clean treat for our guests.

04/03/2024

Meet the newest ranch improvement, the Solarium (sounds like a room from the board game Clue, but nothing will vanquish here except your stress). We enclosed the breezeway to add another indoor lounging area. Put your feet up and catch a movie or game on the big screen TV while still in nature’s hammock. It’s got a bar and dining area, and lots of space for hanging out. Big thanks to our neighbor Myron Uecker who made the beautiful pecan slab dining bar. Myron actually grew up in the farmhouse, lives nearby now, and makes sigh-worthy custom wood furniture. And, mil gracias to for the great millennial Loteria art piece! Booking now for summer at www.ranchodevida.com. 🤠

03/04/2024

We tackled some ranch improvement projects these last three months. First up to share is the kitchen makeover. We bumped out the kitchen space and…guitar strum, please…added a dishwasher, finally joining this century in labor- (and water-) saving devices. New cabinets, bigger stove and new fridge and microwave, and the dining room area got its own facelift. This 1906 baby is loving its refresh. Up next—an outdoor shower redo that will have you rolling in some barnyard leftovers just to try it. 🤠🐮