DREAM HOMES, continued

I went to see the final place on the Wimberley Home Tour yesterday morning. This couple had 400 acres right on the Blanco River, with four houses on the property, including one that's at least five or six thousand sq. ft., and it's only a weekend place. Not only that, it's just one of six that they own! Quite an impressive house, but again, hardly a home.

No, the only home that triggered actual lust in me was this one, Hacienda Antepasados. Originally it was built by a woman who did extensive traveling in Mexico, and wrote several coffee table books about its homes. I understand it was on the home tour when she still owned it, but you only got to see a small portion of it, and there was very little in the way of furnishings. She was all about the architecture.

Then along came Ryan Jackson, of Laird Jackson Design House in Austin, the present owner -- a man of very eclectic tastes. He combines talavera tile and rustic wood furniture with violet silk and plexiglass "ghost chairs", and somehow it all comes together. Ever since our time living in Asia, I have been mad about open-air restaurants, hotels and homes such as this, where every room opens to a wonderful courtyard and the sound of water. On this absolutely perfect autumn day, with all the doors and windows wide open and not an insect in sight, it seemed like the most wonderful place ever in which to make one's home. Of course, if I were to be there in August, or on an icy winter's day, where I actually had to go outside to get from my bedroom to the kitchen, I might form a different opinion. But that kitchen. My oh my. I could live in that kitchen.

One of the docents led me to understand that Mr. Jackson actually lives here, but when I was searching the internet for photos, I discovered that it is also a vacation rental, and available for special events. Go here for a sneak preview inside!