Share. He started his career working for the Lone Star Gas Company. And he managed to build and landscape some beautiful facilities. About us. Lajitas is mentioned extensively in Red Dirt/Texas Country artist Wade Bowen's song "Day of the Dead" recorded in October 2017. Shes quieter than Tinsley but on the same page. [13], In 2007, he co-founded an independent record label, Music Road Records, with Jimmy LaFave and Fred Remmert. models. Weve had the best year weve ever had, said Beasley. In mid-October, Lajitas was back up for sale. They died. [8], He lives in Preston Hollow, Dallas[5] on an 8+ acre estate on Park Lane valued at more than $30 million. There were weeks of discussion leading up to the 13-1 Council vote on September 5, 2017, ending with it being taken down and stored. 21701 FM 170, Lajitas, Big Bend National Park, TX 79852-5015. wonder at the house, garden, stones and path running down to the river. Lajitas Golf Resort now offers regular charter jet flight services out of Dallas, Austin and Houston. Later, after as the horse became integrated into the Apache and Comanche culture, these nomadic tribes frequented the area, causing the Spanich to set up a series of Presidios and military colonies, one of which, San Carlos, lies 18 miles south of Lajitas. The resort is currently owned by a group of investors led by Bob McNair. If youre traveling on the cheap, that could make a funny story. The woman, and, for that matter, all of Terlingua, was offended. I think he was just writing checks.. RV park, where he says it used to take a $100,000 membership to stay. Megan's Dog Adventures. old-world bar, 92 luxury rooms and Mayor Clay Henry, a beer-drinking
Lajitas Texas activities designed to keep your family as busy as it wants to be. Young as he was, that was surprising, so when he returned, I asked him how somebody with such a hard time getting around wound up in a job as physically demanding as carpentry. In Rexs time Lajitas consisted of the trading post and an old cavalry post that was used as a hunting lodge, and Rex met Mischer when he came out for deer and dove hunts. Voted #4 Course You Can Play in Texas Golfweek Magazine. In nearly every article on Lajitas that ran in the early Smith years, he gave some variant of a quote he gave to me. [5][24] He also owns an 8,000-acre ranch near Cherokee, Texas,[5] the 20,000-acre Lajitas Golf Resort and Spa in Lajitas, Texas,[25] and a private island near Roatn, Honduras. Lajitas Golf Resort and Spa 100 Main St, Terlingua, TX 8.2 Very Good 608 reviews How we verify reviews 10 - Excellent 273 8 - Good 206 6 - Okay 78 4 - Poor 39 2 - Terrible 12 8.7/10 Cleanliness 8.6/10 Staff & service 8.0/10 Amenities 8.0/10 Property conditions & facilities 8.2/10 Eco-friendliness 8/10 Good Christopher Jan 5, 2023 Fly Direct to Lajitas from Dallas or Houston. when Houston real estate developer Walter Mischer Sr. first conceived a
The second day was to be spent on the Ambush, the only course Smith ended up building. The place seemed to be about three stars shy of the target, fine for the desert but not for the price. He restored the community in 1976 with his corporation's subsidiary, Arrow Development Company. Wild West-style complex in the area where Gen. John "Black Jack"
On Friday morning, after eating breakfast and making sure the
for your away-from-it-all adventure. Due to the closing of the Terlingua quicksilver mines, the number of residents in Lajitas had dwindled to four. When Lajitass marketing team suggested that all the resort needed to take off was a visitor with A-list celebrity credentials, one Tom Cruise or Tiger Woods, Terlingua just laughed. Farming along the narrow floodplain of the river served to bring in more families, and by 1912 the town had a store, a saloon, a school with fifty pupils, and a customhouse. Some other rich guy desiring a private playground. Projects were undertaken with designs drawn over lunch on place mats. The resort couldn't turn a
The name comes from the bars design, a dug-out cave/mineshaft, and it has always had a more permissive atmosphere than the rest of the area. You could get a six-pack of beer or a spark plug for a live chicken. "This thing is so beautiful, and there's nobody here.". Hitting golf balls can be frustrating and it often feels like youre never making any [], Do Golf Balls Float? This is a question that has been asked by many people and it is a very valid question. When the mines in nearby Terlingua closed in the 1940s, though, Lajitas also became a ghost town, with an estimated population of 4. He then sold the land to Thomas V. Skaggs, who became successful in the Lajitas Wax Company, which sold candelilla wax. About 10 minutes later, Ms. Ryan appeared down the road, clad
Lajitas, he hopes, may have another life yet. The 11th Bomb Squadron operated from Marfa Field along the Rio Grande to El Paso.[14]. He also hosted monthly dances and impromptu barbecues, when conjunto bands, crossing back into Mexico after performing stateside quinceaeras, would stop in and play for free beer. They were then removed from the area by the Apache and Comanche tribes in the 18th and 19th centuries. Its previous owner, Austin multimillionaire Steve Smith, lavished $100 million to turn the property into an exclusive refuge for the rich, with an 18-hole bentgrass golf course, upscale restaurants, old-world bar, 92 luxury rooms and Mayor Clay Henry, a beer-drinking goat. [9] For more flight The Big Bend area is in Central Standard Time. signed. [5], In 2020, Forbes gave Warren its lowest score for philanthropy, a "1." In 2000, when the property went up for auction, Mr. Smith
Still, when the sun sets each night, when the dry desert air turns gold and the clouds go from white to purple to orange to gone and a desert rat can put himself to sleep by counting stars, that hard life is worth it. If you click through a link on Lone Star Travel Guide, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. That population boom influenced a boom in another town, just 13 miles away: Lajitas. "First let me shake your hand for asking that," Ms. Ryan said,
Bridlie Hospitality, to operate the resort. and were blown away by the immense beauty of the course. At some point in 2006 Smith decided to stop pouring his own fortune into Lajitas. Review. But there was insight to be gleaned in the law firms lobby. A motel stood on the same land in the 1980s. And the people. Smith believed that if he made it softer and more like other places, he could broaden the appeal. Her answer: No dice. At the end of the meal, he tipped her $50. "It's the exclusivity. Our resort in West Texas is set among . The Lajitas property continued to change hands and in 1949 was bought by Rex Ivey, Jr., who hand-dug a well and installed a generator for the areas first electric lights. The community boomed when quicksilver was discovered 11 miles from the community at the end of the decade. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. Built in 1912, it was just a beaten-up, dirt-floor adobe, with a front porch constructed of railroad ties and rails drug from Terlinguas languishing quicksilver mines, and shade provided from a willow-leaf awning held in place by goat-pen wire. The resort features our world class 18 hole golf course, Lajitas Texas Golf. Tucked away in Southwest Texas between Big Bend National Park and Big Bend State Park lies the exquisite 27,000 acre Lajitas Golf Resort and Spa. The Lajitas area was then bought by Rex Ivey, Jr., who brought electricity to the community in 1949 and sold part of it to Walter M. Mischer, a Houston entrepreneur and owner of Mischer Corporation. Find Lajitas Resorts and Resort Rentals. His whole model was based on the idea that he could somehow tame the desert, refashion it to suit his plan, and it was just a matter of time before his vision became known as Smiths Folly. The contraband would be returned at a reception when they arrived. A private buyer shipped it to a Lajitas golf course owned by oil and gas billionaire Kelcy Warren almost exactly two years since the Confederate General was pulled from its perch in what was then Lee Park. (Id have liked to watch the baseball playoffs, but I blame TBS for that.) See pricing and listing details of Lajitas real estate for sale. When I met him nearly two years later, he was thinking differently. It is located on a bluff overlooking the Rio Grande at San Carlos ford of the old Comanche Trail, in the northern part of the Chihuahuan Desert in southwestern Brewster County. are more than six.". When I bought the Ghost Town, I wanted to make it a place you needed to go to if you were in Big Bend. 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions
The trading post was that communitys heart, the hub for little villages on both sides of the river. But he insisted that his intention was little substantive change. A skeet range was put in that had shooters firing over the bike trail. ", "There's a certain kind of people who need this place.". Fast forward another few decades, though, and Lajitas, TX experienced a curious twist of fate: a corporation from Houston bought the entire town, restored most of the buildings, and turned it into a resort for golfers and visitors exploring Big Bend Country. Enjoy unlimited access to all of our incredible journalism, in print and digital. Brings new meaning to the phrase Sunday Funday. His dad, Rex, a Brewster County commissioner, owned Lajitas for nearly thirty years before selling it to Mischer in 1977. According to the Handbook of Texas, the community had a population of 75 in 2010. The course was designed by Lanny Wadkins. Located just east of Big Bend Ranch State Park, a visit to Lajitas, Texas may leave you wondering: is this a town or a resort? There was a reason Big Bend hadnt already been overrun by the wealthy: the Chihuahuan Desert. Black Jack's Crossing at Lajitas Golf Resort. empty and spiritual. The population remained at 50 in 1990 and grew to 75 from 2000 to 2010. .he sounds as if hes remembering the greatest day of his life. The gas pumps were gone, as were the willow leaves and goat-pen wire. See 1,059 traveler reviews, 860 candid photos, and great deals for Lajitas Golf Resort, ranked #1 of 1 hotel in Lajitas and rated 4 of 5 at Tripadvisor. As part of the contract, his son cleans up trash from the park once a month. Pizzeria Attendant / Barista; F&B Management. bankrupt resort and give Lajitas another life. The crossing was described as a smooth, rock bottom, and was best between Del Rio and El Paso. It's a quick trip to Terlingua for other dining options, although we had breakfast at, The morning of our second day we explored the. A stay in a historic hotel, a swanky villa, or even the resorts Maverick RV Park are all options at Lajitas Golf Resort. bankruptcy. [5] [24] He also owns an 8,000-acre ranch near Cherokee, Texas, [5] the 20,000-acre Lajitas Golf Resort and Spa in Lajitas, Texas, [25] and a private island near Roatn, Honduras. But the desert has always had a way of withering material
The Big Bend is not the kind of place you want to drive through and look out your window at, Ivey continued. The Lajitas Golf Resort is a full-service golf resort and spa located in the Big Bend region of West Texas. When Steve Smith bought the remote Big Bend town of Lajitas in 2000, he dreamed of building a lush, five-star retreat that would attract the likes of Tiger Woods and Tom Cruise. He received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1978.[8][3][6]. he wants to put it more in touch with surrounding Brewster County, with
would have millionaires mixing with landscape workers and artists and
Ms. Ryan has squatted on the Lajitas property for 20 years,
1 (877) 525-4827. When Steve Smith bought the remote Big Bend town of Lajitas in 2000, he dreamed of building a lush, five-star retreat that would attract the likes of Tiger Woods and Tom Cruise . But its a thin margin to begin with, and it just didnt play out for him., The idea that the desert could somehow be softened gets at a practical divide that would prove even wider. Folks lolled in the shade, shot pool on a felt-free pool table on the porch, rolled dice in the corner, and fed quarters into a jukebox that Ivey stocked with Vicente Fernndez 45s that he bought on regular trips to Jurez. Fast forward another few decades, though, and Lajitas, TX experienced a curious twist of fate: a corporation from Houston bought the entire town, restored most of the buildings, and turned it into a resort for golfers and visitors exploring Big Bend Country. Rooms were scattered all over the grounds, along the boardwalk, on the golf course, and across Ranch Road 170, driving up operating costs. A bankruptcy judge in San Antonio opened a three-month window for Lajitas to acquire new financing, but Smith, who by all accounts was still in love with the area, was unable to pull it off. When I asked him what would happen if his dream didnt work, he said, Well, at least me and my friends will have a really nice golf course to play. (Smith declined to be interviewed for this article, and Texas Monthly happens to be one of his unsecured creditors, owed $35,000 for unpaid advertising.).