Our story
How a family lavender farm turned into a home for one hundred and four neighbors.
Our story
In 1998 Tom and June Ellison planted three rows of lavender on a played-out cotton field by the Blanco River, on a hunch that the thin limestone soil and the long dry summers would suit it. They were right. By 2005 there were eleven rows and a drying barn.
When June Ellison's health began to fail in 2007, her daughter Margaret toured every senior community within an hour. None of them had a garden June could reach or a porch that faced anything. So the family decided to build one on the farm.
The Farmhouse opened in the spring of 2009 with twenty apartments, a dining room and a porch that runs the length of the building. June moved into the first apartment and cut the ribbon with lavender shears.
Cottages followed along the river path in 2012 and 2015. In 2016 we opened the Sage House for assisted living, connected to the Farmhouse by a covered walk, so a change in health never means a change of friends.
Every June residents, staff and families cut the rows by hand. The bundles dry in the barn all summer and become the sachets residents sell on the courthouse square. The money buys large-print books for the Blanco library.
Honest prices, a call when anything changes, food from our own garden and a seat on the porch for everyone. June Ellison would not have settled for less, and neither do we.
Ratings & recognition · sample
Tours run seven days a week. Call, text or book online and Margaret or Rosa will meet you at the Farmhouse porch.