Margaret Ellison
Owner & Executive Director
Margaret grew up on this farm, built Lavender Hill for her mother in 2009 and still cuts the first row every June.
Our people
Meet our team
Nurses, caregivers and leaders who stay, and who know every resident by name.
Our team
The people who keep the farm running
Daniel Kowalski, RN
Director of Nursing
Daniel spent twelve years in hospital nursing in San Antonio before coming home to the Hill Country. He leads the Sage House team and does every care assessment.
Henry Takahashi, MD
Medical Director
A Hill Country internist who sees residents in our clinic room every Thursday, for those who choose him as their doctor.
Ramón Villanueva
Chef & Kitchen Gardener
Ramón runs the kitchen and the kitchen garden, and he will tell you exactly which bed your squash came from.
Bernard Hollis
Farm Manager
Bernard has tended the lavender since 2003. He teaches the harvest every June and the pruning every February.
Tasha Greene
Life Enrichment Director
Tasha runs the calendar, the market stall and the trips to every peach stand between here and Fredericksburg.
Rosa Delacruz
Admissions Director
Rosa walks every family through floor plans, pricing and move-in, and calls each one a week after.
Omar Haddad, DPT
Therapy Director
Omar leads the on-site therapy partnership and the balance class that residents say kept them on their feet.
Leticia Fuentes, LVN
Night Charge Nurse
Leticia has worked nights in the Sage House since 2014. Families know her as the calm voice on the late calls.
Rev. Samuel Okonkwo
Chaplain
Samuel leads Sunday vespers on the porch and visits anyone who asks, of any faith or none.
Claire Whitaker
Business Office Manager
Claire handles the leases, the long-term care insurance claims and the VA paperwork, and she explains every number twice.
Sample family reviews
Notes from the porch
Mom farmed peaches outside Stonewall for forty years. The first week here, Bernard handed her pruning shears. She cried, then she got to work.
We sold the ranch and the tractor and kept the dog. The dog has a run. I have a raised bed and a porch. Nobody here asks me to fix a fence.
Daniel spent an hour at our kitchen table before Dad moved into the Sage House. He asked how Dad takes his coffee and which ballgame he listens to. Both were right the first night.
I've lived in Blanco all my life and swore I'd never leave town. I didn't have to. I can see the courthouse dome from the van on Saturdays.
The harvest weekend is the best thing I have seen in senior living, and I am a geriatric nurse. My father bundled lavender for six hours and slept like a baby.
I live in Denver. Rosa walked me through Mom's cottage on a video call and then down the lavender rows. I could almost smell it.
After my knee replacement I spent five weeks in the respite suite and did therapy with Omar. I went home walking, and I came back for good in the fall.
Leticia called at three in the morning to say Mom had a fever, that the doctor had been reached and that she would call back at six. She called at six.
The market stall is the busiest thing in my week. I sell sachets to tourists from Houston and tell every one of them about my grandchildren.
Claire sat with us twice to sort out Dad's VA Aid and Attendance application. It went through in the spring and made all the difference.
The food is better than anything in the county. Ramón's peach cobbler should be on the town sign.
Come for lunch. Stay for the harvest.
Tours run seven days a week. Call, text or book online and Margaret or Rosa will meet you at the Farmhouse porch.