Fredericksburg Texas Lodging, Fredericksburg Texas Bed and Breakfast, Fredericksburg Dining, Fredericksburg Texas Restaurant, Texas Hill Country Bed and Breakfast, Texas Hill Country Lodging, Texas Hill Dining
Critics Reviews
Kerrville Daily Times
'Halloween Trilogy' a storytelling treat
FREDERICKSBURG - When you approach the old Rose Hill Mansion high on a hill, with its candlelit 'see-through' dining room that takes up half the downstairs, you'll notice the flickering lights that float off into the woods and disappear in the distance.
It's such a spooky setting you'll know something special is happening there.
Follow the winding path of torch lights, as creepy music starts to invade your mind. Watch out for cobwebs, hooting owls and bodies hanging in the trees. Grab your seats around the roaring campfire and don't be surprised to see a dismembered arm reaching out from under the fire for anyone who comes too close. Settle in, wave at the young witch for a bottle of something cold and get set for a night of fine, spine-tingling entertainment.
Texas Actors Theatre has assembled a cast of six talented actors from around the country and London, too. Doug Burns, Christopher Marlow, Meredith Hale Baker, Christopher Rothwell, Timothy J. Verret and Bonni Chambers are the excellent players who make up this great show.
And the material is just right. What could be better for Halloween than Rudyard Kipling's 'Mark of the Beast,' Oscar Wilde's "The Canterville Ghost' and Edgar Allan Poe's 'The Cask of Amontillado"'
The players are seated in a line, lit by torch light, right in front of the audience, completing the ghostly circle around the roaring fire. The performance is something like a cross between viewing a radio show (complete with serious sound effects) and seeing a 'reading,' where the performers act out their parts.
Separate players star in each one of the three pieces, with their capable fellow actors supplying a lot of eerie sound effects, etc. Listen for the cement spatula scraping the bricks as the great Venetian house of Montresor (Chris Marlow) seals the dastardly Signor Fortunato (Timothy J. Verret) into a vault.
Mix all this with crickets, recorded hoots, howls, blood curdling scrams and an unplanned-for cow that moos now and then in the distance - and the stage is set for Edgar Allan Poe, Rudyard Kipling and Oscar Wilde.
Austin Chronicle
Day Trips
Rose Hill Manor outside of Stonewall looks like an old Southern plantation mansion transported to the rugged hills west of Johnson City and Blanco. On a clear day, the view from the upper balcony of the two-story, white building stretches across the Pedernales River Valley where Lyndon Johnson wandered as a boy.
More than just a country inn, Rose Hill Manor, with half a dozen well-appointed rooms, combines beer and wine sales, a well-stocked bookstore, and on Friday and Saturday nights, a four course dinner to make for a unique Hill Country destination. "It might look like we're in competition with 300 other bed and breakfast inns in Central Texas, but we're not, " says Robert Vander Lyn, the inn's owner. "Unless we're missing something, we're the only one offering the same amenities. It's a lot of extra work, but it's worth it to put us in another category."
The four upstairs bedrooms and the two separate cottages offer spacious accommodation with privacy and comfort. Most rooms have separate reading areas filled with light from long rows of windows. From up above, a cupola pours natural lighting down into the center of the house. "one of our goals is to take people from the cities and give them a country home, if only for a weekend," Vander Lyn says.
For Texans or out-of-staters, Rose Hill can offer a perfect country refuge. With a strong library of reading material available, much of it about Central Texas and the Hill Country, a guest might curl up on a big easy chair and leisurely pass the weekend. Or just a short, scenic drive from the estate are Fredericksburg, several wineries, Enchanted Rock State Park, and the popular Luckenbach.
Robert Vander Lyn and his wife Patricia started working on the house 10 years ago this September. They have been welcoming guests to their country getaway for the past two and a half years, "in the beginning we lived out here in a tent without a road or utilities," he says. Then they spent a little more than seven years living in the house while they completed the final touches.
When the couple got married, they decided that they didn't want to raise their children in Houston. They set off across the country for eight months looking for the American dream and a place to hang their hats. After visiting 38 states and Canada they returned to the Texas Hill Country. One day, while driving down Upper Albert Road, they came across the 40 acres for sale and saw the beauty and potential of the cedar-covered hill.
They had considered buying an old house and fixing it up, but it seemed like more work than starting from scratch. Vander Lyn had always had an interest in architecture even though he is the first to admit that he wasn't mechanically inclined. During their travels around the country, he had made notes of a dozen or so things that he felt made the old houses they visited special. Their house had to have things like a view, trees shading a big yard, high ceilings, lot of windows, and big porches.
"Our goal was to build a brand-new house that looked old," Vander Lyn says. He soon became disenchanted with using recycled building materials because of the expense and availability of certain items. "You could find two matching doors, but not four," he says.
Serving as designer and general contractor, the former Houston attorney learned the construction trade from the ground up. "I wasn't smart enough to know that you can't do it the old way anymore," he says, "but it's just a big box."
"Things got progressively easier," Vander Lyn says with a laugh. Now things like six hours of mowing with a tractor puts a more sizeable dent in the field than six hours of walking behind a push mower.
A couple of years ago the Vander Lyns built a two-story cottage behind the grand building for their home. "After building this house, building a 1,500-square-foot cottage was nothing," he says.
Business has steadily increased since a group of employees and guest from nearby Becker Vineyards were the inn's first guests. "The Internet gives a place like this a tremendous running start," Vander Lyn says, "but word-of-mouth referrals are just awesome." Folks from the Waco post office came for a vacation after they had seen a post card of the house that someone had mailed. The Federal Express and UPS delivery men have returned as guests after making deliveries.
After enclosing the downstairs side porches the Vander Lyns added gourmet meals on Friday and Saturday nights. Being so far out of town, the guest appreciate a good meal served at the inn, he says. The fabulous meals are prepared by chef Ernie Briggs and his pastry chef wife Annie. The Briggses also own Ernie's Mediterranean Grill in Fredericksburg. The dinning area can easily accommodate 26 diners and more seating can often be arranged.
Mid-September to Christmas is a great time of year to visit the Hill Country, Vander Lyn says. If nothing else, after Thanksgiving drive down the Vander Lyn's road just to see the Christmas decoration that he spends five or six weeks every year putting up.
To get to Rose Hill Manor take U.S. 290 West of Stonewall, turn right on Upper Albert Road and follow the winding country road to 2614 Upper Albert. Rates range from $135 to $150 per night for weekends with a two-night minimum most weekends. Weekday rates drop to an affordable $99 per night and also includes a breakfast.
The weekend dinners are $39.96 and are open to overnight guests and non-guests. Reservations are required and the next week's menu is posted on the inn's Web site. For more information, call Rose Hill Man or at 877-767-2445 or www.rose-hill.com.
Southern Living
Texas Vacations Special Issue May 2001
"Sample Fredericksburg"
Friday
Retreat into the heart of Texas Hill Country. Halfway between Johnson City and Fredericksburg, off U.S. 290, sits Rose Hill Manor (weekend rates $135 to $150, toll free 1-877-767-3445). Perched atop a swell overlooking the Pedernales River Valley, the spacious inn welcomes you to a weekend getaway. Settle in for a quiet evening, savoring a four-course gourmet dimmer (reservation are a must) and then a good book from the inn's extensive collection. Or head into town for a peek at the shops and a taste of traditional Fredericksburg at Der Lindenbaum on East Main Street.
Saturday
Full breakfasts of eggs scrambled with cheese and fresh herbs, French toast made with homemade bread, seasonal fruit, juice, and coffee lure you out of your comfy bed and help you greet the day.
San Antonio Express-News
"Romance"
Getting away from it all into a private, overnight nest is always attractive, and the Hill country has a cornucopia of options. Few in the area have the sweep and grandeur of this remote bed-and-breakfast inn, which serves up some exquisite food every Friday and Saturday (as well as Valentine's Day). The house itself is set far from the road and lords over the open field like you once imagined Tara or Southfork did. The largest dining area has only a few tables, and most of the seats offer ample chances for watching the sun set. Or you can dine amid shelves of books, one of which might contain an uplifting love lyric for the occasion.
Dallas Morning News
as reported by Jean Simmons
Sharry Buckner, editor of The Great Stays of Texas, a guide to Historic and Hospitality Accommodations of Texas (HAT), sends words of praise about Rose Hill Manor, a country inn near Fredericksburg. "What a place!" she reports. "The porches are fabulous."
Austin Chronicle
At Rose Hill Manor, Robert and Patti have created a lovely, Charleston-style plantation house on 40 rolling Hill Country acres. The elegant mansion sits on a gentle hill, offering a spectacular view of the Pedernales River Valley. The front porch here is the perfect place to while away an hour or two, sipping Texas wines and enjoying the beauty of the Hill Country. They'll pour several Texas wines, including those of nearby Becker Vineyards, but Rose Hill is currently the tasting facility for Alamosa Cellars in dry San Saba County, so be sure to sample the Alamosa Sangiovese and Viogner.
If you'd like to spend more than an afternoon, Rose Hill's accommodations are very inviting. Each of the four guest rooms is decorated in period antiques and features four-poster queen-sized beds. French doors in every room open onto the verandas that surround the house. Watch a breathtaking Hill Country sunset on the private veranda outside the Sunset Room or enjoy a romantic getaway in the Lavender and Lace Room. Downstairs, there's the Snug Harbor Bookstore, with floor-to-ceiling shelves of new and used books. The innkeepers provide a delicious gourmet breakfast on weekends and continental breakfast during the week.
The newest addition at Rose Hill is full-service fine dining on Friday and Saturday nights. Delightful, four-course prix fixe dinners are provided by Ernie and Anne Briggs of Ernie's Mediterranean Grill in Fredericksburg. There are usually two menus to choose from, with one that always includes beef. Anne Briggs' artisan breads and elegant desserts are a wonderful complement to the meals. Dinner reservations are necessary, and seating is limited. Based on our experience, both the accommodations and the food are first- rate and well worth the trip.
San Antonio Express-News
"This food is to the Manor born"
STONEWALL - To get to Rose Hill Manor, you have to turn off U.S. 290 and leave what initially seem to be the last vestiges of civilization behind. The narrow road is dotted with signs telling you to watch out for livestock in the road, but that's only stating the obvious as a herd of sheep or several inquisitive deer will likely keep you from progressing at too great a speed.
After twisting and turning for a mile or more, you come to a clearing where stands a sign announcing the inn. But you're unlikely to notice the manor itself until you've turned up the long driveway. Once you do, you'll be hard-pressed to keep your eyes on the road.
Everything about the place is vast, in an unbelievable, Texas-sized way, from the sweep of the fields that stretch before the two-story building to the size of the veranda that practically invites you to pull up a chair and relax.
It's satisfying to learn that epic grandeur carries over into the prix fixe menu that chef Ernest Briggs and his wife, Anne, the pastry chef, craft each weekend (Dinner is served only on Friday and Saturday evenings. Reservations are a must).
A recent bill of fare (they're posted weekly on the manor's Web site, www.rose-hill.com) promised Grilled Portobello Mushroom with Provolone Cheese and Peppercorn Sauce followed by Sautéed Escargot in Tomato Basil Sauce on Grilled Peasant Bread. The entree choice was between Grilled Pork loin Topped With Herbed Goat Cheese and Mustard Sauce or the ever-present Black Angus Tenderloin. For dessert there was a cobbler with peaches and blueberries.
If my two visits are any indication, those dishes tasted even better than they sounded in print - admittedly somewhat of a surprise considering how wildly inconsistent we have found Briggs' other venture, Ernie's Mediterranean Grill in Fredericksburg.
One key to the success of Rose Hill Manor is the freshness of the ingredients, and Briggs has selected foods of such a fine quality that their bold, ripe flavors can't help but come through. The size of the dining room is also limited to about 10 tables or so, which gives you more of a feeling that the chef is cooking directly for you.
So when you order that beef tenderloin, you know that it will come out of the kitchen a perfect medium rare. The meat will feel as if it is melting on your tongue, and that intense beefiness will linger long in your memory. It is simple in its appeal and simply perfect (No one asked how we wanted the tenderloin prepared; the chef should know best, after all. But if you are one of those who wants it burnt, it may take some doing to make your preference known.)
A recent dinner began with a tomato and chévre salad adorned with a basil vinaigrette that tasted like pesto and blended well with the tomato's acidity. One might have wished for, say, an heirloom tomato instead of the Roma that was used, but at least it was juicy.
Chowder filled with chunks of chicken, whole kernels of corn and a touch of cilantro followed. Admittedly, we were hungry, but we would have gladly drained every drop with the same greedy glee that succeeded the first taste.
For those not into Angus, the second entrée choice that evening was a firm, moist slice of Florida Key swordfish. It came with a pineapple salsa that had a little pepper heat to cut back on the sweetness of the fruit. The fish was the textural opposite of the silky, creamy and equally memorable Orange Roughy With Citrus Butter Sauce that we had sampled on an earlier visit.
For dessert, the Chocolate Truffle Cake was as dense as it sounded, yet its mysteries were brightened by a Bailey's Irish Crams sauce and assorted fresh berries. Berries can add magic to most any plate; on our first visit, they appeared alongside an exemplary flan.
The ambience of the dining areas adds immeasurably. You sit in the romantic patio-style dining room, lined with windows to allow you a view of the sunset, or amid the shelves of wonderful old books that are for sale.
The owners of the inn, Patricia and Robert Vander Lyn, double as servers. Patricia Vander Lyn also can adeptly guide you through the three-page wine list, which includes some of Wine Spectator's top picks as well as Texas wines. The Carneros Creek Pinot Noir bent beautifully to match our swordfish and beef.
Good food, good wine, good books, even a good cup of coffee on the veranda after the meal. It doesn't get much better.
 |