With an eye for quality and comfort, one Sisterdale woman welcomes guests from around the globe to a luxurious rural getaway.
Update 10/2020: The Graybills have sold Rock Harbor Hill Country lodge, but the property remains open for business.
On the warm evening that we arrived to tour her business, Amanda Graybill was preparing to observe the anniversary of her own arrival in tiny Sisterdale.
“We moved here twelve years ago tomorrow,” Amanda said, settling into the powder-pink velvet sofa in a cozy cabin, one of several spaces available to travelers at her Rock Harbor Hill Country Lodge. “My husband, Randy, is from Oklahoma, and I’m from Atlanta. We met in Houston, raised a family, and moved from coast-to-coast for many years with his corporate job. When it came time to retire, we decided we’d come here, to the Hill Country.”
Before selecting their forever home, couple traveled around together looking for the perfect property.
“When we found the original stone house here, with no air and no heat, Randy thought I was crazy. You should have seen it! But I absolutely loved it. I saw the bones of it, back when it was more of a what I’d call a ‘hunting lodge’ than a home.”
Although the first structure on the property was built in the late 1900s, its architecture and materials evoke the rugged charm of the 1800s.
“The man who constructed it was a craftsman, and he built it over two years with his family providing the labor,” Amanda said, noting the stone and cedar were sourced locally. “The cedar was milled right here, on the property.”
The main lodge, where Amanda and Randy still reside, sits on three acres. It is surrounded by larger ranches.
“I call it our ‘little slice of heaven.’ You can see Fredericksburg in the distance. And the sunrises out here? They are amazing.”
The couple first began hosting guests in the main house as a way to support a local wedding venue. Brides and grooms in need of a place to stay after the wedding could drive to Rock Harbor to recharge from the festivities. A few weddings have taken place on the property, as have anniversaries, retreats, and elopements.
Over time, the Graybill’s business expanded—as did the number of rooms on offer at Rock Harbor.
Today guests can opt to stay in the original lodge, a charming vintage travel trailer, a tiny house, a cabin (“I finished the walls by hand myself,” said Amanda), or the property’s pièce de la résistance, a yurt.
That’s right. You can sleep in a giant canvas tent.
“We were the first in this part of the Texas Hill Country to offer a ‘glamping yurt,’ which we’ve had now for a year. We purchased it from a New Zealand-based company [Lotus Belle] founded by two women. That struck me as really cool—two women started it.”
The stunningly well-appointed Rock Harbor yurt is a dexagon and remarkably spacious. According to Amanda, even her tallest travelers find it a comfortable space in which to escape the worries and routines of ordinary life.
“We placed a Wesley Allen iron bed inside, with a pillow-topped mattress. With the air conditioner in the summer, the space is surprisingly cool. We heat it in the winter, of course. There’s a table and two chairs, plus a rack to hang your clothes. It has front and back windows, with a hot tub out the back.”
The Graybills advertise the yurt as an opportunity for guests to experience “glamping” firsthand. A portmanteau of “glamorous” and “camping,” the relatively new phenomena is catching on around the world as adventurers seek to mingle luxury travel with an outdoorsy vibe.
At Rock Harbor, visitors from as faraway as the Canary Islands have made the canvas tent their temporary abode.
“With glamping, you get a taste of camping with all of the comfort of being at a bed and breakfast, but without the discomfort of sleeping on the ground. We even deliver a gourmet breakfast in the morning. There’s a coffeemaker and a small fridge loaded with drinks. Everything you’d need is provided for you, and, when you’re ready, you can slip out the back into the hot tub with a zillion stars in the Texas sky above. Really, what could be more fun?”
Amanda’s guests also get to see nature’s wonders: seasonal wildflowers, wide oak trees, and nearby buffalo.
“My neighbor feeds them near the fence, for our guests to see. And we can connect people with kayaking or shopping in Comfort, Boerne, or Fredericksburg.”
At the heart of Amanda’s work as a travel host appears to follow the Golden Rule.
“Our motto is this: ‘Rest. Restore. Relax.’ We want people to walk onto this property, take a deep breath, and let it out,” Amanda said. “Everything here is selected for a reason. From our decor to our views, it’s all meant to provide an escape from the ordinary. We’ve traveled all over, and we’ve learned what hospitality is, what it can mean, and how to create it. Our service, the ambiance, the nature—all of it—reflect what Randy and I would want if we were visiting Rock Harbor ourselves, for the first time.”
Explore More
Rock Harbor Hill Country Lodge is located in Sisterdale, Texas. You can see more photographs of the lodge on its Facebook and Instagram pages. Looking for design inspiration so you can bring home the glamping lifestyle for yourself? Follow Rock Harbor on Pinterest.
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