With new owners and significant renovations, Stonewall Motor Lodge—with a one-of-a-kind LBJ connection—prepares to greet guests again.
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Story by Pamela Price
Back in the early 1960s, when Lyndon B. Johnson suddenly became president, there was a need to house the U.S. Secret Service and press corps near the Texas White House.
The Hahne family of Stonewall, who were close friends of the Johnsons, constructed a small motor lodge to house the professionals who came to protect and cover the First Family while they were home. It opened in 1964.
Time marched on, new presidents were elected, LBJ and Lady Bird passed away, and eventually Anita Ortiz Lubke and her husband, Lance, encountered the old lodge.
“Our longtime friend, Jason Englert, is the head winemaker at Grape Creek Vineyard and mentioned to us a couple of years ago about a older, quirky motel that had so much promise and potential. The owner had been trying to sell it, but there seemed to be no one was willing to take on the work to make it great,” said Lubke via an email interview. “My husband and I are full-time real estate investors, so Jason thought it might be a place we’d be interested in taking on. We went to the property and could see the potential, but we were busy flipping houses and just weren’t in a place in our business to where it made any sense.”
Next came AirBnB and several rentals, the popularity of which prompted the Lubkes to expand their business to include more hospitality industry undertakings. And that old motor lodge? Lubke couldn’t get it out of her mind.
Two years later, she and her husband made their move.
“I took a chance and tracked down the phone number of the owner, sent her a simple text, and she responded. Two weeks later, we were sitting in front of her in Stonewall signing a contract!”
When it came to funding the purchase, the Lubkes sat down and thought of people with whom they both wanted to invest and would enjoy sipping a wine for years and years. The property is now owned by five couples, a mix of friends, business colleagues and family, a few of whom have known each other since childhood.
Image source: LBJ Presidential Library
Still, it’s the Lubkes who have overseen the extensive renovations and will manage the Stonewall Motor Lodge (Facebook, Twitter). The property will feature 12 rooms, a wine and coffee lounge for guests, 4 RV slots. Cabins are planned as well, to round out sleeping options.
“We’re doing a full renovation on the hotel, so it will be unrecognizable from where it was when we bought it,” Lubke said. “It’s got great character as an old school, drive-up motel, and we’ll definitely play on that. But we’re also stepping up our game when it comes to design and the experience our guests will have: great outdoor social spaces, clean and bright interiors, luxury linens, and more. Our goal has always been to make it a place we’d enjoy spending a long weekend having a glass of wine with a good group of friends,” said Anita.
The 12-room motel property is situated in the heart of the Texas Wine Trail, making the location ideal for wine lovers. The tiny community of Stonewall offers history buffs the the LBJ State Park, of course, as well as the Sauer-Beckmann Living History Farm and the annual Peach JAMboree. It’s also convenient to Fredericksburg and its trade days, Llano, Johnson City, Luckenbach, and that teeny-tiny dot on the Hwy 290 map everyone’s been talking about lately, Hye.
“We see our guests coming back after a day of touring the area and enjoy some time with friends and a glass of wine. The décor will be bright, relaxing, inviting,” said Lubke. “We plan to leverage technology as much as possible—self check-in with keyless access, online booking, super wifi, smart TVs. We are also adding two ADA rooms so we can accommodate guests who need those amenities.”
Integral to Stonewall Motor Lodge’s appeal to tourists will be the property’s history, and the owners are keen to keep those old stories top of mind for visitors.
Lubke noted that there’s a unique corner room used to develop photos and get them out on the old Associated Press wire when LBJ was still in office. She said plans are in the works to do “something special with the space, add a small kitchen, and call it ‘The Press Room.’”
If all goes as planned, Stonewall Motor Lodge will throw open its doors to a new generation of guests in May 2019—providing travelers with the latest amenities and a unique perspective on American history.
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