ƃŽ COUNTRYLIVING.COM / SEPTEMBER 2019
E
ven though Houston, Texas,
is known for its sprawl,
when you’re a seventh-
generation Houstonian like
Courtney Robertson, you
need more land—for parties, holidays,
family reunions, skeet shoots—than
big-city limits will allow. So, six years
ago, the residential real estate agent,
wife, and mom to eighth-generation
Texans Ellie (8) and Robbie (10) began
her hunt for a large plot of land in the
teensy town of Bellville (population
4,236), located a “weekend doable”
90 minutes away. “I knew if I bought
land any farther,
no one would
bother leaving
home to use it,”
says Courtney.
After looking at
plenty of no-gos—
think propertiesopen-door decor
SET A LAID-BACK TEXAS TONE
After guests are greeted with the requisite “howdy,”
they’re handed a Rattlesnake cocktail (see recipe;
page 64) as they enter the airy, light-drenched entry
featuring a vaulted tongue-and-groove ceiling.
The iron chandelier (oldworldantieks.com) and
vintage hide reinforce the Lone Star State look,
while an antique bench gives visitors a spot to
literally kick off their boots. Hand-picked greenery
adds a casual organic touch to a poplar table
(blissstudio.com).A Roman shade
in the feathered
“Limosa” fabric
by Harlequin is a
nod to the many
birds seen on the
property.Courtney mixes
cocktails at a bar
surrounded by
leather-and-metal
barstools (cb2
.com) and an iron
chandelier (three
doorshouston.com).littered with oil rigs and power
lines—she and husband James
finally laid eyes on 120 lush acres
with built-in trails, a perch-stocked
lake, and ample room to build a
farmhouse (okay, family compound)
that could comfortably sleep 27 (!),
yet feel casual and welcoming
enough to foster familial bonding.
“We didn’t want the scale to make
things stuff y. It’s about having
fun,” says Courtney.
To that end, Houston architect
J. Marshall Porterfi eld, Jr.
(marshallporterfi eldarchitects.com)
worked with the Robertsons to
marry their goals, while Houston
designer Ashley Goforth (ashley
goforthdesign.com) worked with
Courtney to make sure the indoors
felt equally inviting, from cozy
cowhides to playful patterns to
virtually indestructible surfaces.
The final result is one epic
weekend retreat, complete with
a party pavilion, firepit, ponds,
waterfalls, in-ground trampoline,
swimming pool, and, yes, the
occasional rented mechanical bull.
Speaking of the latter,
you never know what—or who—
you might find on any given
Saturday. It could be extended
family engaged in a heated game
of Rummikub, the townspeople
of Bellville gathered for a skeet
shoot event to raise money for
the local German dance hall
restoration, or 300 of the Robert-
sons’ oldest friends dancing all
day long in honor of a milestone
birthday. Says Courtney, “Our
house has become everyone’s happy
place. We started hosting two
days after the paint dried, and we
haven’t stopped since.”