“There’s a magic about this place. Its whisperings have been carved in granite for two hundred million years. Human kind has made it home for millennia. This is the heart of Texas Hill Country. It is solid. It is stable. It is a bastion of eternal beauty.”
Those are the words of architect Marley Porter, who probably could have made his living as a poet. Instead, his Living Architecture firm is bringing to the Hill Country what may be the most exciting vision since Norman and Wayne Hurd decided to purchase a goat pasture on Lake LBJ back in 1968. Porter’s grand project is just down the road from the Hurds’ now-legendary Horseshoe Bay resort; it will be a dazzling mountain-top development in Cottonwood Shores, which will include an amazing variety of attractions.
The mountain itself is the main attraction. Called Little Castle Mountain by early settlers, the rocky knob offers spectacular 360-degree views of Lakes LBJ and Marble Falls, the towns of Marble Falls and Horseshoe Bay, and the rows of stately hills behind and beyond. A profusion of boulders and live oaks direct the architectural symphony that Porter has composed, and all the buildings are designed to complement the natural beauty of the setting.
That’s normal for Porter, who says, “The mountain is the architect.” “We’re going to live with the land, not on it.” He developed a passion for working with nature while serving as tribal architect for the Navajo Nation in Arizona; he was named in 2005 as one of the top 10 green architects in North America by Natural Home & Garden magazine. And Roy Williams (known as the “Wizard of Ads”), who had Porter design the Chapel Dulcinea in Austin, calls him the “great architectural outsider of our generation.” But really, accolades like that (and there are many more like that!) don’t tell the whole story of Marley Porter, and this story probably won’t give readers a realistic sense of what he’s planning for Cottonwood Shores.
When we looked at the architect’s sketches on Porter’s website ([http://www.castlerocktexas.com/|www.castlerocktexas.com]), we were amazed at the scope and artistry of his vision. When we toured the property and saw the fantastic views from Castle Rock, we started to understand. For anyone else, it might be considered “pie in the sky,” but Porter has a history of turning wild imagination into solid reality (the One World Theater in Austin and Y Bar and Grill in Oak Hill are two examples of his critically-acclaimed architecture, and dozens of other projects carry his trademark style).
While so far, visitors can only see a few tantalizing hints of what’s to come, it’s obvious that something big is already happening. The little “Java Bean” coffee-and-sandwich shop on Highway 2147 serves as gatekeeper for the property (although Porter emphasizes that this will not be one of those exclusive, gated communities – “We’re outrageously inclusive,” he exclaims. “If you have a heart that beats, you’re welcome here.”
And in fact, while many of his plans seem tailored to folks with lots of spending money, other aspects of the project are aimed at people on a budget. And along with a world-class mountain-top spa with million-dollar views, Porter plans a farmers market where locals can buy fresh, healthy produce. And the public will be welcome to walk and shop in the “specialty retail retreat” and the walled “village center” with its plazas, courtyards and arcades.
The south side of the mountain will be covered with fountains (Porter plans a hundred new fountains a year, until he can call it the “mountain of a thousand fountains”), all fed by rainwater collected from rooftops and powered by the sun.
Lakeview condominiums a hotel, a bed-and-breakfast, a recording studio, a 500-seat dinner theater, a music museum and two chapels are part of the amazing plan, as are an arts center and a world-class tennis.