ESCAPE THE NOISE

Hill Country Nature Retreat Center

Experience this unique, serene, and private venue for nature-lovers who want to get away from the city with spaces for reunions, retreats, and other group stays. We’re located 1 hour from Austin and 1 hour from San Antonio, in Blanco.

“I recently hosted a retreat for mothers at HCNR, and we could not have been happier with the beautiful, and thoughtfully curated space created by Marlena and Eugene. Just WOW. They've thought of everything to create a comfortable and nurturing space in harmony with and in homage to the beautiful hill country, and their hospitality is unparalleled. I cannot wait to go back!”

  • The venue includes a full kitchen, a 600 sq ft workshop, a courtyard and pavilion for dining, and a large pool with a covered deck.

    • Full kitchen for group cooking and prep

    • Bathhouse with showers and restrooms

    • Courtyards, fire pit, and outdoor dining areas

  • A collection of unique shared accommodations can sleep up to 25 guests in stand-alone lodging spaces: a cabin, treehouse, artists studio, a vintage airstream, 10 pre-set up furnished tents and BYO-tents in our camping area.

    Cabin: 1 queen bed and 1 optional full sofa bed

    Studio: 1 queen bed and either 1 optional queen bed OR 2 twin beds

    Airstream: 1 queen bed and 1 optional twin bed

    Treehouse: 1 queen bed and 1 optional queen bed in the kitchen area.

    All additional beds include proper mattresses and frames (no air mattresses) with full linens provided for each bed EXCEPT in the pre-furnished tents (bring your own bedding for those).

    Pre-furnished tents: 10 tents, 1 twin bed on a bed frame, 1 fan, 1 table, 1 lamp, 1 charging port provided in each tent. Bring your own bedding.

    Our handbuilt driveway can only accommodate vehicles/trailers that are 20 feet long or less. We have 1 RV electric hook ups (no water or septic hookups).

  • HCNR has you covered with tables, padded folding chairs, decor, games, 25 yoga mats, 25 mexican blankets, 25 backjacks all provided at no extra cost.

  • Gather up your crew and head out to the hill country for a weekend of fun and togetherness. At $1200/night, our space is affordable when divided among folks and has all you need for a perfect weekend: nature trails, communal kitchen, private lodging, pool, large projector screen/projector/google tv for night time use only, a fire pit with 16 chairs. Come out and make some memories!

  • Baylor College of Medicine uses our space to host an annual Writing Retreat for Caretakers, designed to promote wellness among medical and healthcare communities. This is just one example of the type of events our space is designed for.

The Spaces

Retreat guests sharing a communal cooking experience in the spacious event kitchen, preparing meals together in the Texas Hill Country.

Retreat Center with a Covered Pool

Escape the Texas heat and enjoy exclusive access to our 15×30 covered swimming pool. Whether you're planning a family reunion, yoga retreat, corporate retreat, or group-weekend getaway, our private pool is the perfect place to relax, recharge, and make lasting memories.

Covered outdoor pool surrounded by large comfortable lounge chairs, creating a relaxing retreat space in a natural Texas setting.

A Few Things To Know

Still have questions? Take a look at the FAQs page or reach out anytime. If you’re feeling ready, go ahead and fill out the form at the bottom of this page.

  • We’re in Blanco, Texas, about an hour from both Austin and San Antonio.

  • Visit our home page or booking page and fill out the form at the bottom.

    After you submit the form, you’ll receive an email from us and we’ll need to schedule a tour.

    After that, booking is simple and easy! We agree on a date, you read and sign our rental agreement and you make a payment on your online invoice.

  • Hill Country Nature Retreat is the definition of “labor of love” as it was built, single handedly, by us, Marlena and Eugene, using mostly reclaimed materials. We didn’t hire architects, designers, or even a construction crew. We actually didn’t even plan on building a retreat center; we built our home in the forest and just kept on building! The handmade quality of our spaces is extremely unique and the attention to detail is only possible when two people are solely responsible for every design decision. Our entire 37 acre property uses 100% rainwater collection and was built amongst the trees with a true commitment to and connection with nature in mind. We hope that you feel our love for this land the moment you enter our gates. 

  • Our model is simple and transparent! Retreat Pricing: $1200/night for up to 25 guests. Check in at 2:00 p.m. on arrival day (hosts can arrive at noon) and check out by noon on departure day. Half of the total is required to hold your dates. The other half is due 30 days before your event.

  • While our terrain is rugged and our permanent restrooms require stairs, guests in wheelchairs can be dropped off close to the event area.
    If an accessible restroom is needed for an event, you are welcome to rent a ground-level, wheelchair-accessible porta-potty. Please let us know in advance so we can help coordinate placement.
    All of our indoor overnight accommodations have stairs and are not wheelchair accessible. Since we built everything ourselves using almost entirely reclaimed materials, we weren’t able to design with accessibility in mind. While we aren’t able to offer wheelchair-friendly accommodations at this time, we recognize the importance of accessibility and hope to incorporate more inclusive design in future projects.

    The road to reach our property is 1 mile long and is gravel and bumpy. There are no potholes but it may not be suitable for extremely low riding vehicles.

Visit our FAQs

Lodging Options

THE CABIN

  • 1 queen bed and 1 full sofa bed

  • Kitchenette

  • Full bathroom

  • Front porch, roof deck,
    screened in back porch

THE TREEHOUSE

  • 1 private queen bedroom upstairs

  • 1 optional queen bed downstairs in kitchen area

  • Downstairs kitchen/bathroom may be shared with upstairs participant

  • Staircase from upstairs to downstairs is located outside

THE ARTIST’S STUDIO

  • 1 queen bed and 2 twin beds

  • Shares a wall with the Workshop

  • Just a 30-second walk to the bathhouse and kitchen

THE VINTAGE AIRSTREAM

  • 1 queen bed and 1 optional twin bed

  • Full bathroom and full kitchen on site, 50 feet away

10 furnished tents with electricity

Our cleared camping area is under a lovely canopy of oak and cedar trees and has room for plenty of tents. Each tent contains: 1 twin bed with linens, a fan, a charging station, a lamp, and a table. There are additional spaces for BYO-tents.

The camping area is a 1 minute walk from the bath house and kitchen.

Bath House includes 3 private bathrooms with flushing toilets, 2 showers (1 indoor, 1 outdoor) and comes stocked with convenient personal use amenities. Conveniently located in the middle of the retreat center.

Where to Find Us

We are an hour outside of Austin and San Antonio, near the beautiful historic town of Blanco. Our center sits on 37 acres and utilizes rainwater.

1450 Crabapple Road
Blanco, Texas 78606

picture of a map of our property, including buildings and trails

Interested in booking our property? Fill out the form below. We look forward to hearing from you!