Homestead Heritage In Waco, Texas

Homestead Heritage

Waco, Texas

Homestead Heritage, in Waco, is one of our favorite day trips. We also often stop there on our way down south headed towards Austin or San Antonio. The community is just north of the city of Waco, about an hour and a half's drive south of Dallas on I-35. The entire Homestead Heritage complex is about 500 acres in size and located on the Brazos River.

Here's how we learned about it. Many years ago, we happened onto a wonderful furniture store in Fredericksburg by the same name. We were very impressed with their hand crafted furniture ... sleigh beds, rocking chairs, lamps, etc. You could tell everything they made was hand crafted and constructed without screws, nails, or staples. They make their heavier connections with mortis and tenon (joined with wooden pegs) and use dovetailed joints for drawers. You just don't see furniture like that any more.

Heritage Homestead builds their furniture with many woods native to Texas, including one of our favorites, mesquite. But what really piqued our interest was a wood called long leaf pine. We were told it was once abundant in this area, but was so popular with settlers in the early years of Texas it is now almost instinct. Of course, my next questions was "So where do you get yours?". They said it comes from recycled old barns they buy, mainly from up north. They said if the barn can be saved, they will even disassemble it piece by piece and then rebuild it someplace else. They suggested we come down to see one they had restored on their premises, so we took them up on it. Here is a shot of that barn.

The inside of the barn as seen below is used to showcase their furniture, but the building construction is amazing in its own right.

I guess the best way to describe the Homestead Heritage village is a step back in time. The women wear simple garb as do the men. It is a faith based community, but that is never pushed on the visitors. There is no charge to visit nor to watch the artisans work at their crafts. The members lead a quiet but very industrious life.

We learned that some of the members live on the grounds and some off campus. Their large church is located on the premises and is quite beautiful. All of the members have their own specialties. Some work in the shops, some farm, some tend the herb gardens, some are blacksmiths, etc. They have a quiet pride in what they have accomplished, but they are also very modest. In fact, only after several visits did they share with us that they were asked to build the George W. Bush home in Crawford, Texas while he was running for his first election.

You won't be impressed with the understated entrance off the main road to their community, but don't let that fool you. Once you drive down the long driveway, you will find beautifully manicured grounds with herbs and flowers all grown from seeds raised on-site. You won't find a piece of trash or loose paper on the ground. The restaurant is immaculately clean and their food is just great. Wood plank floors and hand crafted furniture is found in most of the buildings.

Every time we visit, there seems to be something new ... a working blacksmith shop, a working pottery barn, the woodworking barn, a working grist mill. The furniture, pottery, and ironworks are not inexpensive, but quality rarely is. The things they sell are heirloom pieces that can be passed down to your children's, children's, children.

I have two tips for you ... first, don't visit Homestead Heritage thinking it is an amusement park. The fastest thing that moves there is the hay ride. It is a glimpse of how simple life used to be. It is a real educational experience for kids and adults alike. And second, if you go during the Thanksgiving holiday, be prepared for big crowds because it will be packed! There will be more scheduled events, but the trade-off is you will lose some of the ambiance you get when it is not so busy.

There is usually someone working the pottery wheel. All of their beautiful pottery is offered for sale.

The deli restaurant. You cannot see the seating area behind it set within the woods. It is a very peaceful setting.

The working blacksmith shop. On our last visit they were hand forging a gorgeous heavy iron fence with finials for a lucky customer. I cannot imagine what that fence cost!

Your Realtors for Allentexas, Celinatexas, Fairviewtexas, Lucastexas, McKinneytexas, Murphytexas, Parkertexas, Prospertexas