Inspired by my Grandmother Helen, a collection of eccentric vintage styling.
Visiting my grandparents on their Bandera, Texas cattle ranch as a child was the highlight of my childhood. Forests and creeks full of vibrant unexplored grounds, peacocks roosting in the ancient oak trees… feral barn cats and wild turkeys walking loose amongst the wildflowers. You could befriend the deer in the backyard garden or pick cucumbers to can into homemade pickles.
I gave Armadillos snacks of leftover fruits and ran barefoot into milky green creeks chasing minnows. These scorching hot Texas summers were spent swimming and climbing trees, all being watched over from Grandma, lawn chair and umbrella on the creekbed with her dark oversized 70’s sunglasses. Grandpa was never far away, usually cowboy hat and boots on, a ranch dog never too far from his side.
Grandma was a Great Depression survivor, and almost nothing scared her. She could do anything. She could survive and thrive in places where others struggled. When she wanted to do something she just found a way to do it. Nothing stopped her, and she never gave up. Once she spoke at a local high school to kids and her entire message was “It’s always going to be okay, it will be hard, but never give up.” She was endlessly entertaining and loud, enthusiastic, and brave.
On top of all of her resilience was the incredible fact that she was an extremely talented artist. She had a strong, inspiring spirit, a wonderful vibrancy for life that only comes from living through adversity and having hope in impossible situations. Helen was primarily an oil painter and ceramic artist but professionally a sign painter. To this day almost 50 years later her handmade and drawn designs are in the town of Bandera, Texas. You can see her original designed sign for the Frontier Times Museum on the back of one of the Main Street historical buildings. It has been repainted probably five times. Grandma took care of everything she owned, she was meticulous in preserving her artwork and her brushes and tools became family heirlooms, she took extreme care to create pieces from her heart that we cherish to this day.
But that wasn’t all Grandma was good at…
Grandma also was known for her eccentric ranch house decor. As the story goes, when my grandparents first bought their barren Bandera, Texas property, it was a wild acreage with nothing but a few stone structures and tons of untamed Texas hill country. The ranch house was just an 1800’s stone structure with a two stone chicken coops. Grandpa and Grandma remodeled the house themselves.
When it came time to decorate Grandma head to the border and sourced Mexican furniture, wall hangings, murals, metal work, and textiles. Mixing this with items from their former lives in Iowa they had a unique, very eclectic combination of handmade and sometimes overly bright decor. The ranch house was complete, it felt and looked eccentric and inspired. Everything was either a passed down depression era heirloom, or straight from my grandmother’s unique style, imagination and taste.
In 1998 sadly my courageous and loving Grandmother Helen lost her battle to ovarian cancer. Shortly after my WWII hero Grandfather followed her, losing his life to the disease ALS. This was a trying and traumatic time for me. During this time the family sold the ranch land, and it was split into several pieces.
On my grandfather’s death bed I held his big hand and promised to him to one day I would re-buy the land for our family. I didn’t know how I’d do it, I was only 12, but I knew that one day I would.
The story of Rhodes Ranch Bandera
That dream came true in 2015, whenever after a debilitating episode with pneumonia I knew that my days as an entrepreneur were at an end. I decided to dedicate my life to my dreams. I had spent years building a handmade online fashion brand with a thriving community, but I was burned out and didn’t know where I was headed in life. Fashion had come to me randomly, it was not something I ever thought I’d be in. Coming off of a year of being very ill and knowing I couldn’t keep up with the fashion world anymore, I randomly looked up the property and saw the ranch house was for sale. In tears, I knew it was time to make good on my promise to Grandpa.
In 2016 an investor and I re-purchased the dilapidated ranch house property, now cut down to 9 acres. My dream at that time was to remodel and restore the incredible houses to their original glory and create a bed and breakfast for people to enjoy the dreamy hill country I grew up in. We named the property “Rhodes Ranch” and immediately began the tiring but rewarding work of remodeling the property and creating an eco-friendly farming operation.
In 2016 and 2017 we hosted our first weddings at the bed and breakfast underneath the 700 year old Oak giant on our land. I remember looking up to the sky and whispering “I did it.” to Grandpa and Grandma. It was truly a full circle, magical moment.
Unfortunately in 2020 with the onset of the pandemic we had to scale back our operation, and eventually a family member reached out to buy the property and make it their personal home. To this day our beautiful family ranch home, restored, remains in the same family… and that was my greatest wish. I think Grandpa and Grandma would be so proud, so happy to see that we kept it after all.
When remodeling and restoring the property many trials and design decisions came down to how to best represent the beauty of the Texas hill country, maintain the ecosystem of the land, and create a rejuvenating environment for ourselves and guests. The final result was never achieved due to the pandemic, but what we achieved in that time of restoration was an incredible feat of true artistic vision. Our team rejuvenated the land and the buildings with Grandma Helen’s style in mind. Especially in our Pavo cabin, which was inspired by Grandma’s love of Peacocks. Before selling the property we took out many of the incredible reclaimed building materials and antiques to resell, and so began Haus Von Helene’s curated collection of rare pieces.
Before letting go of my beloved ranch property to my family, I thought long and hard about how to transmute this experience into a new artistic project. Though it has not quite come into fruition, I have never let go of the magic that I was given in this land, and that I gave back to the land. What was born of releasing the ranch is still in development, but HVH is the first step in sharing the larger vision of the beauty of Rhodes Ranch, and the reminder of my incredible grandparent’s legacy.
When invoking my own style I find myself constantly referring back to her artistic and vibrant 1970’s ranch aesthetic. Mixing with my own hill country roots, dark academia taste, and admiration for everything old and antiquated, I created Haus Von Helene. I hope through my vigorous attention to detail and quality you will find a piece you love, that grandma would give her stamp of approval to. I believe that with decor– If it doesn’t feel like you, then it’s not for you. If it brings you joy, a swell of inspiration, it’s your piece and I hope you take it home. My wish is that you find a connection with one of my pieces and please feel free to reach to me with any questions at any time.
One thing that I learned from this project, and from Grandma Helen… is that no matter where you go, the magic goes with you. You never give up, even though you might find yourself in different place than you began, and it may not have been what you planned at all… but you never give up the hope, the dream, the magic.
Zanah
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