WHILE TRAVELERS NEAR and far have heard of the Texas Hill Country, there’s another region that offers beauty and seclusion: the Pineywoods, a rolling, rural section of East Texas where visitors simultaneously feel tucked-in and cozy, and also enjoy the great outdoors.
About 20 minutes outside of Tyler, Texas, Jason and Sharon Romano have established a “laid-back luxury” resort calledHigh Hill Farm, complete with bungalows and barn-style accommodations.
Trampolines and bocce ball and a (stupendous) fine-dining restaurant and a picturesque pool make it easy to find something to do without the paralysis of choice that often comes from a family-oriented resort. The overwhelming quiet is comforting; an occasional hum of golf carts can be heard, along with a chorus of cicadas, but there’s no backdrop of highway traffic like in Houston, or in the Romanos’ home base of Dallas.
“Our motto is ages 3 to 93,” says Jason, who knows all the guests by name, and when you spot him blowing leaves or cleaning the pool, it feels like you’re running into an old friend.
He and Sharon have high hopes for High Hill, having recently completed the first phase of the resort’s adjacent master-planned development, with dozens of homes available for rent and purchase. They’re all designed and built by Jason, who has a 30-year career building out restaurants and hospitality projects in Dallas that range from historic restorations to the popular Blue Mesa Grill.
Modeled after the 30A and Seaside communities in Florida, the walkable community has an amphitheater with “beachside” concerts overlooking a spring-fed lake, and a chapel situated on the highest point of the property, where weddings take place.
The residences are all completely custom, with commissioned art and one-of-a-kind furnishings. The pines have grown up and over a Mediterranean-style courtyard with a dipping pool and giant outdoor shower, instantly creating a sense that you could be anywhere in the world — and certainly not just in East Texas.
Future plans include a dream of a sangria and tapas bar using the juices from the fruits grown onsite at the High Hill Resort farm. Cheers to that!
