There was, in fact, a large contingent of resort employees in La Kiva that night, all of them transplants from around the United States but for one young woman who had grown up in the area. The private owner is Addison-based attorney Ronald Holmes of Holmes Firm PC, a friend of the course who was down in Terlingua for Thursdays dedication. He collects music memorabilia, and has a collection that includes autographs of Jackson Browne and drumsticks signed by the Eagles. Voted #1 Course You Can Play in Texas The Dallas Morning News Nobody really likes practicing their golf game. "First let me shake your hand for asking that," Ms. Ryan said, [17], The Kelcy Warren Foundation supports the Caddo Lake Institution, an organization with the mission of protecting the ecological, cultural and economic integrity of Caddo Lake and its associated wetlands and watershed. Fire Ants Have Unleashed Chaos in Texas for Decades. Brings new meaning to the phrase Sunday Funday. Her answer: No dice. At the end of the meal, he tipped her $50. It's a quick trip to Terlingua for other dining options, although we had breakfast at Candelilla and it was fabulous. in 3 reviews, The morning of our second day we explored the golf course and were blown away by the immense beauty of the course. in 23 reviews, On the day of the wedding, after our adventure in Big Bend, we came back to resort and spent time lounging in the pool. in 12 reviews. The place seemed to be about three stars shy of the target, fine for the desert but not for the price. Opponents saw it as an attempt to rewrite history. [13], The TV miniseries, Streets of Laredo was also filmed in Lajitas. Yes guests are welcome to bring their pets to the resort. Mr. Warren, a Levis-jeans-and-cowboy-boot-wearing Texan from Lajitas Golf Resort is an unexpected and fascinating oasis in the middle of the vast desert that makes up much of Big Bend Countryand today, Lajitas Golf Resort is nearly simultaneous with the town of Lajitas, TX. The Lajitas property continued to change hands and in 1949 was bought by Rex Ivey, Jr., who hand-dug a well and installed a generator for the areas first electric lights. At first blush, its almost impossible to tell the age of a resident of south Brewster County, and there are two good reasons for that. If youve visited the popular Terlingua Ghost Town, youve no doubt heard about the mercury mining boom that led to the towns explosion in population in the early 20th century. He bought a CD from her and promised Warren's gift was the largest, giving him naming rights. Pamplin and his partners invested $25 million to expand the resort adding a new hotel and increasing the number of golf holes from 9 to 18. [13], In 2007, he co-founded an independent record label, Music Road Records, with Jimmy LaFave and Fred Remmert. But he also waves his cowboy hat over his head and yells yeehaw like Slim Pickens in Dr. Strangelove whenever he flies it into the Trans-Pecos. [21], Warren married the former Sherry Johnson on May 18, 1980, in Dallas, and they divorced in 1991. [2], Due to the remoteness of the resort, Lajitas is served by the Lajitas International Airport, a private airport with a 6,503ft (1,982m) concrete runway. View all View all photos (863) I did nothing more than let it happen, and a real community is there now. Other bidders dropped out early and headed for the elevators, including an eight-man team of blue-suited lawyers representing a hotelier, followed by a couple of South Texas hunting buddies with fat wallets in the back pockets of their Wranglers. the Rio Grande. Guests can cancel their reservations up to 72 hours prior to arrival for a full refund. For more flight [7] Warren went to White Oak High School. If you take a plane, you just show up. The Lajitas area was then bought by Rex Ivey, Jr., who brought electricity to the community in 1949 and sold part of it to Walter M. Mischer, a Houston entrepreneur and owner of Mischer Corporation. He was also involved in a dispute with the IRS over $140 million in tax shelters. world. The Kolaches of West, Texas (Bakeries + Beyond), 13 Useful Tips for Visiting the Alamo in San Antonio, How to Visit the Eiffel Tower in Paris, TX (+ Photos & FAQ), 10 Great Texas Gulf Coast RV Parks (Beach Trip Ideas), 10+ Tips for Round Top, TX Shopping Trips (Antiques Fair Advice! 1 (877) 525-4827. When Lajitass marketing team suggested that all the resort needed to take off was a visitor with A-list celebrity credentials, one Tom Cruise or Tiger Woods, Terlingua just laughed. 50% of job seekers rate their interview experience at Lajitas Golf Resort as positive. But its not the reason anyones coming out here, and thats why Im proud of it. The auction itself was off-limits to the press, as lawyers for Lajitas worried that the presence of reporters would chill the bidding. Earlier this year, Mr. Smith's dream officially ended in A bankruptcy judge in San Antonio opened a three-month window for Lajitas to acquire new financing, but Smith, who by all accounts was still in love with the area, was unable to pull it off. No stranger rode into town with his checkbook in his teeth to run up the bidding and take the place over. The Big Bend is not the kind of place you want to drive through and look out your window at, Ivey continued. The runway airport has full 100LL and Jet A fuel, complimentary tiedowns down services and offers transportation to the resort. ), 5 Cool Towns Near Big Bend National Park (+ Where to Stay! View more hotels in Lajitas Now the owner has put a huge statue of Robert E Lee right on the golf course. Daniel Vaughn is the countrys first barbecue editor, and he has eaten more barbecue than you have. But he insisted that his intention was little substantive change. People who drive out here have prepared themselves for the remoteness, said one stately desert spiritualist who asked not to be named. Lajitas Golf Resort is perfectly situated between the Big Bend National Park and the Big Bend State Park: it is the ultimate resort destination. During sudden storms, their power will go out, and theyll be trapped wherever they are, the roads made impassable by flashing creeks trying to find the Rio Grande. Every day at five oclock sharp, when the whistle blew at Lajitas, the porch at the trading post became the spot for Big Bend happy hour. And You Thought Feral Hogs Were Bad. H. W. McGuirk, the leading citizen of Lajitas from 1902 to 1917, operated the Lajitas Trading Post, farmed, and helped manage the Terlingua Mining Company. Ms. Ryan said the area is like a space station, big and Yelp users havent asked any questions yet about. It was closed temporarily in 1910, reopened in 1916, and closed permanently in 1939. The resorts 250 workers made Lajitas the largest employer in South County, and it paid nearly 30 percent of the taxes for the schools in Terlingua. in the spare beauty of borderlands. Candidates give an average difficulty score of 2.5 out of 5 (where 5 is the highest level of difficulty) for their job interview at Lajitas Golf Resort. In the early days of the expansion, a number of Smiths captains went into the Starlight Theatre in Terlingua for dinner. There are similar hotels available. ), 7+ Great Girls Trips in Texas (Weekend Getaway Ideas! For the American football player, see, "Executive Profile - Energy Transfer Partners - Kelcy L. Warren", "List of Public Companies Worldwide, Letter - Businessweek", "Inside Kelcy Warren's Dallas Mansion - WSJ", "College of Engineering at The University of Texas at Arlington", "Kelcy Warren emerges as one of Dallas' bold new philanthropists", "These Billionaires Received Taxpayer-Funded Stimulus Checks During the Pandemic", "The New Forbes Philanthropy Score: How We Ranked Each Forbes 400 Billionaire Based On Their Giving", "John Fogerty, Lyle Lovett, Bruce Hornsby, Jimmy LaFave put on a killer show on Kelcy Warren's ranch in the Texas Hill Country", "Why Kelcy Warren Named a Park For His Son", "Million-Dollar Donors in the 2016 Presidential Race", "Dakota Access pipeline company and Donald Trump have close financial ties", "The Texas Electric Grid Failure Was a Warm-up", "Stealth billionaire lays claim to Woodall Rodgers park naming rights", "Lajitas Resort: Why you better go now - El Paso Inc.: Publishers Column", "REVEALED: One of world's wealthiest men buys Kilkenny mansion for 12.6m - Kilkenny Now - Your City. across the river. While few doubted that Smith genuinely loved the area, they saw no signs that he knew how hard it was to live there. Kelcy Lee Warren (born November 9, 1955)[1] is an American billionaire and the chairman and chief executive officer of Energy Transfer Partners.[2][3][4][5][6]. [18], Warren donated $6 million to Governor Rick Perry's presidential campaign. Though it was appraised on the Brewster County tax rolls at $16 million, Smiths own investment in the place has reportedly been more than $100 million. [2], Starting in the 1980s as a joke, for many years the purported mayor of Lajitas was Clay Henry III, a "beer-drinking" goat. The three-hundred-yard walk to dinner that night was unlit and took me through a construction pit, and the meal for me and my friend at the gourmet Ocotillo was decent but blandthe venison chop, snapper filet, and rattlesnake cake all tasted like their sauce. Dallas, Texas 75201. EL PASO (AP) - A West Texas resort billed by its owner as an exclusive desert getaway for the rich and famous filed for federal . In 2000, when the property went up for auction, Mr. Smith The people in Lajitas now know nothing about the place or its past at all. [2][6], In 2007, he bought the bankrupt Lajitas Resorts in Lajitas, Texas, as a real estate investment. Whats Up With All the Kangaroos on the Loose in Texas? He says At the time of the 2010 census, the population of Lajitas was 75. The resort couldn't turn a February 2023 Reader Quiz: What Did You Learn? But with a little bit of practice and guidance anyone [], As of June 2018 Woods daughter Sam is 10 years old and has not expressed public interest in playing golf. It is the kind of place where, after a few drinks, youre apt to forget that there are any rules at all. Some links throughout this site are affiliate links. "Now I've got to go back to a different world," he said. #1 of 1 resort in Lajitas. A private buyer shipped it to a Lajitas golf course owned by oil and gas billionaire Kelcy Warren almost exactly two years since the Confederate General was pulled from its perch in what was then Lee Park. "I still think it could be something special," the 52-year-old Its minimum purchase price was $450,000. the handmade home of Collie Ryan. As youre exploring Big Bend Country, theres a good chance youll find yourself passing through the blink-and-youll-miss-it town of Lajitas. Tucked away in Texas' historic Big Bend between Big Bend National Park and Big Bend State Park lies Lajitas Resort, the perfect setting Nearly every living thing a desert dweller encountersbe it plant, bug, or beastis capable of drawing blood. Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. About Lajitas Golf Resort. for your away-from-it-all adventure. But there was insight to be gleaned in the law firms lobby. Upward of thirty people would gatherMexican workers, snowbirds from the RV park, boatmen and floaters just back from a river trip, and college kids whod stopped in to feed cervezas to Mayor Clay Henry, the towns famous beer-drinking goat. Chip Gaines Bought Larry McMurtrys Historic Texas Bookstore. Lajitas Golf Resort is a 103 room resort with the number one public 18-hole golf course in Texas, spa, restaurant, saloon, 3 swimming pools, and a guest activity menu that includes shooting sports, equestrian riding, Subaru rentals, stargazer dinners on site, and guided jeep and ATV trips with local vendors. She and her husband have since purchased the place. The border then seemed about forty miles wide and mixed like the sounds in a Doug Sahm song, half-Mexican, half-white, with nobody too worried about which half was which. Enjoy unlimited access to all of our incredible journalism, in print and digital. The vision for a resort at Lajitas began in the late 1970s, Facilities Maintenance Technician; HVAC I Technician/Electrician According to Beasley, the monument is a gift. 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Forrest Wilder writes about politics and the outdoors. Saying Goodbye to Fairfield Lake State Park, Miniature Cattle Have Ambled Into Our Hearts and Onto Our Modest Acreages. That population boom influenced a boom in another town, just 13 miles away: Lajitas. enough time to make money and the businessman who can't seem to stop He has one son, Klyde Warren. Ms. Ryan told Mr. Warren she remembers years ago when the bar The community boomed when quicksilver was discovered 11 miles from the community at the end of the decade. The first white settlers came to the area in the mid-1800s. newspaper, go to By the mid-1980s, Lajitas became a resort town with 15 businesses serving 50 people. Wisely, he decided to move the party up the highway to what was then the only other bar near Terlingua, La Kiva. in denim with a pink bandana around her neck and gray hair loosely In The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, Pete and a coyote sit overlooking the Rio Grande near Lajitas.