The rather boring story here is that in 1998, I was just driving around in the Austin "Hill Country" near Lake Travis, looking at property for sale, just dreaming, when I came across several adjacent, 5 acre lots near the lake. I called the realtor listed. We talked about these lots and I asked if there were any that were larger than five acres. She pointed me around the corner [literally] to a huge, 23.5 acre tract of this lake view hill country. I was very interested. The property had no signs indicating that it was for sale. I did some extensive research and actually contacted the seller with a bid offer, but there were stipulations and issues that needed to be resolved. I exercised my right to back out.

I showed the lot to many friends and described this as "the one that got away". One couple was keeping tabs on the lot, in a pipe-dream sort of way. About a year had passed and I was talking with this couple when they mentioned that the lot was still for sale. This was a good year for me as I had investments which, along with the rest of the dot-com world, had doubled in value. "Still for sale, eh?" I immediately contacted the selling agent. Evidently, the seller had been asking about me. By this point, all issues could be resolved. I made the very same offer that I made the year before. By October of '99, the tract was mine! I started a build in June '00. The house was completed (somewhat) in Feb '01.

Shannon is my middle name, hence the name, "Shannon Hill".

The Lot

I had to decide where on the lot to situate the house. That was kind of a tough decision! So many places on the property have great vantage points. I hiked all around and climbed many trees to see what I could see. I finally decided on a spot that wasn't too far from the center of the lot. This particular spot had a "shelf" of mantle running back out to the road. This was a benefit when considering the layout of a driveway. It was also beneficial in that it was relatively flat (level) for a foundation to sit upon.