FORT DAVIS — Construction of High Frontier, a new resort by hotelier Tim Crowley located on 320 acres southeast of Fort Davis, is nearly complete with a soft opening set for November 15. The sprawling site, a former horse ranch and rehabilitation school, features several event spaces, guest suites, a spa, pool, restaurant and more.
The Sentinel recently joined High Frontier General Manager Matt Walker on a walk-through of the property. The project, years in the making, involves a mix of new construction and restoration of existing buildings. An old school gymnasium and chow hall will serve as an event space and restaurant, respectively. An adobe home, once girls’ student housing, is being transformed into a luxurious suite with a double-headed shower, soaking tub and mountain vistas.
High Frontier is designed to capitalize on unspoiled views of the Davis Mountains, to offer a variety of event sites and to appeal to modern guest demands for kitchens and en-suite bathrooms. In addition to their own website, all High Frontier accommodations will be advertised on Airbnb.
Walker said those features are what set High Frontier apart from other popular wedding and event venues in the area. “People from the big cities really want to have a destination wedding,” Walker said. “Every place has its own different identity. We’re more open, we’re more spread out, whereas The Gage and Cibolo Creek are more confined.”
The property shares a name with its previous occupant, The High Frontier residential treatment center and boarding school, a private nonprofit where troubled youth ages 12 to 17 from across the country were sent for rehabilitation.
The school was built in 1976 and ran until it closed during the pandemic. The cluster of buildings used by the boarding school formed a starting point for renovations by the resort. Still, each structure required considerable changes, particularly installing big windows to open up spaces that lacked natural light.
D’Hanis clay bricks, concrete block and steel frames — common elements of Crowley’s industrial style — are present throughout. Judd tables, similar to Marfa’s Saint George Hall, populate outdoor pavilions. Two concrete pads offer flexible spaces for yoga, stargazing and wedding ceremonies.
While large-scale facilities populate the upper section of the property along with a few satellite guest homes, the lower portion gives way to a multitude of individual buildings surrounding a large grass lawn. Outdoor patios attached to a lobby as well as one- to four-bedroom units overlook the greenspace. An existing pool near the lobby will be accented by a bar and cabanas. The site can accommodate events up to 800 people, Walker said, and 85 guests a night.
Efforts to dig trenches and bury power lines, in collaboration with American Electric Power (AEP), install dark-sky friendly lighting and restore native grasslands, removing invasive mesquite and catclaw, are ongoing. Hiking trails designed by Tyler Priest will be available for visitor use.
A water well remaining from the boarding school-era was upgraded to suit the resort’s needs, Walker said. The property is outfitted with its own wastewater treatment plant, complete with two 50,000 gallon tanks, for which a permit from the Texas Center on Environmental Quality had to be obtained. All of the plumbing on the property is routed to the plant that will discharge treated wastewater into Musquiz Creek.
Walker said the water plant was designed with expansion in mind. “Our wastewater plant is really simple, but it’s also really advanced, where if it was just me living on the property, it would be sustainable, or if this place was completely packed with 500 people and the toilets are flushing every other minute, it would keep up with that,” Walker said. “The infrastructure that we’re building here is just so we have plenty of utility space to add on in the future, more than enough.”
Adding an RV park and camping area with Wi-Fi, an outdoor kitchen and plunge pool has been discussed, Walker said. A portion of the property that contains an old woodworking shop, roping arena, and saddle room is envisioned to become a non-operational vineyard, garden for the restaurant, and another guest suite.
Walker said, for now, High Frontier is mostly staffed. While there are odds and ends to finish up across the property, he said, it is exciting to see the finish line in sight. “Seeing all this come together is just crazy rewarding,” Walker said. “We’re all really proud.”
Tim Crowley, who arranged for the tour of High Frontier for The Sentinel, said his general manager would be the best guide, and he wanted to let Walker outline the progress and vision for the resort.