Our BIG Cottage (sleeps 6) is elegant, limestone castle in the country. The grand veranda has panoramic view. Inside, the spacious living room has stone fireplace & original hardwood floors. A French door leads into the MOZART Room w/ queen bed & luxurious linens. Enjoy coffee on the private side porch. The MIMI Room has queen bed & view of patio. The PONY Room has queen bed, a Ralph Lauren feel & a view of horses. The updated kitchen has farmhouse sink & Old World charm. The European bath has spacious shower. Large patio w/ fire pit & dining table.~ Hill country views, oak trees, tree swing, hammock. Starbuck, the Concierge Pony, greets you each day! Check out our CARRIAGE HOUSE, too! Another quaint cottage. Open, loft-style, queen bed, concrete floors, spacious bath, full kitchen, dining and entertainment areas, exquisite exposed limestone walls, treed views out every window. Check it out @ vrbo.com/401196!
Family Home Recaptured, Now Shared with Others: In 1919, my great-grandfather, Erich Menger, and his brother Rudolph, purchased 560 acres in the hill country. In 1922, Erich and his wife, Lydia, bought Rudolph’s share and built a charming rock cottage. My great-grandparents raised registered Angora goats, cattle and sheep, and ran a dairy. Together, they spent nearly 30 years at the ranch. During my childhood, our family harvested our Christmas trees, camped, hunted and gathered for picnics with extended family at the ranch. We swam in the cistern full of fresh rainwater or we rode on the tailgate down to the pool made by a dam in the Helotes Creek. But in 1973, our family sold the property. I vowed that someday I would buy the ranch back. In 2000, my sister drove past and saw the sale sign. Most of the land had been subdivided but the remaining 7 acres contained the original ranch house, a smaller cottage, carriage house and barns. In December 2000, my husband and I fulfilled my dream of recovering the ranch!
People come to our cottage to be close to Fiesta Texas, SeaWorld, UTSA and other major attractions but other types of people who love our place include historians, architects, authors, novelists, naturalists, bird watchers, bicyclists, botanists, conservationists, horse people and tree lovers. Which might you be or become after you visit our magical place?
Hospitality a Menger-Klar Family Tradition: For more than 100 years, my family has been known in San Antonio for their hospitality and generosity. One ancestor, Rudolph Menger and his wife, Babette, along with his in-laws, William Menger (a different line of the Menger family) operated the famous Menger Hotel. My great-grandfather, Emil Klar, was a butcher who specalized in home-killed meats and “the sausage with a flavor.” Opi, as he was known in the German tradition, gave meat to hungry neighbors during the Great Depression until he could no longer run his business. My grandfather, Roland Klar, along with my grandmother, Floy (nee Menger) Klar, brewed homemade beer to share with their salon of many friends. Today, my cousin Erich Menger is one of the most sought-after caterers in town. Now my husband and I continue that tradition of hospitality with executive and vacation rentals of our historic family properties known as the Menger Cottages. Willkommen!
