The Story of Our First Cottage at Wrenwood Ranch: Building Through the Pandemic

When we started building the very first cottage at Wrenwood Ranch, it was filled with energy, excitement, and plenty of challenges—thanks to a nationwide pandemic that nobody could have planned for.

Our original plan was simple enough: Keisha and I would build the first cottage with the help of my aunt and uncle. But we quickly learned what so many others did during those early months of Covid—supply chain issues, material shortages, and delivery delays became the norm. What should’ve taken three days now took two weeks.

So we pivoted. We decided to haul nearly all the materials ourselves from a Lowe’s Home Improvement store about 30 minutes away, one 4’x8’ trailer load at a time. We had equipment delivered and dug the holes for the foundation. We started setting posts and framing the base of the cottage under the blazing Texas sun.

By the time we were 50 days in—working 12+ hour days in that limestone and caliche ground—I’ll admit it caught up to me. One morning, I simply couldn’t get out of bed. I slept for half a day just to recover enough to keep going.

But later that week, we were back at it—framing walls, putting on the roof, and little by little, learning as we went. I was documenting every step with hundreds of photos, determined to tell this story someday.

Once the roof was on, we moved fast. Electrical and plumbing went in within a few days. Every evening, after a full day’s work, Keisha and I would drive to Marble Falls, pick up the next load of materials, and head back home. Exhausting doesn’t even begin to describe it.

When it came time for insulation and drywall, my aunt stepped in and single-handedly hung nearly all the insulation while my uncle and I got to work on the drywall. In just a few days—and in some brutal heat—the drywall was hung, taped, floated, and textured.

I had asked my aunt and uncle to help for just 30 days. By the end of that month, the cottage had windows, finished drywall, a bathtub installed, and was ready for paint. They went above and beyond, and words will never be enough to thank them for what they did to help us get here.

After they left, we allowed ourselves a small pause—just one day off—before Keisha went back to work three days a week and I kept moving on the cottage with her help on her days off.

Then came the biggest pandemic-related delay of all: furniture. We waited nearly six weeks for it to arrive. But as soon as it did, we were ready. And just like that… Wrenwood Ranch officially opened its doors with that very first cottage.

What started as a vision—building our own place in the Texas Hill Country where people could relax, connect, and make memories—came alive in those long, hot, dusty days.

Looking back now, every challenge made it all the sweeter.