Pierian Club off to Blanco for April meeting

  • This 1942 farmhouse, belonging to Betsy and Steve Scheffe of Blanco, has a Pennsylvania barn from the 1850’s attached to the back.
    This 1942 farmhouse, belonging to Betsy and Steve Scheffe of Blanco, has a Pennsylvania barn from the 1850’s attached to the back.
  • Marsha Smart (right) is pictured with her friend, Betsy Scheffe, who hosted the Pierian Club in the reimagined 1850’s Pennsylvania barn she and her husband Steve bought in 2015.
    Marsha Smart (right) is pictured with her friend, Betsy Scheffe, who hosted the Pierian Club in the reimagined 1850’s Pennsylvania barn she and her husband Steve bought in 2015.
  • Betsy and Steve Scheffe’s version of an early Texas “dog trot” that adjoins their 1942 farmhouse on the left to their 1850’s barn house on the right.
    Betsy and Steve Scheffe’s version of an early Texas “dog trot” that adjoins their 1942 farmhouse on the left to their 1850’s barn house on the right.
  • Entry to the Scheffes’ unique home.
    Entry to the Scheffes’ unique home.
  • (L-R) Joanne Weik, Gale Ivy, Barbara Fowler, Mary Margaret Moorhead, Gail Bruner, and Kay Nettleship enjoy hearing the history of the Scheffe bar n house.
    (L-R) Joanne Weik, Gale Ivy, Barbara Fowler, Mary Margaret Moorhead, Gail Bruner, and Kay Nettleship enjoy hearing the history of the Scheffe bar n house.

Pierian Club members enjoyed a day trip to Blanco for their April meeting. They visited the farm home of Betsy and Steve Scheffe, friends of Marsha Smart. The Scheffes, who were Austin residents for many years, purchased the farm in 2000, and did some minor remodeling of the small rock house that was built in 1942. It had been a dream of Steve's for many years to buy an old barn, dismantle it, and add it to the farmhouse. After searching throughout the state and investigating possible sources for barns, they were advised to check a particular location in Sweet Valley, Pennsylvania. In January of 2015, they purchased a Pennsylvania barn which was dismantled, numbered board by board and brought to Texas on two eighteen wheelers. In June of that year, the addition began and was completed the following April, 2016. Betsy describes the area that joins the farmhouse and the barn as the Scheffe version of a 'dog trot,' except it is enclosed. Her eclectic, creative eye for design makes the massive living, dining, kitchen space created by the barn seem cozy and inviting. Pierian members enjoyed touring the house and were amazed at the seemingly effortless meshing of the two structures.

In addition to the house, the surrounding yard and outbuildings were very interesting. Steve is a certified Master Naturalist and Betsy is certified as a Master Native Plant Gardener and artist, so special attention has been given to using native plants and to preserving water with their rainwater catch system.

After visiting the Scheffes on a beautiful spring day, the 14 members who went on the excursion enjoyed lunch in Fredericksburg before returning home.