The History.

Twenty-five years ago, the Honorable Barbara Jordan was hosting her annual Memorial Day barbecue and gospel sing at her home here on Tunnel Trail. The guests were longtime colleagues and pals from her years as a Texas State Senator, a U.S. Congresswoman, Professor and Dean at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and as advisor to Governor Ann Richards. Her friend, Susan Rieff, invited me to tag along. 

At the entry, an American flag was flying high and another in the field below. The Jordan and Justice families from Houston spent the day singing gospel music and sharing plates of ribs and bowls of banana pudding that we balanced on our laps. At the dimming of the day, I took a stroll to the end of Tunnel Trail and stood under giant live oak trees and looked south to Onion Creek and to the long horizon above it. 

In that moment and with uncanny clarity, I somehow knew this place was where I belonged.

Years later, by fate and good fortune, I was able to acquire the property–a few acres and a house built in 1923 as a hunting camp–where I stood that day. In 1975, Barbara Jordan had leased and lived in the old house, which she named “The Cranny”, while she was building her new home and pool next door. Her home became a private place during her public years and also where trusted friends and family would gather until her death in 1996.

From a faded photograph of a country church which I had saved for 20 years, Dawn Moore (Moore | Tate) designed a home to be built next to The Cranny that mirrored the feel and forms of the rural church. It has been my home since 2008.

In the past century, it was independent women–Caroline Dowell, Barbara Jordan, Billye Brown, Nancy Earle, and Gisela Kramer who named and settled Tunnel Trail. They built homes, ranched, and helped protect their beloved Tunnel Trail. 

In keeping with this legacy, it is an honor to share it.

-Kerry Tate