A Texas Hill Country Barn is a Sanctuary for Horses & Humans

A countryside barn with a luxurious loft apartment is a haven for its horse loving owner.

With a strong aesthetic combining glamorous and rustic design elements, Kelli de la Torre’s barn is home to a herd of aging senior horses, along with Kelli and her son. After acquiring an 11.5 acre property in Dripping Springs, Texas, Kelli fell in love with her neighbor’s barn and reached out. It just happened that her barn crush belonged to Tina Ford, the owner of Ford Design LLC. Tina’s impressive portfolio primarily focused on custom homes for over 25 years, but recently began expanding her design expertise into boutique barns. Her daughter Daisy is an equestrian with a background in show jumping. Horses are a familiar family affair and designing barns was a natural alignment when they needed their own barn at home to retire a beloved horse from competition.

Photography by Jack Thompson

This stunning barn was built for the horses from Kelli’s sanctuary, Haven x Campise Farms, a unique sanctuary for blind and elderly horses rescued from kill pens. Ford Design’s vision for this project was to create a structure with an old-world feel while incorporating modern-day amenities.

Interior Barn Details

Inside the barn’s lower level are six 12 x 12 stalls, each equipped with Stable Comfort Mattresses to provide ample cushion. The stalls all have outdoor runs with direct access to the pasture. A tidy tack and feed room features an antique stone sink from Italy and cabinets made from repurposed wood from the project. Next to the stairs, there is a 15 x 12.5′ hay storage area.

Every piece created for the barn was done with intention, including the custom-designed and in-house fabricated stall doors, barn doors, tack doors, and hardware. Ford Design developed and perfected their hardware design through work on their personal barn and offers this expertise to clients.

Timeless design elements include a repurposed French stone wheel serving as a water trough outside and French limestone flooring in the aisle, cut to create an old-world effect.

The stalls are outfitted with custom water systems for quick and easy bucket filling without needing hoses.

A plywood staircase leads to the apartment upstairs.

The Apartment

Stunning and special, the 876-square-foot lofted living space above the barn is a perfect place for Kelli and her son. The apartment features reclaimed 12-inch pine wood floors, reclaimed cypress wood cabinets, Calcutta Viola marble from Italy, and high-end appliances, including Sub-Zero products and a custom Lacanche range from France.