Historic Round Mountain Stagecoach Inn and Stable for sale

DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR

ROUND MOUNTAIN — Walking around the old stable on the property of the Round Mountain Stagecoach Inn and Stable, Bruce Lindsey ran his hands across some of the stone work.

“To me, this building is as enjoyable as the house,” he said.

The stables — at least the first floor — were built in the early 1850s and served as a stopover for the stage line and, eventually, the mail service. Lindsey pointed out that the old stage road, though covered by years of growth, is still detectable by the depression from years of use.

Though he didn’t grow up at the Round Mountain Stagecoach Inn and Stable, Lindsey feels a great connection to it. His mother, Mae Hernlund, purchased the property in the early 1970s. By that time, Lindsey was out of school and living on his own. Yet over the years, he often returned to visit his mother at the Round Mountain home.

And after her health took a turn for the worse in the late 2000s, Lindsey settled in at the property to care for her right up through her death in 2012. Lindsey and his brother, Kirk, continue to live in the residence and take care of the property, but he said that, as they get older, it’s just tough keeping up with it all.

So they recently decided to put the property, which includes the residence (inn), stables and three acres, on the market.

“It was a tough decision,” Lindsey admitted. “She loved this place. It’s really special.”

The Round Mountain Stagecoach Inn and Stable got its start when Texas was just beginning itself. At first, the one-story stone stables served as a place for stagecoaches and then postal riders to rest. But in 1874, a new property owner — Elitha Martin — bought the stables and 300 acres.

Martin’s husband, John, had died five years before, and she was looking for a place to raise her seven children. She relocated the family from a secured ranch in Llano County to their new home.

Lindsey explained that Martin was probably looking for a safer place with the Comanches still raiding some parts of Llano County during that time.

“It was still a remarkably brave thing to do,” he said. “Here she is a widow with seven children, and she’s starting over with just the stables. But she knew what she wanted to do.”

In 1884, Martin quickly built the inn, which became a place for travelers and postal carriers to stop and rest as they headed west. The Round Mountain station served as a stop on the U.S. mail stage run from Austin to Fredericksburg.

Lindsey pointed out that while men get a lot of credit for settling the West, he believes women deserve even more of it.

“The women had to be tough and strong,” he said. “That’s kind of the way the frontier expanded. It wasn’t on the backs of men as much as the women.”

Along with the inn, workers added a second story to the stables that was often used as a meeting hall. Martin added a store at the front of the property that included the post office and blacksmith shop.

During this time, Round Mountain was a growing community, Lindsey said, with churches, doctors and a school.

Eventually, during the early half of the 20th century, Round Mountain’s prosperity declined as people headed for the bigger cities. Even the stagecoach inn sat vacant for more than two decades during this period.

But in 1962, on a trip from Austin, where she worked as a librarian for the school district, Lindsey’s mother spied the property. For some reason, something about the property caught Herlund’s eye.

“Ten years later, she saw this three-line (notice) in the (Austin American-) Statesman, and she knew it was this inn up for sale,” Lindsey said. “So she bought it.”

Hernlund commuted between Round Mountain and Austin for awhile before eventually moving full time to the stagecoach inn. She renovated where it needed, but the residence and stables hold true to their original designs.

“She spent the rest of her life here,” Lindsey said. “She loved it here.”

After her stroke in 2009, Lindsey moved in to take care of her. His brother also moved into the home after retiring as a teacher.

Now, as he walked the grounds, Lindsey was resigned to selling the home, stables and three acres.

“We really can’t keep up with it,” he said. “What it needs is somebody with the time, energy and resources to do some more work and renovations. It’s a real special piece of property.”

But they’re in no hurry to sell it. Though they’ve listed it with Justin Jette of Moreland Properties, Lindsey said they’re looking for the right person.

“We’re not in a position where we have to sell it,” he said. “We want it to go to the right person.”

After all, that’s what their mom would want.

Go to www.1874stagecoachinn.com for more information on the historic inn and stables.

daniel@thepicayune.com