This is the coolest place ever, and it’s in Fredericksburg! You can have wine and giraffes and everything!”
That’s what a guest told her friend after staying at one of the four villas at Longneck Manor, each given the Swahili name of an animal. Two of the villas have one bedroom, and the others have two. Each building includes a kitchenette, a living room, and a private deck overlooking the animal pasture.
Limiting the accommodations to only four villas guarantees a VIP experience with the giraffes and rhinoceros at the resort.
“We didn’t want it to feel like it was a circus or a hotel. We wanted it to have a nod to Africa, but not be Disneyesque. This is classy. We want it to feel elegant and welcoming,” said Heather Crocker, deputy director. “The chandelier in the welcome center might not be one you’d buy for your house, but you’ll talk about it for a week to come.”
When it came time to decorate the villas, Crocker knew that Jill Elliott, owner of two boutiques — Haberdashery and Blackchalk Home and Laundry — had traveled in Africa and had a real sense of style. What Crocker didn’t know was that Elliott had just returned from a trip to Kenya, where she redecorated The Homecare Retreat Center in Karen, Nairobi, and worked with local artisans.
“I’d just come off that project and had a whole plethora of stuff I brought home, then Heather calls,” Elliott said. “I told her, ‘I’ve already got stuff. Let me open my stash!’”
Elliott instinctively knew what Longneck Manor wanted — natural materials, like wool, leather, and bamboo, and natural tones with layer and texture. Tactile, yet plush.
“So much of it is the colors of the sunset and sunrise, the way the dirt plays off the rocks,” Elliott said. “Everything in the villas is chosen for a specific reason because it’s a standalone, dynamic piece.”
Once she began the project, Elliott found items everywhere — an antique sundial from London, willow from local Windmill Meadow Farm, handmade Kuba cloth. Some of her own photographs taken on visits to Kenya grace the walls. Every pillow, every rug, every outdoor pot was chosen to invoke the African savannah in the heart of the Texas Hill Country.
“The challenge was how to execute that in interior design form without it being cutesy or kitschy, to make it super sophisticated,” Elliott said. “We made it feel like you’re in a beautiful lodge in the back of Africa — isolated and a bit mysterious. But we also wanted the space to feel like layers of warmth and love and thoughtfulness.”
“Jill was so easy to work with,” said Monica Jinright, director of guest services. “She’d go to market, grab things, send us random snapshots of perfectness.”
Guests to Longneck Manor have told Jinright they want to return and stay in a different villa.
“People say, ‘I stayed at Kifaru last time, so I want to experience Twiga this time. The wow factor when they walk into this space — that’s what brings people back. It has to speak to your heart,” Jinright said. “The giraffes, the rhinos, the sloth are a draw on their own. We want them to say they’ve experienced Africa on Texas soil.”
Booking information for Longneck Manor’s villas can be found at longneckmanor.com.