Living in the hill country means living on minimal water. We get an average of about 30-35 inches per year out this way, west of Austin. When we built our house in 2000-2001 I set up a rainwater collection system that drew from the roof. The water went from the gutters, through some filtration, and into a 10,000 gallon tank. That was good enough for two adults and two small children. Three things have happened since: The kids grew up, we entered a long-term drought, and I built a barn. Bottom line: we needed more water and it was within reach...

This is our barn with the gambrel roof. That steep side presents certain problems with gutter installation. The gutter ends up too close to the edge of the roof.  In fact the end of the roof-edge was inside my first gutters.

We are land barons again! Bought a place off of Fall Creek Road just up the road in Spicewood. We were just looking for a raw lot but we (actually Kelly) found and picked one that came with a poured slab and a Rhino Steel building delivered! Looks like we will be building a house this spring. All the external walls are framed, as well as the trusses. It is a 48x32 slab, so it will be a small cozy house. It's got a spectacular view: Northeast over Lake Travis and Pedernales valley. It's a 5 acre lot in Blanco county (which means much lower taxes than Travis).

(Click on images to enlarge.)