The New Face of Boerne

The New Face of Boerne

When his neighbors wave and say hello in Boerne's main square, real estate agent Dave Claflin hears the whistled tune of a 1950s TV theme song in his head.

"Boerne is like a little Mayberry," he said, referring to the rose-colored village in "The Andy Griffith Show." "It's like stepping into a Norman Rockwell picture."

Claflin, his wife, LeDona, and their two kids moved from Beaumont to the Hill Country town about 30 miles northwest of San Antonio a few months ago.

The Claflins are just a few of an estimated 900 people who are expected to make Boerne their home in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

From 2000 to 2006, the Kendall County town's population grew about 30 percent to 8,707, according to the Census Bureau. Boerne's population is expected to grow by 10 percent each year for the next 10 years.

Boerne Champion High School, a $52 million project, is expected to open with 1,750 students next fall. This will be the town's second high school.

New homes and subdivisions are popping up all over the hilly terrain. From 2005 to 2006, the number of new homes built increased 44 percent to 358, according to housing research firm Metrostudy.

We're seeing an influx from all over the United States," said Carolyn Landis, a real estate agent who has lived in Boerne since 1981. "We were at 5,000 for a long time, and we've really started growing in the past several years."

In the last two decades, Boerne has become a hub for luxury-home builders and developers. Boerne is the address of Cordillera Ranch and Tapatio Springs, two of the area's most prestigious subdivisions, where homes start at around $500,000 and some sell for well over $1 million.

"You've got a really good mix of new high-end construction and more affordable housing," said Denise Graves, a real estate agent with Bradfield Properties who has been selling homes in Boerne since 1994.

"You can find resort properties or a 200-acre ranch to raise horses. The ability to pick and choose whatever you want is really phenomenal," she said.

Back in 1994, Boerne had a mom-and-pop video store and just a handful of restaurants. Now there's a Starbucks, a Chili's and at least 30 other restaurants. It's a 10-minute drive to chi-chi central at The Shops at La Cantera and The Rim — home of Santikos Theaters' Palladium and a monster-sized Bass Pro Shops store.

But that's not all that's changed.

When Graves started selling in Boerne, a starter home would sell for $80,000 to $90,000. Now, it's closer to $200,000, she said. The median home price has hovered around $250,000 for the last few years.

Boerne's top-notch public school system and natural beauty drew Thom Dunaway and his wife, Shawna, who moved with their son from Dallas this summer.

The Dunaways enrolled their 9-year-old in public school for the first time a few weeks ago. In Dallas, he attended a Christian school.

The couple run a Web-based travel company and work from a home office, so they could live just about anywhere.

"Dallas has just gotten too big. There's too much crime, and everyone seems so corrupt," Thom Dunaway said. "So we said, 'If we could live and work anywhere, where would it be?'"

They looked for a home in the suburbs north of Dallas and got nearly to Oklahoma before realizing they wouldn't find their Mayberry in North Texas.

They were invited to spend the weekend at a friend's home near Boerne, and "we thought that was about as close to perfect as you could get," he said.

So they bought a house in the Trails at Herff Ranch subdivision, about three miles east of Interstate 10, near Highway 46.

Their son's elementary school is across the street from their new home.

"We wanted to be involved in the community, and we've moved to a place where we've got that," Dunaway said.

The Dunaways also bought 4 acres in Cordillera Ranch, where they plan to start building a new house in about a year.

Part of Boerne's appeal is its location: It's close enough to commute to San Antonio, but far enough into the hills that it feels pastoral, said Boerne-based home builder and equestrian Lee Anne Keim.

"I love San Antonio, but I'm always happy to get back to Boerne," she said. "It just has a different feeling out here."

Dave and LeDona Claflin found Boerne by accident. They stayed with friends there after evacuating Beaumont during Hurricane Rita two years ago.

"That was a bit of a bummer, having to put your house back together and then being faced with that threat every summer," Claflin said of the hurricane that struck hardest in Southeast Texas.

But Boerne impressed them, so they bought a 10-year-old house on 4 acres for about $500,000.

"We have a herd of deer, and we see wild turkeys, foxes, you name it," Claflin said.

Now their two kids, ages 9 and 14, go to public school. In Beaumont, they'd been home-schooled.

"We liked the idea of having our kids come back here after college, which probably wouldn't happen in Beaumont because there aren't as many opportunities there," he said. "San Antonio's economy is exploding, and that's going to continue. It really came down to the future of our children."

Click on this link to view the article on the San Antonio Express-News website.