Local News

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Twenty five years ago, Lucy and Roger Hanks purchased an undeniably beautiful piece of property on Onion Creek in Dripping Springs, Texas. It became a place where their son, Whit Hanks, and his family were able to experience idyllic weekends and cherished holidays. Here, Whit’s father taught granddaughter Louise how to drive—first on the ranch, and then on the country roads nearby. Grandfather and grandson Roger built all sorts of things together—a go-cart, a tree house, and a cable trolley (that ended up in the creek). The grandchildren learned how to hatch a goose egg, dive for rocks, and feed the Longhorn cattle.

When Whit’s now adult son Ian moved to Asia a few years ago, it would lead to an odyssey that, quite unexpectedly, would marry this Texas ranch with French Colonial buildings from Vietnam, and inspire Whit to open up the family’s “Camp Lucy” so others could experience the Hill Country dream.

Upon Ian’s suggestion, Whit visited Asia, including Hanoi in Vietnam. It was here he developed an appreciation for Vietnamese antiques, especially pieces from the French Colonial period. In an era that ran from roughly 1870 to 1950, France colonized Southeast Asia and, ultimately, developed Hanoi as the regional capital. The influence of France, a traditionally Catholic country, led to the conversion of many Vietnamese. After buying several hundred French Colonial figures of Catholic saints and importing them to his Austin antique store, Whit asked his trusted Vietnamese agent, Lai Manh Hung, how it came to be that so many of these actually quite rare antique figures happened to come on the market.

Whit learned that while the Catholic influence ebbed in the wake of the withdrawal of France in the 1950s, today, thanks to new leaders and new foreign investment, the Catholic Church is seeing a resurgence of interest and prosperity in Vietnam. Reinvigorated and refinanced, each village in the Catholic regions now seeks to upgrade their French Colonial-era church with a larger, modern church; when the older churches are sold, the saints are included with the purchase.

In December 2007, Whit and his wife Alison traveled to Vietnam to see some of the churches available for purchase. As a result of that visit, and after a long sea voyage, the first building arrived in America. Carefully disassembled and packed in sea-land containers, all the timbers and tiles had been painstakingly photographed, labeled, and provided with a diagram and video to show how the church would go back together for its new life in Dripping Springs. Along with the arduous task of reassembly, a new bell tower, based on the shape of other churches in Vietnam, was built by hand using stones harvested from the Camp Lucy property.

 About halfway through the restoration of the first chapel, Lai Manh Hung contacted Whit to let him know that another French Colonial church was available. This larger structure, with massive ironwood timbers, would be reborn in Dripping Springs as an open-air pavilion, a tribute to the joy of being outdoors at Camp Lucy. Also around this time, Whit heard rumor that the original 1920s Ludowici tile from the Bexar County Courthouse in downtown San Antonio might be available, as the courthouse was getting a new roof. Whit found the deep, green glaze of these antique tiles evoked an exotic feel and added an energy to the development. Installation of the Ludowici roof tiles is underway and once installation is complete, these will be the crowning glory for the pavilion.

Today, as Camp Lucy prepares to open the gates for weddings and special events - as the Old World-inspired battered brick courtyard is laid and copper gutters hung, catering kitchen rocked and stone arch raised - a dream shared comes closer to reality…