Tessa Carla Blog's: Treasure House in West Texas Has Booty Built Right Into the Walls

The walls of this West Texas house are a scavenger hunt of sorts.

“The Treasure House is what I call it. Everywhere you turn, there’s something to see, and you could make a game of it. A game of ‘I Spy’ would be really fun in there,” says the listing agent, Skye Farris with Legacy Real Estate.

Located way down in Terlingua, TX, the residence measures a modest 1,209 square feet, but nearly every bit of it is covered with stone and other treasures—inside and out.

“This is one or two lifetimes of treasures collected in the desert and then used to make one structure,” Farris says of the fascinating two-bedroom home.

Exterior of home in Terlingua, TX
Skye Farris

Most of the stones used in the home’s construction were sourced from the surrounding area. Interspersed with these stones are agates, crystals, geodes, fossils, petrified woods, and much, much more.

“There are household items from all over. There’s an old gun. It’s not functioning, I don’t think it has a trigger, but there’s a gun in the wall above the back door,” Farris says.

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Upon further review, you’ll also spot a camera, bottles, rotary phones, and many other items, wedged into the home’s walls.

“It’s like this endless loop of something to look at,” she adds. “Every time you look, you see something else. I’ve been over there several times, and I see something new every time I go.”

But it isn’t just the walls that make the home special. There’s whimsy as well.

“There’s a swing in the living room, which is kind of unique,” Farris says with a laugh, adding that she doesn’t know the story behind why it’s there.

Many of the windows have distinctive shapes and many are stained glass, which the agent notes adds to the eclectic feel.

“There’s so much to look at,” she says.

The amenities are a bit rustic, but Farris says the place is well-appointed, including solar power and water.

“It’s equipped with two bedrooms, a bathroom, shower, toilet, and septic system. It has everything you need—and a swing set, in case you get bored, and a couple of fireplaces, in case you get cold.”

The custom-built home sits on a small part of this 20-acre plot in the Texas foothills.

“The pictures don’t do it justice. When you’re standing on the ground, the mountains seem closer, and it’s 360 degrees of mountains,” the agent explains. “So in every direction that you turn, there’s a different mountain and different view, and every hour of the day, it changes, because the sun hits the mountains differently. The shadows and the lights dance on them and make different patterns.”

The property is unrestricted and very private.

“This is one of those great spots where you could literally take a bath in the front yard and not have to worry,” Farris says, noting that a bathtub has already been planted in front of the house. “The home actually sits on the back corner of the property, so I would say 85% to 90% of the property is still available to use.”

Farris says the perfect buyer would be someone who appreciates the hand-built house for what it is.

“It took somebody a lot of time to collect the rocks and then to put them all together to make something out of it and make it still functioning and beautiful,” she says. “That takes an artist’s eye and appreciation.”

As for coming up with her favorite thing about the house, Farris is at a loss at this question: “There are so many things about the house that are so cool. It’s hard to just say, ‘Oh, this is the neatest thing.’ Everything that it is made of is kind of a time capsule.”