The Ice Cream Mansion

The ice cream mansion? A massive luxury "farm house" in Blue Bell country hits the market for $1.49 million

Editor's Note: Houston, the surrounding areas and beyond are loaded with must-have houses and properties for sale in all shapes, sizes and price ranges. In this continuing series, CultureMap snoops through some of the best and gives you the lowdown on what's hot on the market.

Experience a gentler, less-hurried way of life at the 10-acre Morning Glory Farm, a serene outpost within the hills and valleys of the historic Texas Independence Trail Region in the Blue Bell Ice Cream haven of Brenham, now for sale at $1,497,500 as a family vacation destination, corporate retreat or even a bed and breakfast.

A bit of background
The country estate began more than 35 years ago when previous owners, seeking to create a weekend get-away, moved a historic 1925 Washington County school house onto the land. Renovations followed when the present owners purchased the property in 1997 and added modern plumbing and electricity to the already spacious home.

Pasture meadows and an organic garden are part of the country experience.

They crowned the country gem Morning Glory Farm and set about further transforming the house and grounds into the attractive, manicured yet natural multi-structure estate that it is today.

Walk through
Native Loblolly pines line the front drive from the gate at FM 390 North to the main house as well as a guest cottage and bunkhouse, now part of the compound and fashioned after the remodeled school house. A meadow of Bahia grass and wildflowers and a constant-level pond with fountain, lighted pier and gazebo also welcome owners to the retreat.

The main house features a Texas-style front porch, opening to 15-foot ceilings, hand-sawed hardwood floors and a generously sized living and dining area with banks of windows. The updated kitchen includes artisan tile countertops and an island with pull-up seating.

The master suite extends to a sitting area and an office, with the master bath boasting double sinks, shower, jetted tub and a walk-in closet. Two secondary bedrooms, one with a play loft, share a Hollywood bathroom.

Perfect for extended family and guests, the guesthouse offers five bedrooms and three bathrooms, an open living and dining area and a fully equipped kitchen. The bunkhouse has an open kitchenette, living and dining rooms and a large dormitory-style bedroom sharing a Hollywood bath with the main living area. Both cozy structures come complete with deep front porches to relax on while catching a country breeze and taking in views of the property.

Step outside
Amenities abound in the great out-of-doors, including a grotto pool with a waterfall, wide stone terraces meandering from house to house and a gazebo with school bell to ring to rally guests inside for a hearty, home-cooked meal. Pasture meadows and an organic garden are part of the country experience. Horses are allowed at this leisure ranch. The two-car garage is detached.

Notes: Morning Glory Farm is only 75 minutes from Houston and 10 minutes from the Brenham airport. The estate includes two irrigation systems and two water wells. An additional adjacent 20 acres at Morning Glory Farm are available and may be purchased separately.

Square footage: 2,606 (main house)

Asking price: $1,497,500

Listing agent:Robert Frank, Martha Turner Sotheby's International Realty

Ring the school bell at the gazebo, located at the corner of the main house, when meals are ready.

17 On the Market Morning Glory Farm in Brenham November 2014

Photo courtesy of © TK Images

Ring the school bell at the gazebo, located at the corner of the main house, when meals are ready.

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The American dream

Houston oil-and-gas billionaire ranks among America's top 100 landowners

HMNS Great Outdoors Gala 2022 Russell and Glenda Gordy and Red FJ Cruiser

Photo by Jenny Antill

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Texas covers more than 260,000 square miles of land, equivalent to nearly 250 Rhode Islands. Put another way, the Lone Star State encompasses about 166.4 million acres, equivalent to more than 305,000 average Texas farms.

Given those eye-popping figures, it shouldn’t be a shocker that about one-fourth of the country’s mega-owners of private land have ties to Texas, either living here or owning land here (or both). That’s according to The Land Report’s 2025 list of the country’s top private landowners.

The highest-ranked Houstonian is oil-and-gas billionaire Russell Gordy (No. 76). He owns 212,000 acres of ranchland in Texas, Montana, and Wyoming. Gordy’s portfolio includes the 1,300-acre Rock Creek Ranch, which features property near Copperas Cove and Llano, and the 19,000-acre La Ceniza Ranch near Uvalde. He sits on the Texas State University System Board of Regents.

Statewide, the highest-ranked Texan on the list is billionaire Stan Kroenke, who owns more than 1.76 million acres across the country. His empire includes about 60 million square feet of real estate, the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, and the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. He appears at No. 4 in the ranking.

Kroenke’s largest property apparently is Waggoner Ranch, a property northwest of Wichita Falls that he bought in 2016. The Land Report says the ranch comprises 560,000 acres; other media reports put the acreage at 535,000. Kroenke also owns land in Nevada and Wyoming.

Billionaire Stan Kroenke owns Texas' massive Waggoner Ranch. Photo courtesy of Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty

Other notable Texas-related landowners in The Land Report’s top 100 (along with their national rankings) include:

Jeff Bezos (No. 23). The Miami-based billionaire founder of Amazon owns the 165,000-acre Corn Ranch, north of Van Horn, which is about 120 miles west of Fort Stockton. It’s a launch site for his Blue Origin aerospace company. In all, Bezos owns about 462,000 acres of land in the U.S.

Bass family (No. 38). Oil-and-gas billionaires Ed, Lee, Robert, and Sid Bass of Fort Worth control family holdings that include 285,000 acres of land. In 2017, the family sold 275,000 acres of Permian Basin oilfields to Spring-based ExxonMobil for $6.6 billion.

Taylor Sheridan (No. 49). The Yellowstone and Landman producer owns 267,000 acres spread across several ranches. The millionaire’s land holdings include the 206,000-acre 6666 Ranch near Lubbock and the 282-acre Bosque Ranch in Weatherford, which he calls home. Sheridan, an alumnus of Texas State University, grew up in Fort Worth and on a ranch in Cranfills Gap, roughly 90 miles northwest of Waco.

Taylor Sheridan, Nicole Muirbrook 'Yellowstone' creator Taylor Sheridan is one of the biggest landowners in Texas. Getty Images

Stewart and Lynda Resnick (No. 87). The California-based billionaire couple owns 196,775 acres in Texas and California. Brands under the umbrella of their business, The Wonderful Co., include Fiji Water, POM Wonderful pomegranate juice, Wonderful Pistachios, and flower delivery service Teleflora.

texas home-for-sale luxury ranch for sale billionaires