Day Trips

Photos by Gerald E. Mcleod

Carved Stone rocks. The company, housed in a tin barn and a cabinlike shop deep in the woods on the southern edge of Dripping Springs is known for its native Texas stone awards.

If you have retired from state government or won an award since the late Nineties, chances are good you received one of Michele and Philip Hoggatt's engraved stars or Texas-shaped awards cut from limestone. If you didn't, you need to go back to the retirement committee and demand justice.

But the artisans create so much more than just trophies. They also make planters, lamps, clocks, bookends, and other items that give home decor a local feel. Just about all of their products are made from creme and fossil limestone quarried near Jarrell or red Pecos sandstone. They even have a set of accessories carved from stone rescued from the Texas State Capitol restoration.

That's how the company began. Philip's brother was renovating an old building at Southwestern University in Georgetown. Rather than let the discarded stone go to the landfill, Philip turned it into planters, lamps, and bookends. "We hit every craft show we could find to sell them," Michele says.

Carved Stone is at 5300 Bell Springs Rd. off US 290, in Dripping Springs. The retail shop opens Monday through Friday from 8am to 4:30pm. It's worth the drive just to see the sculpture garden. For information, call 512/858-5665 or go to www.carved-stone.com.

1,166th in a series. Collect them all. Day Trips, Vol. 2, a book of "Day Trips," is available for $8.95, plus $3.05 for shipping, handling, and tax. Mail to: Day Trips, PO Box 33284, South Austin, TX 78704.