Applehead The year was 1971. At that time, the 2,400-acre Wennmohs ranch, located on property which fronted Lake LBJ and on which Applehead Island now sits, came up for sale. It had been in the Wennmohs family for 115 years. Marble Falls Realtor John Nunnally, handling the sale, was hopeful that someone who cared about aesthetics would purchase the land. It wasn't long before he discovered that ideal someone. He had watched Horseshoe Bay form under the discriminating — and artistic — hand of Norman Hurd. Impressed with the care and creativity with which Hurd personally landscaped and developed the property, Nunnally decided to approach him as a buyer. The following year Hurd purchased the acreage and added 1,530 acres to it to complete the area now known as Horseshoe Bay West, Applehead and Applehead Island. Eleven years later, on May 9, 1983, Horseshoe Bay Applehead, Inc. began the development of Applehead Island through a purchase option agreement with Norman Hurd, trustee. April of that year saw its completion. Originally the island was not an island at all. It became one through an enormous amount of planning and labor — and no small expense. Creating it involved removing thick undergrowth and many large boulders and dredging 400,000 cubic yards — or 540 tons — of earth to an average depth of seven feet. This changed the existing shoreline of 8,300 linear feet to 13,415 linear feet. Work crews labored 10 hours a day for approximately six months to accomplish the ambitious feat. Altering the shoreline required the approval of four agencies: the Department of the Army Corps of Engineers, the Texas Department of Water Resources, the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife and the Lower Colorado River Authority. They granted permission with the stipulation that all of the excavated soil had to go back into the lake. This was in order to help maintain the lake's constant level. Originally, Hurd planned to bulkhead the entire new shoreline with stone walls to prevent erosion, but the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife, concerned that this might upset the nesting habits of fish in the existing rip rap along the shore, would not agree to the walls. Finally, however, both parties reached a compromise: the TDPW would keep its 8,300 linear feet of rip rap, and Hurd could bulkhead the additional 5,115 linear feet which the new shoreline created. From the start, it was Hurd's intention to establish the $20 million, 80- acre luxury residential resort community as the most exclusive address in the country. And so, after creating the island's off-shore position, he immediately set about applying his artistic genius to every square foot of the acreage, sparing no expense. As a result, Applehead Island shines with unique — and expensive — features. In the words of San Antonio millionaire and entrepreneur Douglas Jaffe, who built an estate there in 1986 and recently acquired the entire island development, "It's the Beverly Hills of Texas." This is not hard to believe. The multi-level Applehead Island club and recreation complex, for instance, offers facilities for swimming, tennis and social activities. Built at a cost of $1.5 million, it features an unusual black, 136,000-gallon swimming pool, the largest in Horseshoe Bay. A stream forms several waterfalls as it cascades through dense tropical gardens and makes several turns before emptying into the pool. Standing in the last waterfall are two life-size copper flamingos, specially executed for the falls. Looming out of the pool below, several giant boulders transported from miles away and placed on reinforced cement "pedestals" at great cost, add a custom touch. Large imported palm trees surround the pool and grow in an island in the pool. The bridge which connects the mainland to Applehead Island also cost $1.5 million. Two multiplate arches, each approximately 23 feet wide, support this stone and sand-blasted concrete structure and allow ample room for boat traffic beneath. Residents may either drive across the bridge or walk across under a covered, amply lighted walkway, an integral part of the bridge design. To create the approximately 8,000 linear feet of red streets and black curbs required adding 125,000 pounds of pigment to the concrete. These steel-reinforced streets, which the Applehead Island Property Owners Association owns, are five inches thick. Sandblasted concrete and copper street markers, installed at a cost of approximately $1,900 each, are unique to the island. But the real charm of Applehead Island lies in its highly creative landscape features, amenities which set the development apart from other world-class communities. Hurd used over 17,000 plants, ranging from tall palms to one-gallon nursery stock, to bring his vision to reality. This vision also included special large, sandblasted concrete planters — 33 of them — and lantern cubes, all of which display the apple-in-a-horseshoe logo on their four sides. Designed and executed especially for the project, these containers cost $6,000 apiece. To compliment his black ribbon curbs, Hurd applied some 400 gallons of special black acid to the stones of the sea walls, retaining walls and building veneers. This acidizing process turned the naturally brown stones, over 4,600,000 pounds of them, black. Hurd introduced yet another color to complete the effect he desired. This is the gray in 3,000 custom-designed aluminum castings installed as a part of the architecture of each amenity structure on the island. A firm in Tennessee cast them at a total cost of approximately $100,000. The sandblasted concrete walls add to the special effects evident throughout the island. To achieve this particular effect required 195,000 pounds of sand and many man-hours. All utilities are underground. Hurd included music and special lighting as part of the special effects of Applehead Island. Melodious strains emitting from speakers concealed in the shrubbery greet those approaching the entry. Crossing the bridge affords the same pleasing audio experience. Rows of small landscape lights, on both sides of the entry, both sides of the bridge and surrounding the swimming pool-clubhouse complex on three sides, bring a touch of nighttime magic visible a great distance away. Other lights, some of them of various hues, all of them strategically located, illuminate trees and shrubbery throughout. Lamps of special intensity spotlight the island's several tall towers, and underwater lights enhance the black-walled swimming pool. Residents of Applehead Island need not worry about security. The development offers, at no extra cost, the benefits of exclusiveness and protection via a $250,000 security system which features the latest in security hardware. This computerized system is capable of monitoring each house for burglaries, fires and other emergencies. Two radio-equipped Spartan Roadster security cars and a 22-foot Starfire security boat increase these capabilities. In addition, six video cameras, installed at critical locations across the island, monitor boat and automobile traffic 24 hours a day. The state-of-the-art security system is located in the manned guardhouse at the gated entrance, where several video screens constantly expose different sections of the entire island simultaneously, so that no section is ever out of view. This system enables the security officer to respond to any emergency on the island within 30 seconds. A security guard stationed in the guardhouse, along with a card-entry system, provide exclusive entrance to the island 24 hours a day, insuring the utmost in privacy and protection. Through the card-entry system, those entering can release the locked gates by inserting a special plastic card into a mechanical card reader accessible from their vehicle. Exit from the island is through gates that slide open as the vehicle travels over a sensor implanted in the roadway. Applehead Island boasts only 187 lots, 33 of which are waterfront. Each averages from 10,000 to 19,000 square feet and range in price according to their size and location. At the time of the island's debut in 1986, it was believed that this high ratio of waterfront property exceeded all other like developments in Texas, and that, in terms of cost-per-square-foot to develop, it was the most expensive land development in the United States. |
