Art Retreats at the Iron horse Inn Granbury

We had a wonderful time here at the Qiang Huang Oil Painting retreat last weekend! Qiang is not just a talented artist, but a very good teacher too. All of the participants loved his style of teaching and said they learned far more with him than with many other workshops they have attended.








These are the two beautiful works of art Qiang produced at the workshop during his demonstrations.











Workshop participants try out Qiang's techniques.

Qiang was a really patient and inspiring teacher - all of the participants learned a lot from him.

Qiang produces a painting a day for the Daily Painter - To view more of his work visit his blog

Fairytale wedding at the Iron Horse Inn Granbury

We were delighted to host the beautiful wedding of Holly and Jason Anderson yesterday. We couldn't have asked for a sweeter couple - Holly looked stunning and Jason was obviously a proud new husband!
The Iron Horse inn is the perfect setting for a wedding, with lots of space for guests in our lush green gardens.
The ceremony took place on the large sheltered porch, with guests seated in rows of chairs on the lawn at the front of our historic home.This is a picture of the stunning bride through the historic leaded glass of our porch windows. This picture of the wedding ceremony was taken from our living room window!
The lovely horse drawn carriage was provided by the Brazos Carriage company
We were delighted with the lovely singing voice of the wedding singer, Melissa Hubenak, her performancewas especially meaningful and moving as she is the sister of the bride!



Two princesses at a fairytale wedding!!


These young ladies were a perfect picture!The Iron Horse Inn - a perfect setting for a fairytale wedding!

Family re-unions at the Iron Horse Inn Granbury Texas

We love to host family gatherings and reunions here at the Iron Horse Inn, in Granbury Texas. We recently had a family re union of 24 people for an 80th birthday celebration. The family had a wonderful time and we loved having them stay with us. Here is one of the lovely reviews we received from a family member - "Its a great location for a family get together. the food was fantastic and the accommodations very comfortable!"

We have all sorts of combination of family get together - this group of 3 sisters -complete with matching tee shirts - enjoyed spending time together and catching up with each others lives. they loved their stay with us and we loved having them here! We have had grandmother, daughter, granddaughter groups stay with us and many sister groups. We recently had 5 cousins stay with us and enjoy catching up with each other in lovely relaxing surroundings.

This mother and daughter getaway were a delight to host and their lovely review said - "This establishment would be great to rent out for a group or family re union, as well as a private getaway for husbands and wives or mothers and daughters"

Why not try a getaway here yourself - gather some of your close family members and spend a night or two being pampered and enjoying some special time with the ones you love.

Soon Ye Warren Workshop at the Iron Horse Inn Granbury

These are just some of the comments from the participants of our Sun Ye Warren Watercolor workshop, here at the Iron Horse Inn in Granbury over this past weekend:

"We loved the class and feeling so at home here!"

"This was a wonderful renewing experience -
beautiful, comfortable place, great hospitality and food"


"The setting was delightful"



We were delighted to be able to work with Linda Watkins and Stacy Watkins of Your Private Collection Art Gallery, here on Granbury's historic square. They organized a fabulous event and brought in the number one water color artist in the country, Soon Ye Warren to teach this workshop.



We had a wonderful group of very talented artists take this workshop and all were delighted with Soon Ye's teaching technique and her incredible talent.



Some of the participants stayed here at the Iron Horse Inn Historic Bed and Breakfast and enjoyed the comfortable beds and great 3 course breakfasts each morning. All of the participants enjoyed lunch everyday in the historic house and snacks brought to the studio every afternoon. Everyone loved the constant supply of great coffee we provided!

Antiques at Historic bed and breakfast in granbury

We are blessed to have a wonderful collection of beautiful and interesting antiques here at the Iron horse Inn in Granbury Texas.
The house has a historic marker and was built in 1907. What is particularly interesting about this house is that there are so many antiques here which are original to the Cogdell family who built the house over a hundred years ago.Some date to the 1880's from the original family home that burned down in 1905.

All of the light fixtures in the house are original - this is a fine example of the elegant craftsman style from the living room.







This exquisite wall light appears to be a bronze but is in fact hand carved wood and is original to this house. It is on display in the upstairs hallway.




This beautiful old bookcase with curved glass is one of the items of furniture which was saved from the original house fire in 1905. It dates back to the 1880's as does this lovely old sofa.











Guests love to hear the history of this charming old house while sitting around this 1880's solid oak mission dining room table. The entire dining room set was rescued from the house fire, and is in beautiful condition.


Guests are always amazed to see this old clawfoot tub, which is in the Cogdell suite. It is almost 7" long and was ordered specially by Daniel Cogdell, the original owner of the house - he was 6'4" tall and needed a long bath tub! We regularly have male guests tell us what a treat it is to take a soak in a tub that they can finally fit in!

This lovely example of an Edison record player was purchased by the Cogdell's in 1923 , it still has a large collection of its original records and plays beautifully. Guests love to hear it play as a special treat during breakfast! Come along and stay with us at the Iron horse inn and see these and many more beautiful antiques for yourself.







Why not take advantage of our midweek special of $99 for our rooms and enjoy a relaxing and fascinating stay!

Artists in Granbury Texas

Guests who stay here at the Iron horse Inn regularly ask me if I am an artist, because I have opened an artistic retreat center. I always answer "No, I like to dabble". this is true - over the years I have enjoyed dabbling in many art forms, including dress design, drawing, painting, dollhousing, quilting, gardening and Italian figurines.



While living in Italy for 4 years, I became fascinated by these wonderful nativity scenes and was delighted to be able to take a class with two masters of the art, in Naples. Over a period of 18 months I managed to create this one. While it will never be a patch on the work of the masters, it was a real joy to do!









I have always had a fascination with miniatures and dollhouses, so when I decided to embark on this project, I was very excited at the prospect. 4 years later I had completed this dollhouse. I had a ball finding miniature items to put into the house as well as finding ways to create items for the rooms and gardens. This house is mounted on a lazy susan, and guests at the bed and breakfast love to turn it around and look into all of the rooms at the huge number of tiny objects inside!

From the time I was a small child I have had a passion for fabric and sewing. Patchwork always held a particular fascination for me and in recent years the discovery of the "art quilt" form of patchwork has been a joy. this quilt is a "watercolor patchwork" and is based on the Monet Waterlilies painting. I particularly love the work of Lenore Crawford and Esterita Austin, who specialize in creating paintings from fabrics. Esterita will be offering a workshop here in December.

As you can see, I have dabbled quite a bit over the years and while I have not become a master of any art form, I have truly enjoyed trying! That is why I am so excited about having an art retreat center here at the Iron horse Inn - I love to be surrounded by artists who have mastered their art form. I look forward to every artist who comes to stay here.

Delicious Irish Breakfasts at a Granbury Bed and Breakfast!

One of the many things that our guests rave about here at the Iron horse Inn is our delicious 3 course breakfasts and our tasty desserts. Every guest is treated to a fresh baked dessert and a glass of wine or soda, when they arrive.




One of the most popular fresh baked desserts is these delicious Irish Fruit Scones, with strawberry jam and fresh whipped cream. Guests love them!









Another favorite with all of our guests are our delicious Irish Potato Pancakes and bacon for breakfast. This is recipe that is regularly requested.










A speciality of the house and one of Paul's creations, is our wonderful Eggs Benedict. Guests feel they are being treated to something really special when they tuck into this breakfast item!


Of course no breakfast would be complete without fresh fruit, and here at the Iron horse Inn, we pride ourselves on the delicious, nutritious and beautifully presented fruit plates. They can be a work of art on occasion!

Come along and try out our wonderful breakfasts for yourself. You won't be disappointed!