The Crystal River Inn

Cathy and Mike Dillon, owners of the Crystal River Inn, recently announced their intentions to sell the historic buildings that make up the downtown bed and breakfast, but not without some celebration and not without a little criteria for the next owners.

Cathy and Mike Dillon moved to San Marcos and opened the doors to the inn almost 35 years ago, when the downtown was still a ways away from the thriving, clean and bustling place it is now. According to Cathy Dillon, many of the shops and homes around downtown were empty, some boarded up.

“When we first moved here, this block was derelict, everything on it was closed, boarded up; the house that was across the street had just burned, so nothing was there. The sorority house was, at that time, abandoned. The whole block was pretty awful,” Dillon said. “But when we started putting this place together bit by bit, I think it spread to the whole block. And it’s been really fun to watch the downtown, in recent years with all of it’s changes, turn into a really beautiful and thriving downtown.”

Despite the Dillons opening the Crystal River Inn, the bed and breakfast industry was not what brought them to San Marcos; It was actually canoeing. The Dillons were living and working in Houston in the early 1980s. Cathy Dillon, a nurse by profession, worked in cardiac care and Mike Dillon was working in real estate and property management.

“We’d leave Houston and drive to San Marcos and Tom and Paula Goynes had a canoe livery in Martindale, so we’d always go there on Friday night and load up the boats and head out to all the rivers all over the Hill Country,” Cathy Dillon said.

The weekend canoe trips went on for several years before the Dillons decided San Marcos should be their homebase. In August of 1983 Mike Dillon took a position managing high-rise office buildings in Austin and the Dillons made the decision to move to San Marcos.

One of the things the Crystal River Inn became known for are their weekend murder mystery parties. This group came together to celebrate a birthday in their period attire. From left to right are Zia Haq, Angie Buford, Sommer Lashomb, Dominique De La Rosa, Mayuri Bhakti, Payal Haq, CJ Angelilli, Kendra Baker, Wilder Lopez and E. Agrait.

Earlier that same year, they came to San Marcos and began to look for a house. They didn’t have the inclination to start a bed and breakfast, but according to Cathy Dillon, when she laid eyes on the house at 326 W. Hopkins St. thoughts started percolating. They were in the midst of the adoption process for their oldest daughter Sarah, Cathy Dillon was looking for a way to be at home more when she arrived, and the idea to own and operate a bed and breakfast in the Texas Hill Country really started taking root.

Cathy Dillon said several things about the house stood out to her, and still do. The home has its original longleaf pine — or heart pine — flooring and all the door frames and transom windows are original to the home. Some things were added later, like the covered porch and columns in front of the house – which are partially constructed with horsehair and plaster – but even with the later additions, almost every architectural element of the house is over 100 years old. But the thing that sold her wasn’t the original

floors, frames or fixtures; it was a fish pond and a courtyard.

“We saw this house and we looked around inside, and I really liked it, and then we went outside the back and the fish pond is what did it for me,” she said. “There was something about that courtyard and that fish pond that just said this place is it, it’s too cool.”

Dillon said the more she looked at the house the more a bed and breakfast made sense, the rooms and layout just worked for the purpose. It was only in studying its history that she gained some idea of why this house came so well-suited for being an inn.

The main house of the Crystal River Inn is a two-story frame house that was built in 1884 for Judge William Daniel Wood and his wife Jane Lamberth Wood.

With the teams split up, Angie Buford, Kendra Baker, Dominique De La Rosa and Payal Haq look over the last clue in the back garden to try and find out what happened.

Wood had a political career in the State House and subsequently in the Senate in 1876. Wood was also appointed District Judge for Leon, Madison, Walker Grimes, Trinity and Angelina counties. In May of 1883, Wood and his wife moved to San Marcos from Centreville, Texas and proceeded to build the house on West Hopkins Street, a property they purchased while he had briefly practiced law in the area. Wood was eventually forced to retire due to poor health.

Upon Wood's death on May 11, 1906, he was described as “one of our wealthiest citizens” who “rose from the 'ranks’ in every sense of the word,” according to a newspaper article from that year. He was president of the Wood National Bank, an institution named after him, and being honored with all kinds of office from school trustee to senator, teacher, attorney and judge, political figure, banker and historian. He was mourned by the entire city of San Marcos, as the 1906 account reads, "The funeral was held Saturday morning, all the places of business and the State Normal being closed during the services and the procession being the longest in the history of this place.”

With Wood’s death, the house on West Hopkins Street was inherited by his niece Sue Harrison Stocker, or "Aunt Sue," as she came to be known. It was Stocker who first remodeled the home adding, among other things, the large columns along the front. And it was she who ran the place as a boarding house for many years, catering primarily to women faculty from the Southwest Texas State Normal School.

“This house, this inn has been such an incredibly significant part of our lives, and I feel like this building is a significant part of San Marcos’ life, so that’s why even though it’s time for us to move on, I really just want the right person to come in behind us. We would love to know that the building is in good hands, so we’re looking for the right people.”

Zia Haq and E. Agrait pose together for a photo in their period attire before heading out for dinner.

The Dillons closed on the house on Dec. 31, 1983 and left their home in Houston on Feb. 10, 1983, expecting to have several weeks to get the house set up for their soonto-arrive adopted daughter. She happened to arrive long before due date though, only two days after they moved into their new home.

According to Cathy Dillon, they have raised all three of their children under the roof of the Crystal River Inn, hosted family Christmases and weddings. But after 35 years, they’ve decided that it’s time for them to retire and to travel.

“Mike’s loves to travel, so I think he’s got itchy feet and he wants to go places, and I want to go to,” she said.

But they aren’t selling the inn to just anyone. They aren’t holding out for someone that will necessarily keep the inn, but rather someone that has a heart for historic preservation.

“This house, this inn has been such an incredibly significant part of our lives, and I feel like this building is a significant part of San Marcos’ life, so that’s why even though it’s time for us to move on, I really just want the right person to come in behind us,” Cathy Dillon said. “So we would love to know that the building is in good hands, so we’re looking for the right people.”

According to Dillon, the main thing that they’re looking for is someone who has a love for preservation.

“I think it’s really important for the culture of San Marcos, because we’re right here at the doorway to the historic district and I think we’re going to hold out until we find that kind of person.”

The Inn is made up of several buildings. The main house of the Crystal River Inn is the Wood House, built in 1884. The Thomas House, next door to the main house, and the former stable house behind it, were built in the 1920s; and the Rock House was built around 1935, according to Cathy Dillon. All six buildings, including a small duplex, are for sale, but they are willing to sell them separately.

The Crystal River Inn is not going out without a celebration though, Cathy Dillon plans on hosting several Murder Mystery parties – something the inn has become known for over the years. All the mysteries weekend-long events that are based on historical figures of Hays County. Perioddress, sleuthing and mystery are all a part of the fun. The next one will be on New Year’s Eve and locals can receive a discount on the price. For more information about the Crystal River Inn or to attend a Murder Mystery Weekend, call 512-396-3739.