Black Cap Heaven

Located a short 5 miles outside Harper, TX, the ranch is only 23 miles west of the very popular central Texas town of Fredericksburg, 1.5 hours from San Antonio, and 2 hours from Austin; Black Cap Heaven is ideally located for a vacation home or permanent residence.

The ranch has a unique, significant and intact high quality shinnery habitat covering about 2/3 of the property providing foraging and nesting opportunities for many songbirds. This unique habitat also provides an effective nursery allowing tree and brush species to become established and thrive. As a result, native vegetation on the ranch is very diverse, with highlights including shin oak, escarpment black cherry, Texas Redbud, several other oak species, bumelia, hackberry and a few juniper.  Abundant native grasses include side oats grama (which happens to be the state grass of Texas), Canada Wildrye, purple three-awn, yellow indian and hooded windmill grasses.   Additionally, the topography on the ranch is gently rolling providing pleasant hiking opportunities for the enjoyment of the property.  The hilltop horizon views are spectacular. The ranch is protected in perpetuity by a conservation easement, the intent of which is to preserve  the property’s significant conservation values.  These values are related to the unique ecological features found on the property that include hydrologic, wildlife, and plant resources, as well as scenic and open space values. Contact Broker for more details regarding the conservation easement.

Birdlife (avifauna) of the area is very diverse and impressive.  A field checklist published by Texas Parks and Wildlife entitled “Birds of the Edwards Plateau” (https://tpwd.texas.gov/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_bk_p4000_0667.pdf ) includes 431 species – one of the best-known of this list is the namesake black-capped vireo.   Native mammalian wildlife in the area include species such as white-tailed deer, fox squirrel, armadillo, porcupine, raccoon, grey fox, bobcat, coyote, and many more.

The ranch is unimproved at this time; however, the conservation easement identifies two building envelopes where improvements can be constructed.  There are an existing water well and a septic tank (unknown condition), as well as existing electric power in one of the building envelopes. The other building envelope does not have any infrastructure in place. The ranch is perimeter fenced with 3 sides being standard height and the north boundary being high fenced.

During the baseline visit, a Gower split stem spear point was discovered along the ridge of the highest point on the property. This spear point is attributed to the Early Archaic period, dating back approximately 8,500 to 7,000 years Before Present (B.P.). This spear point provides valuable insights into the historical and cultural importance of the property as it signifies the presence of indigenous peoples, who inhabited the area during the Early Archaic period, engaging in activities such as hunting and gathering.