The Castell Hill Country Gallery was recently featured in an article by Texas Highways.
By Sallie Lewis for Texas Highways, June 2025
In the rolling hills of Llano County, the town of Castell beckons with its goldfinch-yellow general store and off-the-grid charm. Despite its pint-size population—roughly 100 by last census count—and its blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appeal, this quaint ranching community is now home to a burgeoning art scene thanks to the Castell Hill Country Gallery and Museum and the opening of a new artist residency just up the road.
Rachel Farrington is the multi-disciplinary artist, designer, and visionary behind La Cuna Center, a 16.5-acre nonprofit arts and ecology complex focused on addressing the nuances and challenges of contemporary life. The project, which sits northwest of Castell on the artist’s family’s land, is composed of a series of structures in progress, all hand-built by Farrington, her husband, and their teenage son.
Together with architect Riley Triggs, AIA, and with help from Kelly Purkey, a refuge manager at Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge, Farrington is bringing a deep-seated dream to life. The motive? To reconnect people to themselves, the land, and its natural cycles through the intersection of art, architecture, and environmental stewardship.
