#fencinglife

Fencing: Repose! In this vintage print from 1901 a female fencer sits at rest. Reproduced from hand colored, wood engraving print.

1. The Project or Problem

Earlier this fall, we visited a home tucked along one of those winding Fair Oaks Ranch streets where the trees seem to hug the road and the cedar gives everything that warm Hill Country scent. The homeowners—a couple who had recently moved from a denser neighborhood in San Antonio—stood in their spacious backyard looking both grateful and overwhelmed. They loved the openness, the natural slope, even the occasional deer wandering past the fence line. But their yard didn’t feel like a space they could actually live in.

The existing fence was an aging patchwork of ranch-style rails and mismatched panels left by previous owners. Some sections leaned, some had gaps wide enough for the neighbor’s dog to visit unannounced, and some didn’t offer privacy at all. Beyond that, the yard’s layout felt a little too exposed—almost like the landscape was watching them instead of the other way around.

What made this project interesting wasn’t just the condition of the fence. It was the couple’s vision. They didn’t want a fortress. They didn’t want to hide from the land around them. They wanted a boundary that honored the character of Fair Oaks Ranch, protected their peace, and blended into the oaks and limestone-scattered terrain instead of sitting on top of it.

Walking the property with them, we noticed how different the sunlight fell from morning to late afternoon, how the deer trails ran along the back slope, and how the wind moved through the cedar posts still standing from the original ranch fencing. It was the kind of yard that practically asked to be fenced with intention—something that respects the land and supports the way people live in it.

2. The Discovery

When we returned to the shop later that day, we found ourselves looking through our site’s Fair Oaks Ranch, TX page again—specifically the section about how fencing in this part of Bexar County needs to account for local terrain, wildlife, and the community’s design preferences. It’s funny how even pages we wrote ourselves come back around as reminders.

That page talks about the balance between privacy and openness that many homeowners in Fair Oaks Ranch prefer—how properties here often benefit from fences that are sturdy and secure but carry a softer, more natural aesthetic. It made us think about cedar pickets, horizontal lines, earthier stains, and layouts that flow with the land instead of fighting it.

Revisiting that guide helped us refine what we already felt: the right fence for this couple wasn’t going to be a typical city-block privacy wall. It needed to feel handcrafted and quiet, almost like it grew there.

3. What It Made Us Think

There’s something about Fair Oaks Ranch that encourages slower thinking. Maybe it’s the way the homes sit comfortably apart, or how the oak canopies filter the sunlight into moving patterns, or how you always hear at least one distant bird call when you’re walking a property. Whatever it is, this project reminded us that fencing isn’t just construction—it’s placement, atmosphere, and respect.

We thought a lot about how people relate to their outdoor spaces when they move somewhere quieter than what they’re used to. City backyards are about containment; Hill Country backyards are about coexistence. Where a tall privacy fence might feel necessary in San Antonio or Helotes, in Fair Oaks Ranch it can feel almost intrusive.

This project helped us appreciate how homeowners don’t always want to shut the world out—they just want to feel rooted in their own space. They want the dog to be safe, the kids to have their play zone, the deer to pass by without stepping into the flower beds, and still be able to watch the sunset without a literal wall blocking the sky.

We also found ourselves thinking about topography more than usual. Fair Oaks Ranch has this gentle rolling quality that looks effortless but can cause havoc with fence lines if you don’t plan ahead. Instead of forcing straight, level lines, we looked for ways to let the fence follow the natural rise and fall of the land. Those subtle choices—stepping the panels, adjusting the posts, choosing the right board heights—turned the concept into something that felt alive.

And maybe that was the biggest reminder of all: good fencing in places like this is less about control and more about harmony.

4. Small Wins or Plans

We settled on a design that blended cedar pickets with a slightly modern touch—horizontal lines in key areas to maintain openness and vertical pickets where privacy mattered most. The couple didn’t want everything hidden, so the back perimeter facing the greenbelt got a more open structure, while the sides facing neighboring homes became more solid but still warm-looking.

Installing the fence felt like a collaboration with the land. Every time we hit limestone under the soil, we made small adjustments. Every time the tree canopy dipped low in one corner and opened wide in another, we stepped the structure so the view stayed intact. The homeowners came outside during the build every couple of hours—curious, excited, almost like they were watching a long-awaited room of their home being built.

One unexpected win came on the second day: a pair of deer walked right along the fence line, paused, and continued their usual route without seeming alarmed or blocked. It was a small moment, but it made the homeowners smile in that way that says, Yes. This is what we wanted.

By the time we finished staining the cedar, the whole space looked more intentional. The yard didn’t feel smaller; it felt clearer. The boundaries made sense, and the homeowners told us they could finally imagine hosting friends, letting their dog play without worry, and maybe planting a garden on the east side next spring.

Sometimes the best outcome isn’t dramatic—it’s peaceful.

5. Wrap-Up / Reflection

Driving away from that Fair Oaks Ranch property after the final walkthrough, we found ourselves thinking about how fences can do their job quietly. They don’t always need to be the focal point. Sometimes they’re the supporting character that lets everything else shine.

Projects like this one remind us why we love working in communities across Bexar County. Every yard has its own story, and every homeowner has their own version of home they’re trying to create. And every so often, a project comes along that teaches us something—about design, about the land, about the way people connect with outdoor space when they finally feel like it belongs to them.

We left that day with the smell of fresh cedar on our clothes and the sense that something simple had shifted for those homeowners—a new beginning marked by a quiet, well-crafted fence.