Long before Smith Ranch became a family home, William Blake Smith Sr. was part of a small group of Mexia businessmen willing to gamble on what might lie beneath the fields of Limestone County. Their persistence helped open an extraordinary chapter in Mexia’s history—one that would transform the town and, years later, help set the stage for the home that became Blake Smith Lodge.
Blake Smith Lodge commissioned by William Blake Smith Sr. and his wife, but ultimately became the home of Blake Jr. and Patti
Blake Smith Lodge was built from a story that began decades earlier—with an ambitious young bank cashier, an unlikely search for oil and gas, and the persistence that helped change the course of Mexia. But the lodge would become a legacy of its own.
After their marriage, William Blake Smith Jr. and Patti Fain Smith made the lodge their home. Here they raised their family, welcomed generations of relatives and friends, and created a place that became woven into the life of the Smith family. Patti would call it home for more than 70 years.
Through the decades, the lodge and the land surrounding it evolved into what is known today as Smith Ranch — Texas. Nearly a century after the original plans were drawn, the lodge remains at its heart—a rare piece of Texas history that has never stopped being a home.
What began as Blake Smith Lodge became something far more enduring—a family home passed from one generation to the next.
After their marriage, William Blake Smith Jr. and Patti Fain Smith made the lodge their home, raising their sons here and creating a place where family and friends would gather for holidays, celebrations and everyday life. Patti would call the lodge home for more than 70 years.
Their sons, William Blake Smith III and Robert Pat Smith, grew up here, carrying the Smith family’s connection to the property into another generation.
That tradition continued in 2005, when Robert Pat Smith and Barbara were married beneath the old elm tree on the grounds—the same tree pictured here. Nearly a century old today, it has stood through decades of family life at Smith Ranch.
Through changing generations, the lodge remained the constant. What began as Blake Smith Lodge became the heart of the property known today as Smith Ranch — Texas—a place shaped not only by its history, but by the lives lived here.
Some properties are purchased. Others are inherited from history.
Smith Ranch · Mexia, Texas