Our Story

Chanticleer is a turn-of-the-century log cabin, restored by the Mellengers (that’s us!).  It was originally a seed house in Bertram, Texas, then purchased and moved to a ranch in Blanco.  It was not assembled after the move to Blanco and sat for a few years.  Then we bought the logs (and the original roof rafters), which had been numbered “for easy reconstruction” as they had been disassembled in Bertram.  We drove off into the sunset with high hopes and ignorance.

Need we tell you that the numbered logs did not fit together in that order?  Two years later, the cabin had been reconstructed, with a room added as a bathroom and kitchenette.

We were married on the front porch of the unfinished cabin in 1995, with family and friends gathered ’round. A catered spread on the screened porch and a wheel barrow full of iced champagne finished off the evening. Tons of fun, the best wedding ever.

Christmas Eve, 1995, was our first night in the cabin.  We purchased the bed the day before in Llano, set up a small Christmas tree inside with our gifts and managed to get the claw-foot tub connected to the plumbing for a Christmas Eve bubble bath at 10:00 pm.  Thank you Santa!

In July 1996, we opened for business as Chanticleer Bed & Breakfast with “An Evening in the Hill Country” preview party. We lived in Austin and were open only on weekends.

We built our home and moved to Spicewood in 1999 and opened full-time.

Leon (‘L.C.’) is the builder/contractor/roadway repairman/Mr. Fixit extraordinaire for the B&B, but his passion is flying the friendly skies of Spicewood in his RV6A.  After a career in sales and a few years in the landscape business, he is happy to be stationed in Spicewood. Hanging out at the Spicewood airport with the guys, working on the latest hot rod project or anything with a motor, or mowing on the tractor is how he spends his free time. He is a history buff, too.

Mallonee retired from a software company the end of 2016 (after 17 years and 7 months, but who is counting). Woo hoo, it is a new life! Traveling has been at the top of her list most of her adult life, but Italy has been her addiction since 2004 when she jetted off to her first cooking school. Now she goes every year (not to cook) to pretend she lives there for a bit, eat, see friends and babies, eat, and pursue her interest in falconry. And eat. Cooking, gardening, reading, knitting, swimming, and learning Italian are her pastimes. Oh, and since retirement, her full-time job is obtaining reward points for traveling, and studying how best to use them. It’s a new currency!