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112 RANCHO FABULOSO Catherine D. Anspon decamps to Round Top. Photography Emile Browne. T he stars at night are big and bright" could have been the motif for the bash tossed by Rancho Pillow to cele- brate the Round Top fall antiques fair and PaperCity's September issue. Proprietress Sheila Youngblood planned every detail of the evening that unfolded in the fields surrounding the bucolic compound she's forged, with its ranch and bunk houses, well-outfitted barn, al fresco gazebo chapel, and even a very luxe teepee — all available for lodging, weddings, and entertainments. BITES, QUAFFS + GUITAR Two hundred denizens of the Round Top area, as well as antiquing visitors, gathered for Deep Eddy Vodka-fueled cocktails, wines from Alexander Valley Vineyards, and Cherry Pie Hospitality's inspired bites and food stations. Cherry Pie's Lee Ellis and chef Jim Mills conferred with Youngblood weeks in advance to craft an alluring menu of Fulton Street shrimp cocktails, Frito pie, H-Town hot chicken tacos, Southwest Caesar salad, and the finale: Lee's Donuts fashioned into ice cream sandwiches. For this starry night, Youngblood invited the indie/folk group The Heart Collectors (Fleetwood Mac meets Peter, Paul & Mary), who were in from Australia, to perform; the group recorded an album at Rancho Pillow a few years earlier, so this was a homecoming. OUTSTANDING IN THE FIELD Back Row Home's Tracey Shingledecker; Mark Massey of The Compound; Frank Hillbolt with Round Top Realty; Pascal Home's Pascal Bevillard; linen lady Pandora de Balthazar; Neltje Doubleday, in from Wyoming, popping by after her book signing at Blue Hills; Neltje pal Mary Jane Edwards; Alisanne Frew of Alisanne Wonderland; Donna Parker; The Compound's Kathy Johnston with husband Frank Johnston of Heritage Texas Country Properties; Arbor Antiques' Curtis Ann Davis; Paige and Smoot Hull; chef Monica Pope; Matt White; Red & White Gallery's Joan and Jerry Herring; Round Top Inn's Vicki Hanly; photogra- pher Ryann Ford and Nick Mosley (the couple behind Townsend Provisions); Cherry Pie's Lisa Gochman; Lark's Barbara Samuelson and Russell Smith; Linda Plant and Walter Bering of Martha Turner Sotheby's; and Ken Christie, with a film crew in from L.A. Sheila Youngblood, Neltje Doubleday Lee & Melissa Ellis Cherry Pie Hospitality's Lee's Donuts-ice cream sandwiches The bucolic Rancho Pillow Linda Plant, Walter Bering Monica Pope, Frank Hillbolt (continued on page 114) Twilight at the teepees