Large 5 bedroom lakefront home, pool, sunset views

Located on the north shore of Canyon Lake, half-way between San Antonio and Austin in the beautiful Texas hill country, there is a special place waiting for you, your family and friends.

The five bedrooms sleep twenty-plus guests (assuming families with kids who sleep on upper bunks). The pool and adjacent shaded patio are perfect for swimming and lounging, and the back yard provides acres of play area for football, baseball, volleyball or even golf. The lakefront is NOT developed (no private docks are allowed on Canyon Lake), so it's a great place for walks along the shoreline.

The house has over 4,000 sq ft, all on one level. The arches out front and Saltillo tile in the entry, living room and kitchen give the house something of a 'Mexican Hacienda' atmosphere.

The entry leads directly to the main living/dining/party room (20 x 36 feet, with a 12 foot ceiling), which has floor-to-ceiling glass on the lake side, providing spectacular lake views. Outside the main room there is a 10 x 40 foot deck overlooking the pool, lake and the sunsets.

The master bedroom (20 x 20 feet, with a 12 foot beam ceiling and a new dark green tile floor) has one king size bed, a private bath, a walk-in closet and two smaller closets (plus another closet on the hall).

All the other rooms are carpeted. Three bedrooms each have two bunk beds, with a lower double bed and an upper single bed. The rooms range in size from 11 x 17 (with a 12' beam ceiling) to 16 x 19, and are usually the kids' favorites. One has beautiful lake views and an outside door to a small private lake-view deck.

The rear bedroom (15 x 24) has a king-size bed, a queen-size bed and an outside entrance leading to the driveway down to the lake. You can back your car right up to the door for easy loading and unloading.

In the center of the three rear bedrooms there is a large game room (21 x 22, with a 12' beam ceiling) with a fold-up ping-pong table. The room has four large windows overlooking the lake, and angles out like a ship's bow. Kids can hang out there, and you won't even hear their loud music in the front of the house.

HDTV Heaven! The house has seven high-definition TVs, all connected to DirecTV satellite, so guests in each room can choose the shows they want to watch, and all with attached DVD/CD, VHS and AM/FM receivers with quality speakers (JBL, Bose, KLH, etc). Six of the TVs are 60", with one 70" in the game room (game room also has a Blu-Ray player). The house has a library with over 500 VHS tapes, including most of hte Disney videos for the kids. Bring your own DVDs and Blu-Ray discs, and watch your favorite programs in AMAZING large-screen HDTV!

There are five central air conditioning units, and you can set the temperature in deifferent parts of the house independently. All rooms have ceiling fans and portable fans for extra cooling. There are two fireplaces for winter guests. The utility room has a washer and dryer - great for bathing suits, towels, etc.

The house is located on what once was an island (a causeway now links it to the mainland), on a quiet circle street with no drive-through traffic, and very little traffic of any kind. There is a private concrete driveway down to the lake, and plenty of parking for cars, SUVs, trucks, boat trailers, etc.

Amenities

Swimming pool - approximately 20 x 22, 8 feet deep at the deep end
Three decks overlooking pool & lake with breath-taking sunset views
Air Conditioning - 5 separately controlled central heat & air units
Seven large-screen HDTVs (all with DirecTV, DVD & VHS)
Linens and housecleaning are included in rental rates
Two propane and two charcoal BBQ grills on decks
Magazines, books, videos, puzzles, games
Five roll-away garbage containers (outside)
Lots of parking for cars and boats
Private driveway to lakefront

Kitchen

Two refrigerator/freezers, electric range/oven, dishwasher, two microwaves, toasters and coffee makers, blender, toaster/oven, silverware & dishes/glasses for 24 guests, lots of cookware (pots & pans, bowls, pitchers, knives and other kitchenware), large cabinets for food and supplies

Outside

There is a herd of deer that have never been hunted, and are quite tame. They often lounge under the shade trees on hot afternoons. There are many varieties of birds and other wildlife (foxes, ducks, geese, etc) that live around the lake.

You can launch light craft (canoes, kayaks, etc) right off the property, and there is a free public boat lanching dock one mile down the road for speed boats, jet skis and other water craft.

Water Sports

You can launch light craft (canoes, kayaks, inflatable boats, flat-bottom boats, etc) right on the property.

There is a free municipal boat launching ramp (less than one mile away) for jet-skis, motor boats and sailboats.

Canyon Lake Marina (5 miles) rents sailboats and motor boats, jet-skis, and 'party barges' by the hour/day.

The Guadalupe River (10 miles) is famous for 'tubing' (floating down the river in an inner tube), and tube rentals come with free pickup service to return you to your car.

'Schlitterbahn' in New Braunfels (25 miles) may be the greatest water park in the country. Kids love it.

Tourism

San Antonio (50 miles - the Alamo, river walk, Spanish missions, etc.) and Austin (55 miles - University of Texas, the state capitol, Barton Springs, etc.) are well-known destinations. Both have an abundance of theatres, art museums, sports and world-class dining and night-life.

The Texas hill country has many quaint towns that welcome tourists, including Wimberley (15 miles) and Fredericksburg (50 miles). For Willie Nelson fans, Luckenbach, Texas is just five miles outside Fredericksburg, and is quite unique. The LBJ ranch, home of former president Lyndon B. Johnson (40 miles) offers historical tours.

New Braunfels (25 miles) and San Marcos (23 miles) both have good municipal golf courses and tennis courts. San Marcos also has several Outlet Malls that are favorites with shoppers.

Gruene (pronounced 'Green'), just outside New Braunfels, a historic mill town on the Guadalupe River, is an antique paradise, and has the oldest dance hall in Texas, with live entertainment on weekends.

• Canyon Lake Chamber of Commerce