Our Vision
Our vision for San Jacinto Ranch is to spend the next few generations creating some of the most beautiful places in Texas. An environment of hills, lakes, agriculture, and open spaces, near homes, retail, and jobs.
We aim to forge a collection of welcoming communities in the rolling hills of San Jacinto County just north of Houston with expansive ranches and old-fashioned, walkable towns nestled into the productive fields, forests, and natural landmarks of the area’s uniquely attractive landscape.
We want to build vibrant, walkable, real communities with great homes and a wide variety of jobs that don’t require commuting. Imagine charming homes, lively plazas, abundant shops, services, parks, and fields, all within walking distance of each other and surrounded by the natural beauty of Texas. Instead of endless commuting, imagine walking to work or school or friends and restaurants and useful services.
Our team is passionate about harnessing the region’s natural beauty and preserving our rich agrarian heritage to promote a higher quality of life.
Jobs
One of our aims at San Jacinto Ranch is to generate hundreds and later thousands of good jobs, offering the ability to learn, be mentored, and make life progress. Our formula is simple. Great places attract and retain talented people. Employers follow talent. And talented people create more jobs.
Study after study shows that talented people choose to live in places with a high quality of life. This often means places with access to nature, recreation, and a beautiful environment; places where you can walk to your favorite restaurant and your job; places to raise a family with good options for schools; and places with a sense of community, where other capable, hard-working people live.
At San Jacinto Ranch, we are nestled within one of the prettiest regions in Texas. We are also geographically linked to one of the strongest economies in the world. As we create beautiful, vibrant, and charming towns, talent and jobs will follow. These are the kinds of places where great employers want to be.
How We Are Different
Growth is coming. More people are coming to live pretty much everywhere in Texas, and they are likely to keep coming in the decades ahead. Here is the amazing record of population growth in the great state of Texas since 1850.
Texas Population by Decades
(Census Data)
1850: 212,592
1870: 818,579
1880: 1,591,749
1890: 2,235,527
1900: 3,048,710
1950: 7,711,194
1970: 11,198,655
2000: 20,851,820
2025: ~31.7 million
Houston Metro Pop. by Decades
(Census Data)
1850: 2,396
1870: 9,382
1880: 16,513
1890: 27,557
1900: 44,633
1950: 596,163
1970: 1,232,238
2000: 4,715,407
2025: ~7.8 million
It’s hard to comprehend the scale or speed of the growth Houston has been seeing. Believe it or not, there was no George Bush Intercontinental Airport until 1969. Lake Livingston was just a forested valley until 1971—and Lake Conroe was the same way until 1973. The Woodlands, now among America’s most loved communities, only started up in 1974. Conroe has gone from almost 30,000 people in 1990 to nearly 130,000 people now! And I-59/69 only became an interstate highway in the early 2010s.
We have all seen the endless strip malls, billboards, and traffic stemming from typical patterns of development. While growth is likely to continue, we believe that with our approach, San Jacinto County can experience it in a beautiful way. Or the region can continue as it has been and become part of the endless sprawl spreading in all directions.
Our family-led company, San Jacinto Ranch, has put together over 60,000 acres of historic ranch and timber lands in this region. In the coming decades, our goal is to fashion wonderful, walkable communities offering breathing room from the sprawl, while providing access to the region’s amazing natural resources.
Our 60/40 Approach
Our large land holdings mean we can dedicate 60 percent of our acreage for productive agricultural areas, open plazas and public spaces, and natural conservation—with the remaining 40 percent being transformed into San Jacinto Ranch’s towns, villages, hamlets, and commercial areas.
This approach protects the majority of our land and San Jacinto County’s rural heritage, while building beautiful places for Texans in all phases of life.
We’re offering a fresh approach to growth and a better quality of life, not more sprawl.
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Our Core Principles
Protect the Land We cherish the rural character and natural beauty of San Jacinto County—from farm and forest, to lake and ravine, to ranch and game. We are starting with a plan to build upon the County’s unique strengths, including the neighboring Sam Houston National Forest, Lake Livingston, and the beautiful rolling topography. Our large holdings mean we can dedicate as much as 60 percent of our acreage for forestry, farming, open plazas and public spaces, and natural conservation.
PRODUCTIVE LANDSCAPESOur roots are in forestry and in long-term thinking. We are committed to the long-term care and improved stewardship of our soils, forests, and open lands. We believe the true value of a region starts with healthy soil, and that our silvicultural and agricultural practices should build the health and resilience of our community.
ECOLOGICAL STEWARDSHIPHealthy and productive farms and forests, resilience, and beauty are all inextricably linked. Our natural systems will form the backbone of our preserved lands, creating a meandering network of tree cover and open space, allowing wildlife to flourish.
Our LONG-TERM VISIONWe’re committed to making San Jacinto Ranch the best place it can be. We’re patient, we’re going to be here for a long, long time, and we move carefully to try to minimize mistakes.
PlacemakingOur mission is to build beautiful places. We have studied the history of town building in America and around the world. We are trying to implement the clear lessons of the past, add in our scale, and adjust for new innovations of the present. This has resulted in a fresh approach to land management, town building, design, and placemaking.
delightful density©We believe it is important to preserve the beauty of rural roads and accommodate growth by internalizing development in pedestrian-friendly towns. These towns will offer a variety of beautifully designed housing types and commercial buildings near interesting shops, restaurants, schools, and workplaces. Homes and floor plans will strive to protect privacy while offering access to all the community offers.
WalkabilityTo us, “walkability” means being able to walk to things you need and want such as grocery stores, schools, jobs, restaurants, coffee shops, parks— not just being able to take a walk without being run over, but a walk that you look forward to. Walkable towns are pleasant, healthy, and create a stronger sense of community. We want driving to be an enjoyable option, not a daily requirement.
No SprawlYears ago we looked around the country and saw the mess —the congestion, the sprawl, the endless strip malls and traffic lights, the nonstop parking lots, concrete, and long commuting times — and said, there has to be a better way! We avoid sprawl by preserving large, beautiful countryside that runs right up to the edge of dense, vibrant, pedestrian-oriented towns designed for people.
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