Today we’d like to introduce you to Carlyle.
Hi Carlyle, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Zach and I were both working in tech in the Bay Area, and we’d hit a point where we wanted something different. We were tired of city life, tired of everything living on a screen. We wanted a space of our own, some place we could physically build, shape, and pour ourselves into. Something that felt like an extension of who we are and what we value, not just what we did for a living.
We’d hosted a couple of retreats before and saw what happens when you gather people in a beautiful setting with nowhere to be. There’s a presence and an aliveness. Not necessarily in a hyper-“woo” way, more just people actually disconnecting from their screens, having longer and deeper conversations, and generally engaging more both with people and place. We wanted to build a space designed for exactly that. So in 2019, we started looking for land with a specific vision — somewhere groups could come together around shared spaces but still have real privacy, ideally in nature. Communal without being crowded. We found 50 acres in rural Texas. An old cattle ranch, which has laid the foundation for not just a gathering space for people, but also invited in our longer term vision of a working farm.
The very first thing we did as “hospitality entrepreneurs” was shovel cow manure out of one of the pole barns. We converted that cow barn into our outdoor kitchen because we had this gut feeling that you build the communal gathering spaces first. The cabins could come later. But the heart of the place (the kitchen, the long table, the fire), those would be our differentiators and our north star – they had to come first.
And then we just kept going, it’s been nearly nonstop across several different phases over the last 6 years. In 2025 we opened five luxury cabins, a shared day lodge, a pool, a spa house with a sauna and cold plunge, and an indoor gym with premier strength equipment and space for yoga/movement. It’s been a slow, intentional layering, with every addition purposely designed to be in relationship with the land around it, to feel like it’s really designed for humans in this beautiful and organic way.
And over and over, that’s what we hear the most. How intentional every space feels. People tell us it’s the best sleep they’ve had in years. They show up for a retreat and something about being here — the slowness of everything, the quiet, it all serves as a reset. And that’s the thing we’re most proud of. Not necessarily the amenities, (though we love those very much). It’s more the feeling that people experience when they’re here. The one guests can’t quite put into words on their way out but absolutely feel. And that’s what people remember!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I’d say (one of) the hardest part(s) was learning everything as we went. We came from tech. We didn’t speak construction. We had never even owned a home before. We didn’t know materials, didn’t know how to translate a Pinterest mood board into something that actually works on a budget, on our land, with our constraints. Developing our own design language took time and a lot of trial and error. You can love the look of something in a photo and then realize it doesn’t make sense for a 50-acre former cattle ranch in Texas. That gap between inspiration and execution was humbling over and over again (and continues to be!).
And then there’s the financial side. We self-funded everything up until 2025 when we made our big investment, which are the new cabins, the pool, the spa house, the lodge. This is one of those projects where you’re betting your life savings on a vision that doesn’t exist yet. There’s really no playbook for that but we know it resonates for so many people. You just have to trust your gut and keep going.
And finally, the thing people don’t really talk about enough is what it’s like to build a business with your partner. Zach and I bought our land together when we’d only been together for a year. One year. Fifty acres and a really strong gut feeling and a couple of plans in Google sheets and graph paper! We had to learn each other’s working styles at the same time we were learning each other. Figuring out where to come together and where to stay in our own lanes. Developing trust in the partnership and the relationship simultaneously. There were moments where those two things blurred in ways that were really challenging — and moments where they made each other stronger. We’re still figuring it out, but I think the fact that we built all of this together is what makes Serana feel the way it does. It’s not one person’s vision. It’s ours.
Can you share something surprising about yourself?
Most people assume there’s a big team behind Serana. There isn’t. It’s Zach and me. That’s it! We worked with incredible architect friends, landscape architect, and a build team for the new buildings, but the interior design, material selection, and everything in between is the two of us. We also handle the socials, the website, the marketing, the partnerships, the sales, the SEO strategy, the operations — all of it. We have an incredible cleaning team that helps with the day-to-day, and we couldn’t do it without them. But when you DM us on Instagram, that’s one of us. When you book a stay, you’re talking to one of us. The website, the branding, the guest experience from first click to checkout — that’s two people who care a lot and figure things out as they go. I think people see the property photos and the polished brand and assume there’s some hospitality company running the show behind the scenes. Nope. Just two people, a lot of late nights, and an unlimited number of browser tabs open at all times!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://seranatx.com
- Instagram: @seranatx
