Two Franco-American friends, born in the same Paris hospital a year apart, reunited years later at Wharton.
Both came out of finance, and in American hospitality they noticed the empty space between budget chains and five-star resorts. Then they fell in love with Texas.
Today Franklin Dusserre and Dylan Petrich run French Cowboys out of Austin, one of the Hill Country's most distinctive hotel groups. Design that's modern and full of character, the soul of each place kept intact, and prices that stay accessible.
They bought the first property in Wimberley in February 2021, in the middle of a record statewide winter storm, pipes frozen, the state in a blackout, keys in hand. They call it their baptism by ice.
Five years on there are six. The method hasn't changed: take on a place with real potential and in need of love, sit with it, sometimes six months, learning the building and the town before changing a thing, then commit to a bold, top-to-bottom reimagining that keeps the details worth keeping. They call the result a living heirloom.
- First property
- 2021
- Properties today
- 6
- Hill Country towns
- 4
