Brownwood native Liz McCrane admitted she did not expect to be living in her hometown at this stage of her life, yet she’s thriving in the familiar surroundings. Her latest project, Harper House, will open its doors in October as a boutique-style Airbnb that also hosts a variety of unique events.

The first event, Soiree Under the Stars, is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 11.

“Soiree Under the Stars, I’m working on that with Earth and Noble, Semper Permanent Jewelry, and a musician,” McCrane, 24, said. “We’ll have a little pop-up shop, food, grazing table, drinks, music, and hopefully that will all take place outside, weather permitting. It’s open to any women in the area who want to attend.”

McCrane shared how the idea for Harper House came to become a reality.

“I always saw myself doing some kind of hospitality work, whether it was owning a store, or coffee shop, or this, and right now I’m doing all three,” McCrane said. “Originally, I did not think I would be living in Brownwood right now. During COVID I was living in Dallas, working a corporate job and had no plans to move back but because of COVID and working from home, I was anxious to get away. I decided to move back here temporarily and help out Shaw’s and then I stayed a little bit longer, and a little bit longer and I’ve been back almost two years now. Earlier this year I decided I was good with planting myself in Brownwood. I’m happy with it, there’s something I want to do here, people that I enjoy being around here, and my family’s here as well.”

Harper House dates back to 1917, according to McCrane, and has ties to her mother, Lori Harper McCrane’s side of the family.

“Harper House kind of fell into my lap a little bit I would say,” McCrane said. “We have had this house for several years now. My dad and brother, while I was away at college, bought the house and renovated it. It was not in good shape, falling apart. They really did a lot of the heavy work several years ago. For me, I just came in and fluffed it up a little bit and did the interior design and the backyard area.”

Originally, McCrane envisioned a bed and breakfast, but changed directions.

“I loved the idea of a bed and breakfast, but right now it just did not make sense for me,” McCrane said. “I also tossed around a newer concept I’ve seen in bigger cities where someone has a home, and they have events in it almost daily. If I’m here long term that’s something I could see happening.”

The decision to turn the house into an Airbnb came from McCrane’s love of traveling and those adventures.

“I love to travel so I always liked the idea of bringing the experience of an Airbnb boutique hotel to people because that’s what I love to experience when I travel, just that personable experience,” McCrane said. “Now that I’m back here I want to bring that here because we have so many things developing here in Brownwood.”

As for events, McCrane has a limited schedule at start up but is eager to expand.

“I will be doing events monthly and right now it’s just women’s events,” McCrane said. “Eventually I want to have more throughout the month. I have one planned for November, a Recharge sound bath meditation session. We’ve partnered with Saylor Reign, who’s inside Shaw’s Marketplace. Then from there I’d like to do smaller movie nights, wine nights, with music in the backyard. We want to keep it pretty small since it’s a smaller area, anything that’s small and quaint.

McCrane elaborated on additional events she hopes to bring to Harper House.

“I really want to do yoga and lots of things for women,” McCrane said. “There are more young women in town my age than we realize sometimes, but we all run in different circles. We need to all get together, all ages.”

For Airbnb reservations or event booking, email [email protected].