Bowie House, Fort Worth – the cowgirl's Two Key art house

Bowie House, Auberge Collection stands on Camp Bowie Boulevard, the thirty-block promenade that runs through Fort Worth's Cultural District, a stretch lined with some of the finest museums in the American Southwest. The hotel opened its doors on 1 December 2023, the first commercial venture of Dallas businesswoman and champion cutting-horse rider Jo Ellard, who built the 106-room property on land near where she once kept a weekend cottage while competing on the local equestrian circuit. Her own collection of Western and contemporary art now fills the halls, corridors and guestrooms, much of it available for purchase. The MICHELIN Guide awards Bowie House Two Keys, calling it the most stylish building in the city and surely its most extraordinary luxury hotel, noting that the brand's usual polish has been thoroughly localised, from cowhide armchairs in the lobby to upscale Texan cooking. It is Auberge's second Texas address, after Commodore Perry Estate in Austin.

01The house

Design and architecture firm BOKA Powell shaped the four-storey building, threading hat racks, boot benches and boot jacks through the lobby and social rooms, and pairing leather-wrapped furniture with Spanish architectural references. Ellard, president of Bowie Place Properties, chose much of the furniture and decor herself, giving the public rooms a distinctly personal feel rather than a chain-hotel finish.

The art is the real signature. What began as a practical decision to fill long corridors and sunlit landings turned into something closer to a private museum, with hundreds of works by Texas and Western artists mingling with guests throughout the building. The lobby bar itself is modelled on a 200-year-old saloon, and original black-and-white photographs by Constance Jaeggi, depicting ranch life, hang in every guestroom.

Auberge Resorts Collection, which manages the property for owner Ellard, operates under the Friedkin Group, the Houston-based group better known for its automotive and entertainment interests. Bowie House was its second Texas project after Austin's Commodore Perry Estate, and its arrival in the Cultural District was framed locally as a long-awaited arrival of five-star hospitality to the museum district.

02Rooms and suites

The 106 guestrooms are arranged as Studios, open-plan Lofts and dedicated Suites, each styled with a rich, earthy palette, hat racks, boot benches and leather-wrapped furniture that nod to ranch life without tipping into pastiche. Every room carries a personalised bar cart, a lounge area and original artwork tied to the Cultural District just beyond the front door.

Insider tip

Allow time to explore the owner's private art collection displayed throughout the hotel's corridors.

Balcony Studios look over the hotel's internal courtyards, ideal for morning coffee outdoors, while the Lofts add distinct sleeping, living and entertainment zones for longer stays. The Suites go further still, with bar carts, pantries, powder rooms, free-standing soaking tubs and, in some cases, a working fireplace. Accessible rooms are available across all categories.

03Where to eat

Bricks and Horses is the signature indoor-outdoor restaurant, an update on the classic chophouse built around locally raised, dry-aged beef and seasonal vegetables, open for breakfast, lunch, dinner and a weekend brunch that runs until 3pm. Executive Chef Antonio Votta trained at the hospitality school of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas before working in San Francisco and with MICHELIN-recognised groups including M.B. Post and the MINA Group, and now builds his menus around Texas purveyors and ranching tradition.

Beyond the main dining room, the hotel scatters its social life across several smaller spaces: Whinny's serves salads, crudités and frozen drinks by the pool, the Mulberry Room is a library stocked with bourbon for quiet conversation, the Billet Room hosts card games and billiards tournaments, and The Yard is the outdoor social hub for guests and locals alike. Every Sunday, Bricks and Horses lays a communal table for a weekly supper.

04The bar

The Bar at Bowie House anchors the lobby and doubles as the city's unofficial living room, moving from a morning coffee stop to an evening whiskey bar with an extensive selection and carefully made martinis. Each afternoon from 4 to 6pm, House Social brings out a menu of elaborate cocktails alongside the bar's signature potato crisps, a ritual that has become one of the hotel's best-known draws for Fort Worth residents as much as for guests.

05Spa and pool

Ash, an Auberge Spa, occupies the second floor and takes its cues from the barns scattered across the Texas landscape. Treatments range from the traditional to the unconventional, including non-sleep deep rest massage, made-to-measure apothecary blends and infrared therapy, all aimed at a lasting sense of balance rather than a quick fix. The spa, open to guests aged 18 and over, was named Texas's Best Hotel Spa at the World Spa Awards in October 2024.

The second-floor outdoor terrace pool is framed by garden views, with chaises and private cabanas for hire and poolside food and drink from Whinny's. It opens daily from 8am to 8pm, making it as much a late-afternoon gathering spot as a place to swim laps.

06The neighbourhood

Bowie House sits inside Fort Worth's Cultural District, home to one of the densest clusters of museums in the country, including the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame and the Will Rogers Memorial Center. The hotel runs private docent-led tours of the nearby Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth for guests curious about its architecture and collection, and the Kimbell Art Museum lies a short walk away.

Dickies Arena is around a twelve-minute walk, the Fort Worth Stockyards are roughly four miles off for anyone wanting saloons, dance halls and a working cattle drive, and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport is about 28 miles, or 35 to 40 minutes, by car.

07Making the most of a stay

Book a table at Bricks and Horses on a Sunday evening for the weekly communal supper, or simply turn up at the bar between 4 and 6pm for House Social and its potato crisps. Pair an afternoon at the pool with a pass that opens the terrace to non-guests as well, and set aside an hour for a self-guided wander through the hotel's own art collection before heading out to the Modern Art Museum on a docent tour. On Tuesdays, local musicians play live in the hotel's public rooms, and regular lessons mean first-timers can learn the two-step before heading to the Stockyards for the real thing.

For a weekend. For a lifetime.