Meet the Makers: Laurel & Lou Waters Share Their Hill Country Roots

For brother and sister Lou and Laurel, the Texas Hill Country isn’t just any place. It’s the place that has been a fundamental part of their lives since they were young. Lou was six and Laurel just four when their parents bought a piece of land along the river outside Utopia. While school and weekdays happened in Houston, every weekend was spent in the Hill Country, living a completely different kind of childhood. Days were filled with hiking and swimming, riding horses, building forts from mud and river rocks, and learning the hard way how to navigate cactus-covered terrain.

That freedom shaped them both. Lou gravitated toward building and tinkering. Weekends often found him constructing machines, experimenting with engines, and testing his creations on dirt roads, usually returning home muddy, scraped up, and proud of whatever he’d learned that day. He became an expert fire builder and outdoor cook, skills that quickly made him everyone’s favorite person to be around. Over time, he also learned how to build enduring structures from the smooth, river-rounded stones found throughout Utopia.

Laurel absorbed the visual beauty of the Hill Country. The light, the textures, the quiet. That eye carried her into photography and fashion design, where she earned awards and a scholarship that took her to France for the first time, an experience that would shape her future in unexpected ways.

As adults, Utopia became even more central to both of their lives. After completing her Grand Diplôme at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and spending several years working in restaurants across Provence, Laurel returned to Utopia with a clear vision. She opened The Laurel Tree, a French-inspired destination restaurant rooted deeply in its Texas surroundings. Each Saturday, she creates thoughtful, seasonal set menus for lunch and dinner that blend French technique with Hill Country ingredients and sensibility. Guests travel from hours away just to sit at her table, and many plan entire trips around the experience.

Her connection to place didn’t stop there. Laurel also created Treehouse Utopia, four one-of-a-kind luxury treehouse accommodations tucked along the banks of the Sabinal River. Each magical treehouse is given a French name that reflects its construction design and the design within - Carousel is round in shape, Biblioteque (library) is full of wonderful books - and they are all full of treasures that Laurel found in France. 

Lou divides his time between Houston and Utopia, where he and his wife Gerry raised their children with the same country skills he learned growing up. Alongside running New Canaan Farms, he continues to build, experiment, and explore. From creating large-scale family art cars made from found treasures around Utopia to learning how to fly so he can experience the land from above, curiosity and craftsmanship are constant threads in his life.

Inside the kitchen, Laurel leads with precision and intuition. Outside by the fire or the grill, Lou takes charge. That balance, indoor and outdoor, refined and rustic, is part of what fuels New Canaan Farms. It shows up in the products, the recipes, and the meals shared around the table.

Everything they create is rooted in place, shaped by experience, and made to be enjoyed slowly. Just the way they learned growing up.

Have A Delicious Day!