S.A. LIFE, Express News – July 25, 2026

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, couple realize they’re home

By Richard A. Marini
STAFF WRITER

Before he married his wife, Ashley, Chris Nardiello was what he wryly calls a “gentleman rancher,” owning 105 acres of land outside Houston. Although he eventually sold the ranch, he says he enjoyed the lifestyle.

“So one day, after Ashley and I got married, I saw a commercial on TV for Boot Ranch,” he said, referring to the high-end, golf and luxury home community just north  of Fredericksburg. “When I suggested we check it out, her immediate responsewas ‘I don’twant to live on a ranch.’ I had to explain to her that Boot Ranch wasn’t that kind of ranch.”

After touring the development and falling in love with its gently rolling hills, championship golf course and clubhouse, and family-friendly lakeside amenities, they purchased a 1.7-acre lot, where they planned to build a vacation getaway. It was about this time, while at a “local establishment” in Fredericksburg, that the Houston couple met Matthew Lines and his wife, Jessica. The couples got to talking and learned that Lines is the principal of Fredericksburg-based Tandem Building Corp., so they hired him to remodel a project they already owned in town.

One thing led to another, and they eventually hired him again to build their Boot Ranch home.

S.A. LIFE, Express News – November 25, 2023

Rebuild transforms space from midcentury to modern

By Richard A. Marini
STAFF WRITER

Renovation turnsHouston house into the perfect place for parties Chase Perry always loved visiting his aunt’s midcentury modern home on a leafy corner just a few blocks from Main Street in Fredericksburg.

“I just loved all those great big trees and the home’s midcentury lines,” said Perry, who runs a nursing home and hospice care company.

So when his aunt moved to Dallas to be closer to her grandkids in 2008, Chase Perry and his new wife, Jill, bought the place, living there happily for many years — until it got too small for them and their daughter, Ava, now 14.

“The house had only two bedrooms and one bathroom, and, you know, a growing girl needs her space,” said Jill Perry, a stay-at-home mom. “Also, Chase’s closet was in the dining room and my closet was in Ava’s room.”

After considering and rejecting the idea of building out of town, the couple decided to stay where they were and hired Matthew Lines, principal of Fredericksburg-based Tandem Building Corp., to build what is, essentially, a new and larger house on the same corner lot.

S.A. LIFE, Express News – April 29, 2023

A midcentury modern dream

By Richard A. Marini
STAFF WRITER

Not far from Fredericksburg’s touristy Main Street, hidden among limestone-and stucco homes, modest bungalows and Pinterest gray flips is a three-bedroom, three-bath jewel of midcentury modern design.

Mark and Katie Bowles, who live in California, purchased their Hill Country getaway in the fall of 2020, not long after the previous owners had completed a $500,000, to-the-studs renovation that returned it to all its former “Mad Men”-era glory.

It was the classic style of the house, built in the early 1960s, that attracted the couple in the first place.

“Our house in California is also midcentury modern,” said Katie Bowles, a retired microchip salesperson. “I just love the simplicity of the style, and the indoor/outdoor aesthetics. And they did such a good job on the renovation we didn’t have to do anything to it before moving in.”

The nine-month renovation, completed in March 2020, was done under the auspices of Matthew Lines, principal of Tandem Building Corp., with assistance from interior designer Christina Atkinson of Home Simple Goods + Design. Both companies are based in Fredericksburg.