established in 1980
The land Shady Springs sits on has been in our family for generations. During WWII, it was a working farm, held down by the women and elder men of Fred’s family at the time. The current “bathhouse” - what we call our restrooms - used to be a small living quarters, and then a chicken coop. Fred’s great-aunt Dorothy owned the land for a long time, and one day while gardening and talking to him about how hard it was to care for everything, she grumbled, “Kinda wish someone would just take this off my hands!” And so he did.
Fred soon bought the main house and half of the property. In the late 60s, he built our dance hall, “The Barn”, as well as our incredible Junior Olympic-sized pool with the help of his dad, Fred Sr. He snagged three enormous concrete light poles from Congress Avenue when the city was selling them to make way for new ones, and they light up our evenings with a soft glow — one of them still has an old “BUS STOP” sign attached to it.
In the early and mid 70s, Fred ran a summer camp for girls, complete with swimming, archery, horseback riding and arts and crafts. It still feels like a throwback summer camp around here, and that’s something you just can’t fabricate.
Fred and Lory are the heart and soul of Shady Springs. With a wide network of friends, neighbors and family visiting, celebrating and dancing out here with them over the years, one thing quickly led to another and soon they were hosting parties for outside groups. The Driskill Hotel was our first “official” company picnic.
Our best, and only, marketing and advertising has been word of mouth: Fred’s brisket became notorious, and our generous hospitality, consistent quality, and unique venue spoke for itself. Not too much has changed in the 40+ years we’ve been in business, and we’re grateful to still be here.
We’re proud of who we are and what we’ve built, and we’re excited for what’s yet to come. Austin is changing quickly, but fortunately, some things don’t. We hope you’ll join us in keeping Austin weird, local and original.
We look forward to knowing you!
The Denson Family
Photos from the way back… Happy 40th anniversary to us! Click HERE for the full gallery.
Fred, Kiah (with her dog Kali - RIP) and Lory. photo: Amanda Hoffman, 2020