Escape the Holiday Hustle to the Best Possible Celebration: Forest, Family, and Friends

As the year comes to a close, families often find themselves longing for peace and solitude post the holiday hustle. Many North Texas families are finding just that and more in the mountains and forests of Woodland Hills, a luxury development in southeastern Oklahoma.

A crackling fire to shake off winter’s chill, long leisurely dinners with friends, and star gazing from your private estate lot with a night cap or hot cocoa in hand. These are the days winter dreams are made of. 

Frisco real estate broker Monica Wood knows this scenario well. She is spending the holidays in Woodland Hills at her own vacation home spread, The Vineyard, which VRBO recently awarded as one of the best 10 U.S. Vacation Homes of the Year. 

“We built The Vineyard to be an adult/kid playground,” she said. “There is so much for everyone to do outdoors here but when you come inside for dinner, you are in a chef’s dream kitchen. Dean Fearing would be right at home!”

But even when cooking and dining, Monica says they never lose touch with the outdoors through all of the oversized glass windows and walls built to make the indoor/outdoor transition seamless.

“It’s so close you could almost touch it,” she says.

For the past few years, more and more families have been dicovering the rugged peacefulness of this untouched region. Sarah Gray and her husband, Paul, came up from Baton Rogue with their two kids to spend a week in Woodland Hills during Thanksgiving.

“We have stayed in several developments in the Broken Bow/Hochatown area and the difference of staying in Woodland Hills is night and day,” she said. “We stayed in a cabin on a 3-acre lot and could not see another cabin from ours. It was like being alone in the forest, so peaceful. The kids and I foraged in the woods looking for leaves, finding every color of the rainbow”

They had daily family hikes without leaving the 740 acre development.

“We would take hot cocoa to the many areas where you can watch the sunset over the mountains and then head back to the cabin to roast marshmallows around our fire pit, where we would stargaze and enjoy the coyotes singing in the distance,” Gray said. “It was just a really great week to disconnect from the world and connect with our family.” 

Financial Advisor magazine named Broken Bow as one of the best places to buy a vacation rental property. And buyers seem to prefer the gentle hills to exaggerated elevation where it is easier to catch your breath after hiking. And pricing, which starts in the $700,000’s for several raw acres in Woodland Hills, is very competitive.