Milking the rewards of 47 years of hard work

Story by Steve Nussbaum

EacheditionofPKMagazinefeaturesaprofileofaniconic home that makes folks wonder what it looks like on the inside, and this time around it’s the beautiful home of Tim andConnieCollier

TheyhavelivedtheiconicAmericandream,and47yearsof hardworkintheagriculturebusinesshaveledthecoupleto PossumKingdomLake

Back in 1982 the two of them, along with Tim Collier’s dad, Keith, started a dairy farm five miles east of Snyder, Texas Theybuiltasmalldairybarnandstartedwith80dairycows

Theylivedonthefarmina14-by-80-footsingle-widetrailer house, raising their two boys, Will and Brady. The couple milked the herd twice a day, at 4 a.m. and 4 p.m., and maintained that schedule for years until they were finally abletohireanemployee.Theywereabletotakethreedays off a year by having Tim Collier’s brother come and give themarespitefromtheirworkdutiesonthosedays

“Intheearlydays, we would live in the trailernexttothe dairy barn, and we would only draw a salary of $700 a month,”ConnieColliersaid

Both of them have enjoyed being around livestock and the outdoors Connie Collier grew up on farms and ranches, while her husband farmed on the side growing up His dad waselectedsheriffofScurryCountyin1965,andTimCollier lived with his family on the bottom floor of the county jail, underneath the inmates who were incarcerated on the secondandthirdfloorsofthebuilding.

The couple gradually expanded their dairy, because they said it’s almost impossible to make a living as a small operation The Colliers added more cows, eventually hiring more employees to milk their herd of 400 cows twice a day inthatoriginalsmalldairybarn

Thecouplesaidtheycouldonlymilkadozencowsatatime in that original barn, though, so Tim Collier found a bank in California that loaned him the money to expand the structure Theinitial expansion allowed them to milk 32 cows at a time, and a subsequent expansion allowed 50 cowstobemilkedatatime

TheColliers’herdeventuallytotaled2,600cows

After 10 years of living on the dairy in that small trailer house, the Colliers bought a home in nearby Snyder. In the early days, Connie Collier kept the books and tracked each cow ’ s health, vaccination status and milk production on index cards It was critical to track each cow, she said, because even the slightest amount of contamination in the milkcouldleadtothelossoftheentireherd’soutput

Connie Collier eventually returned to school to take some computer courses so the entire operation would be better organized

“You have to be a good manager, ” she said “We’d be out ofbusinessifweranitlikewedidinthebeginning.”

The Colliers eventually sold 2,200 of their best cows to a dairyinNewMexico TheirsonWill,whowasjustgraduating from Texas Tech, managed the dairy for three years and then bought the remaining 400 cows to start his own operation.

WillCollierandhiswife,Lauren,havethreechildrenandlive in Snyder, and he milks 3,000 cows per day while also farmingabout10,000acreswherehegrowsthefeedforhis herd He’s been an innovator in bringing inroboticsand technology to the modern dairy, which reduces the number ofemployeesneededandhelpsmaximizeproduction

In his herd, each cow has an electronic necklace to help identifythosethathavebeenmilkedandthosethathaven’t. The device detects if a cow is sick, or if the animal is ovulating and needs to be artificially inseminated. Also, when the cows are leaving the barn, the sensor determines which gate to open to corral the animals in the correct area, saving on manual labor He’s also building a second robotic barn, and Tim and Connie Collier’s 15-year-old grandson,Jagger,hastakenaninterestinthebusiness

The Colliers’ younger son, Brady, also attended Texas Tech University, but he decided early on that the dairy business wasn’t for him He and his wife, Becky, live in Lubbock with their five children Brady Collier owns Wheelhouse Development, a commercial real estate and development businessinLubbock

After selling the dairy, Connie and Tim Collier traveled in their motor home to PK and stayed at Lush Resort That’s wheretheymetPatMurchison,whotoldthemaboutahouse forsalenexttohisplaceinGainesBend

The Colliers eventually bought that house and used it as theirlakehouseforacoupleofyears,andthatpropertyhad avacantlotnextdoorthathadneverbeenbuilton–ararity inGainesBendinsuchaprimelocation.

The couple found the owner of the vacant lot and bought what turned out to be one of the most prime locations on the lake. They said they loved their Gaines Bend neighbors, so they made the decision to sell their Snyder home and original home in Gaines Bend, and to build their dream homeonthevacantlotsotheycouldliveatPKfulltime

The choice to leave Snyder and live at PK was a scary thought, they said, because it meant they would be leaving their children and grandchildren in Snyder and Lubbock –but it turns out that their children and grandchildren enjoy comingtothelake

The Colliers incorporated the help of neighbor and longtime PK builder Mark Anderson, along with his son, Mitchell Anderson of Anderson Fine Homes, to design and build their home. Tim Collier drew a picture of what he wanted on a napkin – including an outdoor kitchen, an RV garage,apoolandofficespace–andtheAndersonsturned thosedrawingsintodesignplans

The couple lived at The Harbor while building their new home–but,likemostlargeprojects,thetimetablestretched out, and the challenges of building during the COVID-19 pandemicmadeitevenharder.Theyfinallymovedintotheir beautifulmodernfarmhouseonthelakeinApril2021

For the first nine months, the only furniture the couple had in the house was some outdoor furniture. Connie Collier, who described herself as “just a redneck cowgirl with no sense of style,” used the assistance of a designer out of Lubbocktocustomizetheentirehouse

Tim Collier told the designer to give his wife three choices, withnothingtoocomplicated,andtheresultsaregorgeous. Their home resembles a beautiful farmhouse with a modern look.

Guests walking up to the home immediately notice the metal doors, while the windows give a sneak peek into the stunning living area and incredible lake view. The main room, which has soaring ceilings coupled with a grand fireplace, opens into the huge kitchen and dining area, and all these rooms are anchored by floor-to-ceiling windows that look out over the pool and lake. When the lake level is up, the water appears to lead right up to the pool and patio.

Also on the main floor is a well-appointed guest bedroom and guest bathroom that leads the way to the master suite on the back side of the house. The room is filled with designer furnishings and art The master suite itself leads to a huge master bathroom, and it features a large, customtiledshoweraswellasanelegantsoakertub

When asked if she ever thought she’d have a tub like that when the couple lived in the trailer next to the dairy all those years ago, Connie Collier replied, “Never in a million years ”

Toward the back of the house is the room that gets the most use: the outdoor kitchen and patio area. The large space has garage doors that allow the Colliers either to open the space to the lake and pool area, or to keep it closed and remain in air-conditioned comfort This area is TimCollier’sfavoritespaceinthehouse,becausehehashis game table, recliner, television and luxury outdoor kitchen allinonespace.

The couple got the idea for the room after staying at Lush Resortandseeingthebarareathatcouldbeopenedtothe outsidebyliftingthegaragedoorsthere.It’sagreatfeature that takes advantage of the view and creates the ultimate entertainmentspaceatthesametime.

Off the kitchen and outdoor space is a custom RV garage, and behind it is Connie Collier’s office space The RV garagehasaccesstokitchenandoutdoorareas,anditcan be turned into extra seating and dining space for entertaining guests. In fact, the couple plans to hold their granddaughter’sweddingattheirhomeinthenearfuture

The upstairs has a large game room and custom furniture for all the grandchildren to sleep and bring their friends, along with two more bedrooms with balcony access on the lakeside. The entire house is filled with comfortable, stylish custom furniture that matches the Colliers’ lifestyle and needs.

The couple said their move to Possum Kingdom has been better than they ever could have imagined When they lived in Snyder, the Colliers said they would have five different Christmaseventswiththeirfamilies,witheachlastingabout an hour. Over the past two years, though, they have been able to entertain their entire family at one location for the holidays.

TheCollierssaidtheyarealwayseagertoopentheirhome totheirmanyfriends,andtheysometimesgetsobusyinthe summer that their grandchildren take turns booking time for theirfriendsattheirhouse

Itseemstheyearsofhardworkhavefinallypaidoffforthis hard-working couple They were able to build their dream home,andnowtheygettoshareitwiththeirentirefamily. When asked if she ever thought she’d have a tub like that when the couple lived in the trailer next to the dairy all those years ago, Connie Collier replied, “Never in a million years.”

Guests walking immediately

More photos on page 18

Pictured above: Toward the back of the house is the room that gets the most use: the outdoor kitchen and patio area. The large space has garage doors that allow The Colliers either to open the space to the lake and pool area, or to keep it closed and remain in air-conditioned comfort This is Tim Collier's favorite space in the house, because he has his game table, recliner, television and luxury outdoor kitchen all in one space

Pictured below: The upstairs has a large game room and custom furniture for all the grandchildren to sleep and bring their friends, along with two more bedrooms with balcony access on the lakeside

Pictured right: When the lake levels are up, the water appears to lead right up to the beautiful pool and patio