Just thirty-two miles north of Dallas lies the city of McKinney. McKinney is the county seat of Collin County in north Texas and has the largest population after Plano and Frisco. All three cities are among the fastest-growing suburbs in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. 

Thanks to a 21st-century network of east-west thruways like the George Bush and Sam Rayburn turnpikes, McKinney is a relatively easy 40-minute drive for me so I've been photographing there more often not only at Adriatica but also the CottonMill (a wonderfully old and authentic former mill building with exposed brick and character for days). 

The history of McKinney dates back to 1841 when the area was first settled. Settlers arrived from Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee. McKinney was named after Collin McKinney, one of the people who signed the Texas Declaration of Independence. His importance to the area is evident from not only the naming of the city, but also the county in which it resides.

It was on a recent scouting trip to the McKinney / Frisco / Plano area that I discovered Adriatica Village. Its architecture makes you feel as though you stepped into old-world Europe or the shores of Lake Como in Italy. 

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