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The Castle On The Hill
Have you driven down Baylor Street? It’s a curious place. There is a vacated street between 9th and 10th. There is a strange concrete structure that resembles something out of Blade Runner. Above this curiosity sits a castle which is part of the “Nice Turret No Moat” subdivision which was established in 1885. I did some digging around and this is what I found.
1008 Baylor
This is the 1.2 acre site of an unfinished mixed-use project. Owned by Rooknoll LLC which is managed by Victor Ayad and local developer/architect Dick Clark. This unfinished foundation work dates back to a 1980s condo project. In 2007, Austin City council approved the upzoning of the the lot on Baylor to accommodate a small mixed-use development. But it’s doubtful anything will be done with it soon.
1008 Baylor St - notice the castle in the background
1111 W 11th “The Castle”
Also owned by Rooknoll, LLC, this is the former Texas Military Institute castle. In fact, this property is likely the root of the neighborhood named “Castle Hill”. For decades it has been used on and off as a residence or office. The view of downtown is spectacular. It appears occupied right now, but as recently as a couple of years ago it made for interesting an subject for local urban explorers. The structure is the oldest existing college building in Texas.
1111 W 11th
There is much more history to both of these properties, so please feel free to share what you know. The zoning map below shows that many of the properties on Baylor are zoned for small multifamily use, but I haven’t found much information on the raison d’etre for the vacated street.
Vacated block on Baylor St
-Jude
sources:
-traviscad.org
-http://www.bravahouse.com/neighborhood.html
-flickr for “texas military institute”
-http://www.cityofaustin.org/edims/document.cfm?id=112057
-http://www.dupontcastle.com/castles/tmi.htm (this is a very fun site!)
-http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/TT/kbt17.html
About Jude Galligan:
Jude Galligan, Broker-Owner of RE/MAX Downtown Austin and publisher of Downtown Austin Blog (aka. "DAB"), is a veteran sales professional assisting buyers and sellers of downtown Austin lofts, condos, and real estate. A resident owner in downtown Austin and an active community stakeholder, Jude serves on the Board of Directors of the Downtown Austin Alliance (DAA) and the Downtown Austin Neighborhood Association (DANA).Contact Jude
I’m not entirely certain of this, but I believe the last occupant of “the Castle” before it was (temporarily, now) vacated was developer Gary Bradley, of Circle C/Stratus/Freeport McMoRan.
At any rate, there’s a few scenes of Bradley in the Castle, as well as a few shots of its urban explorer-vandalized interiors, in Laura Dunn’s 2007 documentary “The Unforeseen.” So he must have occupied it at some point. You get a good look at its skyline view, as well, which, it must be said, is pretty spectacular.
The 1008 Baylor site used to be a favored illicit drinking spot of mine when I was in high school many years ago. It offers a great view of downtown.
Bradley did indeed live in the Castle for a while: http://www.escapesomewhere.com/austinblog/2006/04/gary_bradley_old_castle_is_vac.html
Search in your favorate search engine John Garland James and Texas Military Institute for an embarassing history of austin’s quest for an institute of higher education.
JRC