The University will preserve the Watson Chateau, an LGBTQ+ landmark, with a three-part preservation plan, according to a Nov. 13 meeting between UT and preservation activists.
The Arthur P. Watson House, better known as the Watson Chateau, sits next to the School of Nursing and overlooks Waller Creek. The University’s plan includes documentation of the building, a condition assessment and completion of design documents, UT spokesperson Mike Rosen said in an email.
Built in 1853, the house is one of the oldest buildings in Austin, according to the Watson Chateau digital exhibit To Liberate. The Chateau’s last private residents were Arthur P. Watson Jr. and Robert “Bob” Wayne Garrett, an openly gay couple who moved into the house in 1959.
Watson Jr. was an interior designer who worked on multiple interior design projects for the University, including the Bauer House, Littlefield Home and the original Lila B. Etter Alumni Center.
While living in the Chateau, the couple threw social gatherings attended by LGBTQ+ community members, according to the exhibit. The house became known as a safe place for queer people in Austin to congregate.
The University acquired the property through eminent domain in the 1960s, but Watson Jr. struck a deal with the UT System Board of Regents to remain in the Chateau, according to QT Voices, a magazine from the Department of LGBTQ+ Studies at UT.
The couple lived together in the home until Watson Jr.’s death in 1993, according to the exhibit. Garrett then left the home in 2009. Since then, the building has been closed to the public, covered by overgrown trees.
Nonprofit Preservation Austin started talking with the University in 2022 to restore the building. Meghan King, Preservation Austin’s policy and outreach planner, said the organization was elated when UT shared its plan during last month’s meeting.
“This is such a big step in securing the future of this property,” King said. “A few years ago, nobody really knew about it, and it was falling into disrepair on the side of Waller Creek. Now we have UT proactively taking steps to stabilize the building … This is a dream come true.”
King said the preservation plan should begin within the next year.
The Friends of the Watson Chateau committee, an organization that documents the building’s history, also spoke with the University to preserve the home. Marta Stefaniuk, a founding member of the committee and To Liberate creator, said the Chateau is also rich in feminist history, as it was built by a woman and lived in by Austin suffragette Nellie Doom.
“There’s so much interesting history about that house and the people who’ve lived in it or owned it,” Stefaniuk said. “I’ve learned almost all the history I know about Austin via that house.”
Michael Lopez, a government and humanities senior who conducts research about the Chateau, said she envisions the building as a space for historical community bonding.
“It would be cool to have that space as a living museum, where part of it is interactive exhibits and part of it is a social space,” Lopez said. “A lot of historical homes and sites do use that model because it’s a good way to keep revenue coming into that site.”
Stefaniuk said she is grateful for the plan because it will bring people to the Chateau for the first time in 15 years.
“It’s important to preserve historic places,” Stefaniuk said. “We need to make progress. It’s vital to preserve history (because) those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.”
