| High upon the bluffs overlooking Pease park, sits one | | | | restoring the home back to its 1937 original condition. |
| of Austin's exclusive, and somewhat overlooked, | | | | The original owners of the home, Gordon E. Mills and |
| neighborhood, Pemberton Heights. The Austin | | | | Margaret Catterall Mills, were very prominent Austinites |
| Development Company created Pemberton Heights in | | | | throughout the mid 1900's. Mills was general manager |
| the late 1920s, and lured potential buyers by offering | | | | of the Austex Chili Company, considered one of the |
| "fancy $3500-$4000 cottages" as well as "$150,000 | | | | three big companies in Austin during the 30s, alongside |
| mansions." Their brochure touted, "over five miles of | | | | the University and the government. Austex Chili also |
| paved and shaded streets and sidewalks." | | | | played a prominent role in popularizing Mexican food |
| Today, Pemberton Heights is filled with sizable homes | | | | throughout the rest of the U.S. |
| that are a wide variety of styles, from mid-sized brick | | | | Though there are many original homes in the |
| bungalows to revivalist Tudor mansions. As opposed | | | | Pemberton Heights neighborhood, one stands out |
| to many older neighborhoods in the central Austin real | | | | above the rest: The Pemberton Castle. This structure |
| estate market, most of the original homes built in the | | | | was actually built before the neighborhood began. |
| 30s and 40s are still standing, with little sign of | | | | Though it now lives on 1415 Wooldridge Drive, it |
| complete house demolition. It seems these residents | | | | originally stood on the outskirts of Austin in the late |
| enjoy the historic nature of their neighborhood, and the | | | | 1800s, as a water cistern for the city's firefighters. In |
| fact that many homes were built with enough square | | | | 1925, the cistern was turned into a Gothic castle, and |
| footage deemed "livable" by today's standards, doesn't | | | | was the sales office for the Pemberton Heights |
| hurt. Pemberton Heights is also appealing in that the lot | | | | subdivision. In 1937, the castle was bought by UT |
| sizes are somewhat larger than the lot sizes in most | | | | professor of architecture, Samuel Gideon. Gideon |
| of the central Austin neighborhoods. Pemberton | | | | salvaged bricks and stained glass windows from the |
| Heights is also located close to UT and downtown. But | | | | university's original Main Building, and transformed the |
| unlike west campus which is seemingly overrun by | | | | structure into a livable home. Though in 1935, the castle |
| college students during the year Pemberton Heights is | | | | could not be sold for the eight thousand dollars it was |
| conveniently insulated from UT by Pease Park. | | | | offered at, rumor has it film director Robert Rodriguez |
| Many homes in Pemberton Heights have Texas | | | | purchased the home for 2 million dollars in 2006. It was |
| Historical markers placed in their front yards, and for | | | | also featured in his 2001 movie, Spy Kids. |
| good reason. The Caterall Mills house, at 2524 Harris | | | | Eighty years after Pemberton Heights original inception, |
| Boulevard, is an Early American Georgian revival, | | | | the "shaded streets and sidewalks," offered up in its |
| harking back to the glory days of George | | | | original sales brochure, are still as peaceful and inviting |
| Washington's Mount Vernon home. Its current owners, | | | | now as they were then, and well worth a stroll. |
| who bought the home in 1999, took great pride in | | | | |