Woodlawn (Austin, Texas)
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Woodlawn, also known as the Pease Mansion as well as Governor Shiver's Mansion, is a pre-
Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
mansion located at 30.2871° -97.7581° in
Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
. The
Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...
style house was owned by two
Texas governor The governor of Texas heads the state government of Texas. The governor is the leader of the executive and legislative branch of the state government and is the commander in chief of the Texas Military. The current governor is Greg Abbott, who ...
s. Some notable people that have visited the mansion include
Sam Houston Samuel Houston (, ; March 2, 1793 – July 26, 1863) was an American general and statesman who played an important role in the Texas Revolution. He served as the first and third president of the Republic of Texas and was one of the first two i ...
, General George Custer,
Elisabet Ney Franzisca Bernadina Wilhelmina Elisabeth Ney (26 January 1833 – 29 June 1907) was a German-American sculptor who spent the first half of her life and career in Europe, producing portraits of famous leaders such as Otto von Bismarck, Giuseppe G ...
,
Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...
, and
Edith Head Edith Head (October 28, 1897 – October 24, 1981) was an American costume designer who won a record eight Academy Awards for Best Costume Design between 1949 and 1973, making her the most awarded woman in the Academy's history. Head is consi ...
. Woodlawn was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
on August 25, 1970.


History

The site of Woodlawn originally consisted of in West Austin. Then
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
State
Comptroller A comptroller (pronounced either the same as ''controller'' or as ) is a management-level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial comptroller is a senior-level executi ...
James Shaw commissioned master builder Abner H. Cook (who also designed the
Texas Governor's Mansion The Texas Governor's Mansion is a historic home for the governor of Texas in downtown Austin, Texas. Designed by prominent architect Abner Cook, it was built in 1854 and has been the home of every governor since 1856. Governor Greg Abbott and F ...
) to build a house for him and his fiancée. Shaw's fiancée later broke off the engagement, but Shaw soon found another woman that he married and they lived in the house, which was completed in 1853. Tragedy struck when Shaw's child died at the age of two and his wife died a few months later. Shaw sold the estate to Texas governor
Elisha M. Pease Elisha Marshall Pease (January 3, 1812 – August 26, 1883) was a Texas politician. He served as the fifth and 13th governor of Texas. Texas Republic A native of Enfield, Connecticut, Pease moved to Mexican Texas in 1835. He soon became active ...
and his wife Lucadia Christiane Niles Pease in 1857 and Shaw moved to
Galveston Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...
. The Peases named the estate Woodlawn. Pease developed most of the land surrounding Woodlawn into the present-day neighborhood of Enfield. Four generations of the Pease family lived at Woodlawn until 1957 when Niles Graham sold the house and its three remaining acres to outgoing Texas governor
Allan Shivers Robert Allan Shivers (; October 5, 1907 – January 14, 1985) was an American politician who served as the 37th governor of Texas. Shivers was a leader of the Texas Democratic Party during the turbulent 1940s and 1950s and developed the lieutenan ...
and his wife Marialice Shary Shivers. The Shivers moved into Woodlawn on January 15, 1957, almost 100 years to the day when the Peases first moved into Woodlawn. On October 27, 1975, the Shivers donated Woodlawn to the
University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
and
University of Texas–Pan American , mottoeng = Education, the Guardian of Society , established = , closed = , type = Public university , endowment = $65 million , president = Dr. Havidan Rodriguez ...
with the stipulation that they could live there until their deaths (see
Life estate In common law and statutory law, a life estate (or life tenancy) is the ownership of immovable property for the duration of a person's life. In legal terms, it is an estate in real property that ends at death when ownership of the property may ...
). Allan Shivers died in 1985 and Marialice died on September 29, 1996. The University of Texas sold Woodlawn to the State of Texas in December, 1997 for $2.6 million. The proceeds endowed the Allan Shivers Chair in Law and Banking at the
University of Texas School of Law The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the law school of the University of Texas at Austin. Texas Law is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the United States and is highly selective—registering the 8th lowest ac ...
and the Marialice Shivers Chair in Fine Arts at the University of Texas–Pan American. The state bought Woodlawn as Texas Lieutenant Governor
Bob Bullock Robert Douglas Bullock Sr. (July 10, 1929 – June 18, 1999), was an American Democratic Party (United States), Democratic politician from Texas, whose career spanned four decades. His service culminated in his term as the 38th List of lieu ...
dreamed of making it the new Texas Governor's Mansion. Bullock died in 1999 and his dream passed with him. Since it no longer had a purpose for the estate and it was expensive to maintain, the State of Texas put Woodlawn up for sale in 2002 by sealed bid. Actress
Sandra Bullock Sandra Annette Bullock (; born July 26, 1964) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Sandra Bullock, various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, Bullock was ...
reportedly toured the home as a possible buyer but did not bid on it. Only one bid was received and it was not credible. The state then began to contact interested buyers. Austin investor and entrepreneur Jeff Sandefer signed a contract to purchase the estate in May 2002. The $3.1 million deal broke down in August 2002 as Sandefer was frustrated by the restrictions and restoration requirements from Austin's Historic Landmark Commission and what it might cost to implement. Finally, on November 15, 2002, the estate sold to Mr. Sandefer for $2,851,100 via the holding company Woodlawn-Pease, LLC. Today, Woodlawn is the centerpiece of the
Old West Austin Historic District The Old West Austin Historic District is a residential community in Austin, Texas, United States. It is composed of three neighborhoods located on a plateau just west of downtown Austin: Old Enfield, Pemberton Heights, and Bryker Woods. Develo ...
which consists mostly of land formerly owned by the Pease family.OWANA – Old West Austin Neighborhood Association
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Notes

# This information was obtained by phone from th

Sep. 28, 2006. # According to Travis County property tax database, WOODLAWN PEASE LLC is a Jeff Sandefer Company. Thus, Jeff Sandefer successfully purchased Woodlawn. See: http://www.traviscad.org/travisdetail.php?theKey=112663


External links


Austin Chronicle - "A Little Fixer-Upper"Austin Chronicle - "Will He, Would He, Woodlawn?"


References

*Bertetti, Laura and Sniffen, John. "Shivers Recounts Woodlawn Anecdotes". ''Daily Texan'', Oct. 28, 1975. *Jayson, Sharon. "Pease Mansion again up for sale". ''Austin American-Statesman'', Aug. 20, 2002. {{National Register of Historic Places in Austin, Texas Houses in Austin, Texas Greek Revival houses in Texas National Register of Historic Places in Austin, Texas Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks City of Austin Historic Landmarks Governor of Texas