El Castille in Decatur, TX

We happened upon this castle on our road trip last Saturday.  It was quite a surprise to find a castle in a small town like Decatur, TX.  When we got home I looked it up on the internet and found the history below.  It was built by a “cattle king”. 
The Waggoner Mansion or El Castille, as it is sometimes called, is an excellent example of Texas' finest Victorian masonry architecture. Built in 1883, the house has retained approximately ninety percent of its original craftsmanship and material. This percentage far exceeds most large Victorian homes of this nature that remain in such a good state of repair in Texas, and consequently by all means this home can be classified as being "authentic". Both the exterior and interior walls are of solid poriferous limestone construction. Although the exterior is in a good state of repair, it is in need of preventive maintenance such as painting and minor material replacement. Exterior cornice detailing, opening trims and porch construction are combinations of wood and metal. Grill work on the exterior around the roof is original, although the grill work around the porches of the house has been added after 1941.
The house contains a large basement, sixteen rooms and six and one-half bathrooms. There are two bedrooms downstairs and four upstairs. The interior of the house is in very good condition. The intricate woodwork, hardware and finishes are well maintained and only portions of some ceilings and upper walls are in need of any repair. There are many distinguishing features of the home. They include 18 ft. ceiling heights downstairs, 16 ft. ceiling heights upstairs, intricately carved door mouldings on all the interior doors with a Texas "LoneStar" motif carried throughout the house, brass hinges, doorknobs and miscellaneous hardware, frescoed ceilings in a few of the rooms, stained glass transoms above all doors and windows, interior wooden shutters on all windows, eight fireplaces each with decorative tile insets, light fixtures, especially made for individual rooms and marble lavatories in all of the bathrooms. An artisan named Decker was brought from France to the Waggoner Mansion at the turn of the century to add the fresco decorations in some of the rooms. Decker signed one of the compositions in an upstairs room.
Only a few interior alterations have occurred. For example a butler's pantry has been converted into the kitchen. The original family kitchen is now used as a family living room-den with a fireplace that had previously been walled up. The fireplace was probably sealed when the home was restored by William Thomas Waggoner in 1931.
The house was built and owned by the Waggoner family from 1883 until 1942. The mansion was generally unoccupied from about 1922 until it was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Phil Luker in 1942. The Luker family have lived in the house since their purchase of it.
There is a separate addition to the house at the rear. Out buildings include a wooden smokehouse, storm cellar, and a more recent four car garage with stables underneath. To the northwest of the house stands one of the original bunkhouses used on the Waggoner Ranch.
This impressive masonry Victorian house was the home of the Waggoner family, prominent in the early days of ranching in Texas. In the boldness of the style and in the strength of the material the builder achieved an appropriate expression for the original owner, Daniel L. Waggoner, and the times he personified.
In the middle of the nineteenth century, Dan Waggoner drove a small herd of Longhorns into Wise County and launched a successful career that by 1870 earned him the recognition of being a "cattle king." At the time he built this baronial mansion it was the headquarters for the distinguished Waggoner Ranch which reached into a seven county area. By 1900 this sixteen room two story house was the headquarters for this well-watered and compact ranch that spread thirty miles east and west and twenty-five miles north and south, and included over a million acres. The Waggoner Ranch supported over 60,000 head of cattle, and it was served by three separate railroad lines. Dan Waggoner died in 1904, and this house became owned by his son, William Thomas Waggoner. After oil was discovered on the ranch in 1903, development resulted in the founding of the Waggoner Refinery in 1911. The fortune which resulted from this cattle and oil base enabled the Waggoner Family to become one of the richest and most influential families in the Southwest.
In 1931, W. T. Waggoner restored the home. After the death of W. T. Waggoner in 1934, the house was sold to Mr. and Mrs. Phil Luker in 1942. The moviemakers of the film "Giant" duplicated the exterior for the movie set. Thus, the Waggoner mansion is one of the foremost and striking architectural remains of the indelible marks left by the cattle empire of Victorian Texas.

Historic Texas Tourism Camp in Decatur

We  put our boots on and saddled up the horses and did a mini trail ride yesterday and found ourselves about 37 miles outside of Cowtown in Decatur, TX.  Boy is my rear end sore.  We rode into town and stumbled upon this unique looking vintage gas station so of course I squealed for Hillbilly to pull over and let me take a picture with the iphone. 

This station is covered in petrified wood as is the other structures.  There are cabins behind the station that were used as an early tourism camp and a cafe next door (see story below) and is on the Texas Historical Places list.

See the detail.  It’s gorgeous!  I would like to have a fireplace surround done like this. 

Decatur is a very interesting little town.  Check it out sometime if you ever get down to Texas.

Local Businessman C.F. Boydston purchased this site, a former feed lot in 1927. Recognizing a potential business opportunity offering services to the traveling public, he built a wooden shed and gas station in 1927. Travelers were allowed to build campfires during overnight stays and by 1931 Boydston added three wooden cabins with garages to the camp complex. The building were later faced with rock and more cabins were added in 1935. The original wooden gas station was covered with petrified wood in 1935 when the highway was widened and remained in operation by the Boydston family until 1988.
The Texas lunchroom was built in 1929 and renamed the Texas Cafe' in 1935. It was a popular hangout with high school and college students of the time as well as  a destination for the traveling public. Trains often stopped for engineers and passenger to get a bit to eat. Part of the Complex is now occupied by private offices. The now Whistle Stop Cafe' has once again become a hangout for locals. The Texas Tourist Camp is one of the few intact example of tourist camps built throughout Texas in the mid 20th century. The Complex is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. 

Happy Friday

If anyone is looking for us this weekend, we’ll be outside enjoying the cooler temps.  Y’all have a nice long weekend and do something fun! 

Girls Rule in this Family

Mini Me (aka Fertile Myrtle) is expecting her third baby girl due in February.  I’ve been waiting to share until the gender of the baby was determined.  The little thing had it’s legs crossed on the first sonogram but finally revealed the truth last week.

We are a family of Women.  My mother had two girls, I had two girls, my sister had 2 girls and now Mini Me will have 3 girls.  It’s a curse a blessing.  My only true concern of course  is that the baby be  healthy and gender doesn’t really matter.  It will be loved just the same.  Although it is unimportant in the big scheme of things having a little boy would have been fun.  Let’s just imagine for a moment how it would be. 

A boy would have really spiced things up around here.  We could buy footballs and little cars and bull dozers.  There would be peewee football and hunting and fishing.  Little camo outfits and toy guns would have been a welcome change.  Frogs and snakes and spiders instead of jewelry and makeup and dolls would be a new experience for my entire family.  We could play with transformer toys and ugly spider man dolls and trains. 

We could have decorated in BLUE!  Imagine that!  Oh well, it’s pink all the way for this family of women.  I just wonder if those overalls come in pink camo?  hmmmmmm……

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients:

• 2 cups diced chicken
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2-3 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade
• 1 chicken bouillon cubes or one tsp chicken base
• 1 stick unsalted butter = 8 tbsp
• 1 cups yellow onions, chopped (1 med onion)
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 1 med potato, diced
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 tbsp parsley flakes or 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• scant pinch of nutmeg
• 1 pie crust

Directions

Poach chicken breast in broth and bullion, season with a little salt and some pepper.  

In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt the butter and sauté the onions and carrots over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until onions are almost translucent and then add in potato and cook until crisp tender.  The carrots and potato will finish cooking in the oven later.   

Add the flour and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.

Add the hot chicken stock through a strainer as you add it to the sauce. Simmer over low heat for 1 more minute, stirring, until thick. Add 1 teaspoons salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, heavy cream  and nutmeg. You may not need as much stock or cream as above.  Just remember it is supposed to be thick.  Add the cubed chicken, peas, and parsley.  Mix well and remove from heat.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Divide the filling equally among individual ovenproof bowls. Divide the dough into as many pieces and roll out 1/2 inch larger than each bowl.  Brush the outside edges of each bowl with the egg wash, then place the dough on top.  Crimp the dough to fold over the side, pressing it to make it stick.  Brush the dough with egg wash and make 3 slits in the top.

Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling.

Clean Puppy

Gus went to the groomer’s today for the first time.  His pawgress report said he was a goof ball!  Gus says “get to know me”. 

What a pretty boy.  Look how big he is and he isn’t even 4 months old yet.  Uh oh!

He is also a very tired boy. 

This dog makes me smile:)

Basic Bread

Let’s bake bread!  Why you ask?  Because it’s easy and it’s fun and it makes your house smell unbelievably wonderful and your people will love you and bow down to you.  They will tell you that you are the greatest cook EVER!  They might even write a song about you or name a star after you.  You never know, stranger things have happened…
This great recipe yields 2 loaves or 24 rolls.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups warm water (like a baby’s bath water)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tbsp yeast
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 6 cups bread flour

Directions:
Place water, sugar and yeast in a large bowl until and give it a quick stir.  It should take about 5 minutes for the yeast to activate.  You will know it’s ready when foam has formed on surface.


Next, add vegetable oil and salt and begin adding in flour slowly and stir until a dough ball forms and pulls away from sides of bowl.  Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth.  Place dough in a oiled bowl turning over once so that both sides are oiled, cover with cloth and let rise to double in a warm place in the kitchen.  This will take an hour or maybe just a little longer.

Punch dough down a couple of times and turn out onto counter.  Knead for a few minutes.  Separate into 2 equal parts as this recipe makes 2 loaves.  Roll dough into rectangle and fold over 2x to form loaf.  Seal seams by pinching edges together and place in oiled loaf pan.  You could skip this step and just form into loaf without the rolling out, folding and sealing seams.  You could also form into 12 rolls if desired.  Half of the dough should yield 12 rolls. 



Bake loaves at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or rolls at 400 degrees for 13-15 minutes.