Chip & Joanna’s Castle Is For Sale…For $2.9 Million (A Waco Local’s Perspective)
If you’re a big fan of Chip and Joanna Gaines and all things Fixer Upper and Magnolia, you’ve probably heard by now that the Waco Castle they bought and restored is now on the market. Magnolia Realty posted the info on their Facebook page just a few days ago. Here’s the main image of the house, but you can click over to their post to see more details of the inside if you haven’t yet seen it.
I’m a bit confused as to how this all works because the house is currently listed for sale at $2,900,000 on sites like Realtor and Zillow, but then Magnolia Realty announced that it will be sold by auction by Concierge Auctions beginning July 20, 2023.
I’ll admit that when I heard that Chip and Joanna were buying this house back in 2019, I cringed ever so slightly. I could just picture the interior being covered with shiplap and farmhouse style, which would have been a travesty for an historical house with an interesting story.
A local stone contractor named John Tennant began construction on the house in 1890. I would imagine that the fact that he was a stone contractor explains why he designed the house to look like a little castle. What better way to show off stone, right? But he ran into financial problems and couldn’t finish construction, so he sold it to someone else who couldn’t finish it and had to sell it. But you can read all about the history of the house here. That’s not really what I want to focus on.
The fact of the matter is that Chip and Joanna did an amazing job on the house. They really honored the history of the home, they kept the original vision intact, and painstakingly restored the beautiful original features. I think if John Tennant and the other previous owners could see it today, they’d be proud of the job they did. I never toured it in person, and I didn’t watch the show about the restoration, but I’ve seen plenty of before and after pictures as the house has been featured in local news stories over the last four years. Since they did offer tours for a while, you can see loads of pictures from various sources on the Google Reviews for the house.
But I don’t really want to talk about the restoration, either. You can read about the history and the restoration on plenty of other websites. What I do want to talk about and offer my own perspective on is the price tag. Again, I’m not really sure how all of that works since it’s listed for sale, while they’re also planning on auctioning off the house later next month. But for now, it’s listed at $2.9 million.
I just turned 50 years old last week, and I’ve lived in Waco for 43.5 of those years. I was born here and grew up in a suburb of Waco called Woodway, where my mom still lives to this day. I went to college in Dallas, but then came right back to Waco after I graduated. Then in my late 20s, I moved to Turkey for a year-and-a-half, then got married and lived in Oregon for three years, and then came back to Waco in 2005. Since 2006, Matt and I have lived in the city of Waco. We don’t live in a suburb. We actually live in Waco.
So having been here the majority of my life, and knowing what the city looks like, what houses cost, and knowing the various areas of the city quite well, let’s just say that my ears perk up a bit when I hear about a house inside the city of Waco being valued at millions of dollars. While there are plenty of areas just outside of the city that would warrant that kind of price tag, there are only a few areas inside the city that could draw that kind of asking price, and pretty much all of them would be areas around the lake.
Well, unfortunately, Chip and Joanna’s castle isn’t near the lake. It’s in a part of town where one street is pretty nice, and the next street over is…well, it’s questionable. And unfortunately, that’s the perfect description of the very block where the castle is located. While most locals automatically picture beautiful old homes when they hear the Austin Avenue location, just one street over (pretty much in the castle’s back yard) there’s Franklin Avenue.
Franklin Avenue is long, and takes you from the suburbs on one side of Waco, straight through Waco to the downtown area. There are sections of it (closer to the end that takes you to the suburbs) that are lined with restaurants and stay very busy. And then there’s a stretch of Franklin Avenue that’s just…again, questionable.
This stretch of Franklin isn’t really a destination. It’s just a thoroughfare to get from the suburbs to downtown Waco, which means that the street is almost always very busy. But this section looks like you’re driving through a 1960s time warp. Nothing has been updated in decades, and in fact, all of my life, I’ve associated this strip of Franklin with little used car lots. And this is the section that basically sits in the back yard of the castle. Here are a couple of the (now closed) used car lots.
And the next photos is a wider view showing three in a row. This is one street over from the castle, and for years and years (most of my life, in fact), I only ever associated this stretch of Franklin with used car lots. I have no idea when they all closed because I don’t come to this section of Franklin much. But when I was a little girl, I was always fascinated with the one building with the tower. In my young mind, this was the castle. I had no interest in that “castle” house that sat behind it. 😀 And as long as I can remember, it was always a used car lot. Well, that now-closed used car lot is the back yard view of the castle.
Across the street from the side of the castle is this building. I have no idea if this is even being used, but it looks like it was probably built in the 60s.
And across the street from all of those closed used car lots is this shopping center that also looks like it hasn’t gotten a facelift since it was built, which was probably in the 60s.
I sat in the parking lot of that old shopping center to take this picture of the closed used car lots and the castle.
In one of the old articles I came across from The Waco Tribune Herald (written long before Chip and Joanna were a part of the castle’s history), there was a picture showing “the view” from the tower of the castle. It was used car lots. The picture had been taken when those car lots were still open, and the lots were filled with cars with the big sticker prices on all of the windshields of the cars. 😀
So these are the things that those beautifully curated real estate photos don’t show. And I just honestly can’t see how anyone familiar with the area would pay $2.9 million for a house in this location. The neighborhood where the castle is located is actually quite nice. In fact, some of those houses are among the oldest, grandest, and most valuable houses in the city. But even at that, a $2.9 million price tag for something in that particular location is unheard of.
If someone could purchase the home and turn it into a money-generating business, like a bed and breakfast, that might be different. But it’s my understanding that the residents in this neighborhood have fought against, and will continue to fight against, this house being turned into a bed and breakfast. So unless something changes in the next few months, my understanding right now is that the house has to be used as a single family home.
To get a single family home that’s actually worth anywhere even close to that price inside the city of Waco, you’d have to go to the nice areas around the lake, or at least one of the neighborhoods that’s kind of nestled in a quiet area surrounded by lots of old trees and sitting on a large lot.
Here’s one that’s pretty close to the castle (going the opposite direction from the used car lots) but this house is nestled more in the residential area. There are no backyard views of old, closed down used car lots here. This house is for sale for less than half the price of the castle at $1.1 million.
But when you get into the $2 million price range and up for a single family house inside the city of Waco, those homes are almost always going to have a view like this house that’s for sale for $2.25 million.
So it will definitely be interesting to see how much the castle ends up selling for. I know that I’m not the only local who’s very curious to see how this sale/auction goes.
If someone does end up paying anywhere near the $2.9 million price that the house is currently listed for, I would imagine it would be someone who is not from this area, and who bids/buys it sight unseen based only on the carefully curated real estate listing photos and has never actually visited the house in person to see the area. It will be someone enamored of the novelty of owning a home renovated by Chip and Joanna Gaines.
Because, let me tell you, for $2.9 million in central Texas, you could own a sprawling piece of land with a huge, gorgeous, custom home and just about every amenity you could imagine, and that wouldn’t include old, closed down used car lots in your back yard. 😀
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
Two thoughts:
First, the price tag for this home indicates buying name recognition, not location or practical livability.
Second, the country has lost its ever lovin’ mind, when it comes to real estate. Prices have doubled and sometimes tripled in our community, but salaries have remained flat.
Frankly, the castle would be a great location for a living museum, but that’s a discussion for a different day. I’ll be really interested to follow its future life.
It is very pretty, but like your said, location, location location!
I wonder what the reserve on the auction is? If it can’t be a B&B, I agree that valuation is challenging.
This People magazine article says the auction is no reserve.
https://people.com/chip-joanna-gaines-auction-texas-castle-fixer-upper-7553301
Of course, I suppose everything is subject to change!
I could envision it being owned by a celebrity or executive with more money than brains, who wants a trophy house to entertain occasional guests, but not use as a primary residence. Still, single family, and still not a B&B, so maybe flies under the city’s ordinances.
I watched Fixer Upper: The Castle. I was thrilled that Chip and Johanna kept the features that made it feel older than 50 years such as carved wood doors, paneling, crown moldings and fireplace surrounds. I think they did a spectacular job renovating it. The staging was beautifully executed. It will be interesting to see what the castle sells for. I’m sure you’ll let us know.
I agree I watched it also and they had set backs and problems but ended up doing a spectacular job. But since Kristi has shown the surrounding area I wonder what they were thinking in doing the whole remodeling. Maybe they made their money in having it as a TV show.
Today’s news is full of stories of AirBNB losing its luster and owners/hosts’ incomes falling drastically. It will be interesting to see if this impacts sales of places like this “castle.” But even if AirBNB was doing gangbusters, it’s hard to imagine anyone being able to make enough out of it to pay the mortgage, much less make a profit.
That said, I bought my house in TN sight unseen BUT I knew enough to use Google Maps’ satellite view and street view to see the neighborhood and surroundings of every house I considered. This helped me weed out a lot of places that sure looked good in those RE photos! If someone is dumb enough to pay that much for a place without using the free tools readily available to anyone, well, “caveat emptor.”
Thanks for weighing in on this. It was a very interesting read!
My first thought was maybe as a rental for weddings or big parties and such. But then you mentioned that the area had regulations requiring that it be just a single family dwelling. Those are Dallas prices (Swiss Avenue has some very grand homes, many historic, that would sell for that and, last time I went through that area, there are run-down apartments and ugly businesses right across the alley behind the houses). Maybe they put the price out there just to see if anybody bit because of the name recognition but they’re pretty sure they won’t get that, so they’re planning on auction? They did do a beautiful job on it but I’m betting they’ll lose money on this one.
You’re right. It will be interesting how far the selling price will fall with an relatively short-term auction. The neighborhood pictures make it look like a gentrification project. I can’t help but wonder who owns / controls the surrounding properties, if they have been sold recently / or plan to be sold in the intermediate future and if there are un-publicized plans to tear down / re-build some updated facilities. I also don’t know how close your home is to these properties but if there is some gentrification project, it could potentially improve the value of the existing “viable” homes in the area. Transitions in real estate communities is tough but if we have a soft economic downturn, hopefully it will work out for the Waco residents.
I agree with Linda S. ⬆️⬆️⬆️
I totally agree. I hope that this sale may ignite redevelopment of this blighted area. It would behoove everyone to bring business back to this stretch. Hopefully it is carefully thought out and executed and not only brings business, but is more pleasing to the eye than what currently exists.
I wonder what was the total expense of the renovation. Maybe they’re hoping to lose as little money as possible but they did at least get a miniseries of TV shows, sort of interesting but not terrible interesting because it did not relate to any renovation or improvement most of us would do. At most it could help us cultivate a level of taste. I predict they will get less than half the list price.
It’s beautiful. But what little I saw of the kitchen was a huge disappointment and it doesn’t look like a $2.9M house to me. And the view from the back is terrible.
Before purchasing that Castle my questions would be: Who owns the surrounding properties where the car lots were located, how are they zoned and what are the intentions of the land owners for future building. Do you think the Gaines own the properties and are seeing a bigger picture for the area?
There’s two kitchens! I’ve seen photos of both, and would delighted with either!
As a long while back Real Estate Broker, I have to agree with you Kristi that it will not sell for that amount anywhere with the location and restriction. Going to an auction with a reserve it may not sell either, with no reserve it is possible it will, giving the Gaines a tax loss to file on. The short time on the market prior to the auction makes me think this is why it will go to auction so quickly.
What a gorgeous renovation!!!
I would be shocked if they got near this $2.9m. Personally, I think Joanna did the reno precisely do away with her signature farmhouse style that made her famous. The farmhouse trend is over. Doing a restoration on historical house certainly is a great way to show her versatility as designer and get out of the farmhouse pigeonhole.
They certainly did a beautiful job on the restoration. It will be interesting to see what it goes for with no reserve but a buyer’s premium and brokerage commission. Don’t know if you noticed but the auction house listing does say it includes the adjacent property which I suspect is the one on Franklin with the matching tower. That’s a large commercial lot so probably at least 25% of the price tag.
I grew up in an old home in the south and as my dad always said, buying a historic house isn’t that expensive compared to the cost of keeping it up.
I think the setting is perfect to put that house to work. If you watch Hallmark movies which use Victoria BC Canada’s Craigdarroch Castle, it can be used as a setting for any European imaginary monarchy. The neighbours won’t be bothered by the filming night and day. At some point the surroundings will catch up to the regal house. If I lived there, I would definitely invest.
I’ve heard of the Gaines but never watched the show.
Zillow shows the castle last sold in 2019 for 450K. Public records show the castle currently assessed at 1.7M – the property taxes for 2023 alone are almost 43K! Public records also show the same LLC that owns the castle owns the vacant car lot with the tower. Makes you wonder what plans they may have for the area.
Real estate auctions in my area have a hidden reserve (not required to be published). May not be the same everywhere.
My guess is the name recognition coupled with the series on the reno will garner the asking, possibly more. Location notwithstanding, it’s a beautiful place.
It’s very easy to see the location on google maps, and see that it’s bordered by vacant lots – I don’t think someone will be bamboozled by beautifully curated real estate photos. That being said – there’s a lot of beauty next to lots (literally) of broken asphalt. I can only hope that the house sells and that this may lead to a better and more attractive development of that area of town.
thanks for the perspective of Waco! Never been there!
Kristi,
This is just my opinion. Your home would most likely be worth 2.9 million if you put it on the market. Because I think with all you have done to your home has been done better than any pro could do. I’m dead serious when I say this.
When you have your home completely done inside and out, with all you plan on doing to it, you will have what I would call the Blue Ribbon of remodeled homes.
Agree that if it sells, it will probably be someone who doesn’t care what surrounds the “castle”, they are just buying “The Gaines” name recognition. I have not followed this story, so don’t know much about it. But as I said on FB, I wish Chip and Joanne would put more effort in to helping the less fortunate homeowners improve their homes, especially when I visited Harp Design and saw the neighboring homes in states of disrepair. I was ashamed to be contributing to their success at the expense of the locals, and had to quickly exit the area. They didn’t get any more out of me but the purchase of two T-shirts for my girls!
I’m wondering if the will sell it furnished? Can’t wait to see what it sells for. If the other lot comes with, I imagine someone that has money to purchase this would just put a ton of money into landscaping/trees and cover the blight around it.
I remember a previous post you made regarding the “fixer upper” trend in Waco and how it was impacting home prices in the area.
Commercial/retail can be as important as residential real estate. Would be nice to have someone come in and invest in the used car lot area for updated retail/commercial.
Thanks for all the information. The links were very helpful to read about the history of the house. I remember when the tours were going on for $50.00 per person. Just wonder how many people actually paid to see it. For my husband and I, that would be $100.00. No Way. I might pay $50.00 to tour YOUR house!! Wonder how much they spent on the renovation?
Have a great day.
I would hope there will be a domino effect in the neighborhood and perhaps the Gaines will restore other places in that area. Look at what’s happened in Laurel, MS where Ben and Erin Napier have made such an impact in the “not so great” areas of town. I think it brings a new pride to the streets where they have worked their magic. You saw the castle before they bought it and I was wowed by it. I hope whoever buys it can make it a public place for others to enjoy. Maybe a museum, art gallery, etc. Your thoughts are interesting and I thank you for sharing your thoughts.
I’m actually shocked that locals are negatively talking about this. I watched the series and was in awe of the sheer effort alone of Chip and Joanna to pursue and complete this project in such a magnificent way. I’m also confused by the author’s strong opinions while having never actually visited. It was obvious from the beginning this house would be for a very specific buyer. I felt that the moment I saw the butler’s pantry. As for location, I remember seeing many homes on “Fixer Upper” where the neighborhood was questionable, but I can assure that’s not the case now. That’s what investment does. God forbid Chip & Joanna had used this “location” theory when they took on the Silos and the Magnolia Table. Their risk is why the world now knows Waco and that alone should have all of Waco cheering them up vs being backseat drivers.
I just have one question. How in the world can you “assure that’s not the case now” when you’re not even from here? You can’t. You’re making assumptions.
And while I’ve never been inside the castle, I’m a Wacoan. I’ve lived here almost all my life, and I know the area well. Judging from your comment, you’ve only ever seen it on a TV show, and yet you seem pretty confident that you know more about Waco and the castle than a person who’s lived in Waco for 45-ish years. Explain how that works. Imagine if I claimed to know more about your city and about a very specific house in your city just because I had seen it on TV.
As far as location goes, yes, when you literally take over TWO entire city blocks and pour millions upon millions of dollars into it with the very specific purpose of turning it into a tourist attraction, you really don’t have to worry about what’s around it. That’s a VERY different situation from buying a single family house in an already established neighborhood that backs up to a part of town that another Wacoan on my Facebook page called “a dumpster fire”. And as far as the Magnolia Table location, there was nothing wrong with that location to begin with. It was in a location with some already-established and very popular restaurants — Rudy’s Barbeque, Health Camp (another Waco landmark), Texas Roadhouse, etc. So they didn’t need to bring in their restaurant to revitalize that area. They benefited from finding a very prime location in an already highly-trafficked area of town near other popular restaurants and close to Baylor University.
It just astounds me when people who aren’t even from Waco, and especially those who have never been here and have only ever seen the carefully curated images on TV, think they know more about this city than the people who actually live here. You can’t “explain” my city to me any more than I can or should “explain” your city to you.
They very well may get $2.9 million for that house. Heck, they may get double that. But it will be from a person like you who has never been here and has only ever seen it on TV and is convinced that anything Chip and Joanna touch is worth its weight in gold. Because every single Wacoan I’ve talked to about it knows where that house is located and laughs at that price.
Hi Kristi,
It seems we all make assumptions. I have in fact been to Waco and it’s adorable in some places and in some places not so much. I think since you’ve never been in the Castle either we’re on equal footing there just with differing opinions. I personally would prefer to pass by a beautifully restored building than one in disrepair anyday. Maybe that’s just because I love history, especially Texas’ history and historical restorations. I don’t think I have to be a local to appreciate someone restoring a dilapidated building. As far as the Magnolia Table, I don’t know anyone who would buy a building that hasn’t been changed in over 50 years and try making it a restaurant without doing renovations. Finally, if you ever decide to watch the Castle renovations, you’ll see the first thing Joanna says is they will not get any profit on this project. It’s simply for the love of restoring something to its original beauty. Thanks for your reply.
No, we’re not on equal footing just because you visited Waco once and went inside the castle. The castle was auctioned off, and that auction ended last week. It sold for $1.1 million less than what they were asking, and that’s just because there were two or three people who drove up the price in literally the last hour. I literally never said that I didn’t appreciate the work they did on that castle. In fact, I said just the opposite. I said I did appreciate that they took such care in preserving so much of the original, and I said they did a beautiful job in the work they did. The ENTIRE POINT of this blog post was to say that there was no way that it was going to sell for the $2.9 million they were asking because of LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. And I hate to say I told you so, but I was right. I wasn’t being negative. No other locals were being negative. We were being realistic ABOUT THEIR ASKING PRICE as people who know their city better than outsiders do. That’s it. The whole entire subject being discussed in this post was their $2.9 million asking price. Nothing else.
Late reading the blog posts, but just clicked on the Zillow link and there has been a Price cut: $1.9M (7/21). Which I still find to high for used car lot views. Wonder if they’ll cut it again. Real estate prices have been gone the way of unrealistic.
Bottom line. What was purchase price what was renovation budget and what was the business plan not to lose money? Was it a personal expense?