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    Royal real estate

    Chip and Joanna Gaines' Fixer Upper castle in Waco goes up for auction

    Stephanie Allmon Merry
    Jun 26, 2023 | 12:47 pm
    Fixer Upper castle Waco

    Bidding begins July 20.

    Photo courtesy of Magnolia

    Hear ye, hear ye: The most famous castle in all of Texas is seeking new owners. By royal decree (aka Facebook post), renovation king and queen Chip and Joanna Gaines have revealed that they're auctioning off the historic Waco castle that they spent years rehabbing and made the focus of a special Fixer Upper series on Magnolia Network.

    The Gaineses' Magnolia Realty posted on June 24 that the Cottonland Castle will be offered through Concierge Auctions. Bidding will begin at 3 pm July 20, and there's no reserve. A $100,000 bidder deposit is required.

    "In 2019 — after 20 years of dreaming about the chance to renovate this castle — Chip Gaines and Joanna Gaines finally did. They aired the whole process on Magnolia Network last summer, then opened it up for guests to tour. Now, they’re ready for someone new to write the next chapter in this historic home’s story," the Facebook post says.

    The three-story, 6,700-square-foot residence at 3300 Austin Ave. has four bedrooms, three-and-a-half bathrooms, seven fireplaces, and sits on 1.5 acres in the heart of Waco. Construction was started in 1890, finished in 1913, and modeled after a Rhine River castle in Germany.

    The Gaineses purchased structure in disrepair in 2019. According to the Waco Tribune-Herald, the price they paid was not disclosed, "but the property was listed at $425,000 and had a tax appraisal of $350,700 at the time."

    The couple and their Magnolia team designed and executed a regal flip that added a conservatory, library, butler's pantry, card room, and more. It was opened to the public for tours in summer 2022 before being featured on a multiple-episode special called Fixer Upper: Welcome Home – The Castle, in October 2022. Rooms of the castle also have been featured in The Magnolia Journal.

    In the ultimate modern touch — a branding opportunity — a 17-page “Castle Sourcebook” listed design elements and products and where to buy them. A “Colors of the Castle” paint collection also was created and released through Magnolia.

    According to the Waco Tribune-Herald, the property was appraised this year at $1.7 million, including land - nearly $700,000 more than its $1.03 million appraisal in 2022. The castle is also being offered for sale at $2.9 million by Magnolia Realty, and a representative for Concierge Auctions told the Waco newspaper that "there remains the chance a pre-auction offer would be tendered."

    The Gaineses reportedly had planned to sell the castle immediately after the series aired in the fall. But after a three-year renovation, they got a little attached, they said.

    "This is a project that I was pursuing for 20 years. The reality is we need to sell it and we should sell it," Chip Gaines told Entertainment Tonight in October 2022. “But I wonder if it’s not one of those things 10 years from now you don’t look back and wonder, ‘Gosh, should we have kept it? What if somebody in the family wanted it?'"

    CultureMap was one of the first to step inside the castle for a tour. Check out some of the spectacular surprises in this story.

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    Neighbor news

    Blooming Dallas suburb ranks as America's 7th most livable small city

    Amber Heckler
    Jul 11, 2025 | 3:54 pm
    Flower Mound, Texas
    flowermound.gov/
    Flower Mound has skyrocketed into the top 10 most livable small cities in 2025.

    One Dallas-area city continues to attract the national spotlight: namely Flower Mound, whose latest accolade comes from SmartAsset, the financial technology company, which ranks it as the No. 7 most livable small city in the U.S. for 2025.

    This ranking represents a big jump for this family-focused suburb less than 30 miles from Dallas, which skyrocketed into the top 10 after coming in at No. 29 on the same list last year.

    SmartAsset's annual study compared 279 U.S. cities with populations between 65,000 and 100,000 residents across seven metrics, including a resident's housing costs as a percentage of household income; average commute times; the percentage of residents living below the poverty line; and the proportions of entertainment, food service, and healthcare establishments.

    Flower Mound boasts a population of more than 79,000 residents who earn a median $147,490 in yearly household income, the report found. These residents spend just under 20 percent of their income on their housing costs, which add up to a median $2,454 per month.

    The city is sprawling with employment opportunities on both local and corporate levels, comprising more than 20,000 businesses, and nearly 97 percent of Flower Mound residents have health insurance. Residents spend about 25 minutes on average commuting to their jobs.

    Flower Mound has the second-lowest unemployment rate out of all 20 Texas cities in the report, at just 1.95 percent. The report also added that only 3.3 percent of the city's population is living below the poverty line.

    Earlier this year, Flower Mound's appealing size and relative affordability landed the No. 1 slot on Livability.com's list of best places to live in the U.S. in 2025.

     Rheudasil Park in Flower Mound Flower Mound has nearly 1,000 acres of parks for families and visitors to enjoy.Town of Flower Mound, Texas-Government/Facebook

    According to the city's website, Flower Mound prides itself on being a tight-knit, family-oriented community that embraces its small-town feel while still encouraging "a dynamic economic development environment."

    Flower Mound came in as the highest Dallas-Fort Worth city to earn a spot in the top 50, but three other cities also made the list including North Richland Hills, which took a major leap from its 2024 ranking at No. 139 and is now the 48th most livable small city nationwide.

    The two other Dallas-Fort Worth cities that earned spots among the 279 most livable small cities in the nation: Mansfield (No. 138) and Rowlett (No. 181).

    Reducing household expenses or escaping from noise pollution are just a few of the many reasons Americans may choose to move to a smaller city. But the report says not all families are willing to trade a lower cost of living for the convenience of living in a major urban epicenter.

    "Ultimately, a local economy where infrastructure, business, financial prosperity and convenience all intersect may offer the best of all worlds for everyone in the household," the report's author wrote.

    The top 10 most livable small U.S. cities in 2025 are:

    • No. 1 – Plymouth, Minnesota
    • No. 2 – Bloomington, Illinois
    • No. 3 – Livonia, Michigan
    • No. 4 – O'Fallon, Missouri
    • No. 5 – Ankeny, Iowa
    • No. 6 – Lakeville, Minnesota
    • No. 7 – Flower Mound, Texas
    • No. 8 – Eu Claire, Wisconsin
    • No. 9 – Appleton, Wisconsin
    • No. 10 – St. Charles, Missouri
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