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    saluting the commodore

    Glamorous Texas estate offers elegant getaway for savvy Houstonians

    Lonnie Schiller
    Mar 31, 2021 | 1:32 pm
    The Commodore Perry Estate is now open.
    The Commodore Perry Estate is now open.
    Photo by Douglas Friedman

    As Houstonians are well aware, Austin is constantly heralded as America’s hottest city. The capital of the Lone Star State is seeing unprecedented growth, celebrity transplants (Elon Musk, anyone?), and non-stop development.

    Savvy visitors to Capital City looking for an escape from all the bustle, then, would be wise to consider skipping the busy hotel scene and opt for the Commodore Perry Estate, Austin’s prestigious, luxe getaway — which, though nestled in the Hill Country, feels worlds away.

    Sitting on the veranda of the renaissance revival mansion looking south over the pool and grounds calls to mind the Amalfi Coast in Italy (minus the sea), with the breeze and the clink of the fine china, the crisp service, and the high culinary standards.

    Commodore Perry is operated by Auberge Resorts Collection — which includes 19 properties across three continents, destinations such as Greece, Costa Rica, Mexico, and the Caribbean. The company started in 1981 with a single restaurant in a beautiful Napa Valley setting. Soon, they added individual cottages for guests: Auberge du Soleil. The same approach has continued for 40 years: building ultra-luxury inns in great locations, that emphasize local focus over chain-wide uniformity.

    Thus, with Austin getting so much attention both nationally and internationally for events such as South By Southwest, Austin City Limits, the Circuit of the Americas, a move to the buzzy city made sense. (Acquiring the land and acting as the developer was The Marchbanks Company and Clark Lyda Interests.)

    The centerpiece of the hotel is the original 10,000-square-foot mansion built in1928 and still listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Notably, it was the home of businessman Edgar Perry and his wife, Lutie. (Perry wasn’t a commodore; he made his fortune shipping cotton from Texas to Europe and travelling there frequently, hence the name.)

    Some of the rooms are in the mansion and some are in the adjacent inn — a total of 42 king hotel rooms and 12 suites. Entering the property over the crushed stone driveway you feel like you are visiting the home of a very wealthy friend, not a hotel.

    The original historic mansion aspect of the hotel was reimagined by internationally renowned designer Ken Fulk, a San Francisco based designer but one who was already a fan of the offbeat nearby town of Round Top, having regularly patronized the Round Top Antiques Fair. The newly built Inn portion of the property was designed by the celebrated firm of Moule & Polyzoides.

    In addition to the rooms and suites there is an organic urban farm, the signature garden restaurant, a member’s club, English gardens, a chapel for private events, and an ornately designed oversized outdoor pool on the south perimeter of the property.

    “I grew up in New Orleans, but I had family in Texas,” says Marco Bustamante, general manager of the Auberge. “Before I came to Austin, I helped open two other Auberge properties: one in Puerto Vallarta and one in Rivera Maya, then one in New England. Two years ago, I came to open Austin. By the time we were ready to open last July it was right in the middle of the pandemic. So, we haven’t actually had anything like normal since we opened.”

    That means the hotel hasn’t seen the usual group of international or national travelers, Bustamantre notes. “But really, we’ve been blessed because we have all these outdoor spaces and have been able to adapt to the needs of our mostly regional clientele. Throughout the summer we got Texans looking for a getaway vacation. Now we’re seeing guests from other states. We’ve even had some long term stays by Californians who are building houses in Austin.

    University of Texas fans also will host barbecues for UT football game watch parties on the lawns.

    The restaurant in the Mansion is headed by a husband-and-wife team of Bradley Nicholson and Susana Querejazu, veterans of some of Austin’s best restaurants including Uchi, Odd Duck, and Barley Swine. While the venue is reserved for hotel guests and members, but the hotel will soon open Luties (Edgar Perry’s wife’s name) at the front of the property on Red River to the public. Our preview revealed the same elevated design aesthetic as the rest of the property.

    An added flourish is the experiences and activations, from the daily bartender lessons in the patio, the customizable cocktail carts in each room, and even the three new Mercedes vehicles available for guests. “Take one to Fredericksburg for the day,” says Bustamante. “It’s all part of the Auberge experience.”

    -----

    Lonnie Schiller is a long-time Houston restaurateur who launched well-known names such as Cafe Express, Cafe Annie, and The Grove. He is also CultureMap’s founder and a restaurant and hospitality consultant.

    The Commodore Perry Estate is now open.

    Commodore Perry Estate
    Photo by Douglas Friedman
    The Commodore Perry Estate is now open.
    luxuryvacationhotels
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    Preservation efforts

    South Texas mission makes list of America’s most endangered historic places

    Associated Press
    May 21, 2026 | 4:00 pm
    Ruidosa Church
    Facebook/Friends of the Ruidosa Church
    El Corazon Sagrado de la Iglesia de Jesus in Ruidosa, Texas is considered an endangered place.

    WASHINGTON (AP) — A historic South Texas mission joins the Stonewall National Monument, the President's House Site, and the Women's Rights National Historic Park among 11 sites on this year's annual list of the most endangered historic places in the United States compiled by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

    The 2026 list, announced Wednesday, May 20, marks America's 250th anniversary with the foundational principle that everyone is created equal as the theme, said Carol Quillen, president and CEO of the nonprofit organization. The 11 sites offer examples of how, over time, Americans have fought against injustice and for equality, she said.

    “We wanted to think about those ideas, especially this notion that all human beings are created equal and find places, sometimes unsung places ... that not all Americans routinely think about," Quillen told The Associated Press.

    The sites are spread across the United States — from New York and California on the East and West Coasts, to Alabama and Texas in the South, to Michigan in the Midwest and the Four Corners of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah in the Rocky Mountain West.

    At least three of the sites — Stonewall, the El Corazon church in Texas, and President's House in Philadelphia — have been endangered by Trump administration actions.

    “We want to save these places," Quillen said, “not just because the bricks and mortar is important but because the stories these places hold are important."

    For the first time since the list debuted in 1988, each site on the 2026 list will receive a one-time $25,000 grant to help highlight their connections to the principle that all people are created equal and address the threats they face.

    The 11 sites are:

    Ruidosa, Texas: El Corazon Sagrado de la Iglesia de Jesus
    The more than century-old adobe church served as a refuge and place of worship for Mexican and Mexican American farming communities on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border along the Rio Grande River. Vacant since the 1950s, the structure has benefited from continued restoration provided by the nonprofit Friends of the Ruidosa Church but remains threatened by proposed construction of a U.S. border wall that could come within a few hundred yards of the property. (The nonprofit has posted an official statement and more information about the border wall here.) Ruidosa is in far west Texas, roughly 35 miles northwest of Presidio and 46 miles southwest of Marfa, near the rugged Chinati Mountains.

    El Corazon Sagrado de la Iglesia de Jesus A historic photograph of El Corazon Sagrado de la Iglesia de Jesus.Facebook/Friends of the Ruidosa Church

    Montgomery, Alabama: Ben Moore Hotel
    The hotel was a refuge for Black people living under laws that enforced racial separation in the South. Prolonged vacancy has caused structural deterioration and the historic Centennial Hill neighborhood surrounding it faces pressure from development. The hotel housed key players from the Civil Rights Movement, including the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rev. Ralph Abernathy. The Conservation Fund announced in November that it would help preserve the hotel.

    Modoc County, California: Tule Lake Segregation Center
    Initially known as the Tule Lake War Relocation Center, it was set up as a camp but later became a segregation center where Japanese Americans who were thought to be disloyal to the United States were imprisoned. The site is now a national monument managed by the National Park Service. Only 37 acres of the 1,100-acre site is protected. Most of it is at risk of permanent alteration from a proposed nearby construction project.

    California: Angel Island Immigration Station
    It was the largest immigration port on the West Coast between 1910 and 1940, particularly for immigrants from Asia and the Pacific. Hundreds of thousands were processed, detained and/or interrogated there because of their race. The station currently is threatened by physical, environmental, political and economic factors. Additional funding is needed for structural repairs and programming to increase awareness.

    Somerset, Massachusetts: Swansea Friends Meeting House
    Recognized as the oldest surviving Quaker meeting house in the state, it was built in 1701 to serve as a refuge by a congregation fleeing religious persecution and looking for a safe place to worship. The building has been closed for years and needs significant rehabilitation.

    Michigan: Detroit Association of Women's Clubs
    Founded in 1921, the association was one of the first Black organizations in Detroit to own their headquarters building, which was purchased in 1941. But the building has been closed since 2024, when water pipes burst and damaged the interior. Money is needed to help the association reopen the building.

    New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, Utah: Greater Chaco Cultural Landscape
    The landscape is an ancestral homeland sustained for over a millennium by the Pueblo and Hopi people, but is threatened by changes to federal land policy that could open up significant portions to oil and gas development. Permanent protections and tribal consultation are needed to protect its cultural integrity.

    Seneca Falls, New York: Women's Rights National Historical Park
    The park tells the story of the first Women's Rights Convention, held in Seneca Falls, in July 1848. It faces a deferred maintenance backlog of over $10 million. Additional funding and support are needed to help preserve the park as a place to teach visitors about the history of women's rights.

    New York: Stonewall National Monument
    The first and only U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ history was the subject of administration actions that saw the rainbow Pride flag removed from its flagpole earlier this year before it was restored. The National Park Service had removed the flag in February, citing federal guidance that limited the agency to displaying only the American, Interior Department and POW/MIA flags. But the administration reversed course in April as it agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by advocacy and historic preservation groups that sought to block the flag's removal at the Manhattan site.

    After Trump returned to office, he ended diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and many references to transgender people were excised from the Stonewall monument’s website and materials. The Republican administration similarly has put national parks, museums and landmarks under a messaging microscope, aiming to remove or alter materials that it says are “divisive or partisan” or “inappropriately disparage Americans.”

    Philadelphia: The President's House Site
    The administration abruptly removed exhibits on the lives of nine people enslaved at the site in the 1790s under George Washington, the first U.S. president, who lived there when Philadelphia served as the nation's capital. The exhibits were taken down as part of a broad effort by the administration to remove from federal properties information it deems “disparaging” to Americans. The issue is currently the subject of litigation between the city and federal government.

    Heath Springs, South Carolina: Hanging Rock Revolutionary War Battlefield
    The Battle of Hanging Rock was a key battle in the Southern Campaigns of the Revolutionary War and is considered a Patriot victory that helped boost morale and ultimately weaken British control in South Carolina. Only portions of the core battlefield are protected and open to the public, with the area anticipating population growth and increasing development pressures.

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