‘Fixer Upper’ stars Chip and Joanna Gaines bought a 129-year-old castle worth almost half a million dollars in Texas, and photos show why it may be their most challenging renovation yet

• Chip and Joanna Gaines, the power couple behind the popular home renovation show “Fixer Upper,” have bought a historic, 129-year-old German-style castle in their town of Waco, Texas, as first reported by the Waco Tribune-Herald.
• The exact sale price is unknown, but the 4,700-square-foot castle was listed on the market for $425,000 in February and appraised at $338,220 in 2018, according to public records.
• Dubbed Cottonland Castle, the aging structure requires extensive renovations throughout.
• Tom Lupfer, a contractor who worked on the castle for the previous owner, also estimated that an extensive renovation could cost between $600,000 and $1 million, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald.
• According to the listing, the castle is able to hold three bedrooms and two full bathrooms.
• The purchase adds to the couple’s existing catalogue of Waco real estate and businesses, which includes Magnolia Market and Magnolia Table.
• It’s unclear yet what the Gaineses will use the castle for, but they have promised in a statement that they plan to undertake the extensive renovations that the castle necessitates.
• “The Gaineses have the means, they have the interest – we knew for a long time that they were interested in the house,” Lupfer told Business Insider.
• Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
• And keep reading to take a look around the historic Cottonland Castle.

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The historic 129-year-old German-style castle, known as Cottonland Castle, in Waco, Texas, could be Chip and Joanna Gaineses’ most challenging renovation yet.

Source: Realtor

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Chip and Joanna Gaines started flipping homes shortly after marrying in 2003 and had been renovating homes for a whole decade before HGTV came along.

Read more about what life is like for Chip and Joanna Gaines

Source: Money

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On their hit show “Fixer Upper,” they specialized in transforming homes from drabby, outdated structures …

Source: HGTV

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... into contemporary abodes of the 21st century.

Source: HGTV

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Their renovation finesse is showcased in the couple's Magnolia Market at the Silos in Waco. In 2015, they transformed the once-abandoned site into a shopping center that sells, among many things, baked goods and home decor items in line with Joanna's signature modern style.

Source: Business Insider

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Their home improvement experience has helped them amass a vast following — and fortune ...

Source: Business Insider

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... and they're no strangers to giving some much-needed TLC to deteriorated homes.

Source: Business Insider

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But the historic Cottonland Castle provides a unique challenge for the couple. Sitting in the heart of the Texas town of Waco, where the Gaineses live ...

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... the property is such a notable landmark in town that the nearby neighborhood of Castle Heights was named after it. All eyes are on the Gaineses to see what they'll do with the property.

Source: Waco Tribune-Herald

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Lupfer, a contractor that previously worked on the castle, told Business Insider that the home was unoccupied for 12 years before he started working on it for the previous owner in 2014.

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And so it fell into disrepair in the interim, he said.

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"Unoccupied houses do not do well," Lupfer told Business Insider.

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Water damage, rotten woodwork, outdated electrical and plumbing systems, and a worn stone facade are just some of the issues plaguing the castle.

Source: Waco Tribune-Herald

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Other things that need addressing include extensive cleaning, stone restoring, and dealing with issues with the pool and pool house in the backyard, he said.

Source: Waco Tribune-Herald

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According to Lupfer, the original kitchen was in the basement, and a dumbwaiter was used to bring food up to the main floor.

Source: Waco Tribune-Herald

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Lupfer said constructing a full-sized kitchen on another floor from the basement was apart of the restoration plan.

Source: Business Insider

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But he said he never got around to starting on it.

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Another challenge, the Gaineses' renovations have to be approved by the Texas Historical Commission, since Cottonland Castle, named after Waco's rich history in the cotton industry, became a historical landmark in 1977.

Source: Waco History

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But hurdles aside, the castle is undoubtedly a charming find.

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It has the potential to hold three bedrooms and two full bathrooms, according to the listing.

Source: Realtor

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It also has a whopping eight fireplaces.

Source: Realtor

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One of them is carved out of pink granite ...

Source: Waco History and Realtor

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... while another was carved from French Caen stone.

Source: Waco History and Realtor

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Lupfer told Business Insider that homes outfitted with eight fireplaces aren't typical nowadays, but they're "not out of the ordinary," considering that's how homes built in 1890 were heated.

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Other materials added to the interior in the early 1900s include Italian Carrara marble ...

Source: Waco History

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... and Honduran mahogany paneling.

Source: Waco History

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There are also diamond-paned windows circa the Arts & Crafts design era of the early 1900s.

Source: Arts and Crafts Houses

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Each piece of glass needed to be removed, glazed, and re-installed, which was a project of Lupfer's during his time restoring the castle.

Source: Waco Tribune-Herald

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"We chose to take the originals and, piece by piece, we rebuilt 75 to 85% of all the windows in the house," Lupfer said.

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Lupfer and his team also took care to preserve the castle's quarter-sawn oak detailing, which is also a characteristic of the Arts & Crafts design era.

Source: Waco Tribune-Herald and The Barnyard Gazette

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The front door is a striking feature in the home.

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The 9-foot-high door is made of oak and weighs a whopping 400 pounds, according to the listing.

Source: Realtor

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But as beautiful as these original features are, there's still a lot of work to be done, according to Lupfer.

Source: Waco Tribune-Herald

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When Waco architect Sterling Thompson took on restoring the castle in 2014 with Lupfer when it was purchased by Oxford scholar Dirk Obbink ...

Source: Waco History

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... Thompson outlined an extensive renovation plan, which was approved by the Texas Historical Commission.

Source: Waco Tribune-Herald

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Lupfer said that their biggest tasks were to secure the castle against vandals and weather conditions.

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"That was no small chore by itself," Lupfer said.

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But the extent of the restoration proved to be too much of a financial investment, which prompted Obbink to sell.

Source: Waco History

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Lupfer said that the Gaineses won't necessarily follow the same restoration plan that he and Thompson had set in motion.

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But he estimated the cost for the needed restorations to be around $600,000 to $1 million, according to the Waco Tribune-Herald.

Source: Waco Tribune-Herald

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Undaunted by the work needed, the Gaineses have reportedly wanted this property for a while now.

Source: Waco Tribune-Herald

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According to public records, the property was listed for sale for $425,000 in February and was scooped up by the Gaineses after just days on the market.

Source: Zillow

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A Magnolia spokesman confirmed the sale to the Waco Tribune-Herald, stating that the couple has not only held a long-time admiration for the property but have even tried to buy it in the past.

Source: Waco Tribune-Herald

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Their spokesman also confirmed that the Gaineses' plan was to complete "the home's long overdue and well-deserved restoration."

Source: Waco Tribune-Herald

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But it's not yet clear exactly how they plan to utilize the historic landmark.

Source: Waco Tribune-Herald

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The idea of the pair turning it into a bed and breakfast has reportedly been floated, but past owners have toyed with the same idea before, which prompted pushback from neighbors.

Source: Waco Tribune-Herald

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In the past, the castle has mostly served as a personal residence.

Source: Waco History

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A local stone contractor named John Tennant began constructing the home for himself in 1890 before eventually abandoning the project in 1908.

Source: Waco History

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In 1913, a businessman named Alfred Abeel purchased the home and hired a local investor to pick up where Tennant left off. The German-style castle began to take shape during this time.

Source: Waco History

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The Pipkin family, who owned a southwest chain of drugstores of the same name, purchased the castle in 1941 before it eventually passed to a local church. The church then sold it to the Schwan family in 1969 for $50,000.

Source: Waco History

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The castle was in need of some renovations, which the Schwan family undertook.

Source: Waco History

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The family then tried to sell the castle for $1.25 million in 1982, a lofty price that spooked buyers at the time. It finally sold in 1991 after a price cut.

Source: Waco History

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The period following is when the castle began to deteriorate.

Source: Waco History

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So it looks like the Gaineses certainly have their work cut out for them ...

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... but then again, this kind of work is exactly what the "Fixer Upper" power couple has built an $18 million empire out of.

Source: Business Insider