I had lots of feedback to my April 9 column about the interesting history, sad present and questionable future of the Arthur P. Watson House, which, built in 1853 and remodeled many times since, is the oldest building on the University of Texas campus.

Thanks to all who weighed in, including those who agreed with me that it would be nice if the abandoned and fenced-in building could somehow be saved. UT says there are no plans for use of the building, which, to some of us, sounds like its future is challenged, at best.

I also want to thank readers who pointed me to a great March 2011 article in L Style G Style about Robert Garrett, who, as I told you in the column, lived in the house with his partner Watson beginning in 1959. UT bought the house in 1993 when Watson died. Garrett was allowed to continue living in it and moved out in 2009.

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I spoke with Garrett briefly for the April 9 column. And he chatted with me some more when I got back in touch with him after I read the 2011 L Style G Style article (and thanks to the magazine for allowing us to use its photo of Garrett) headlined: "The Chateau: One old mansion hosted some of Austin’s most fabulous parties, thanks to this couple."

The old mansion was the Watson House; Watson and Garrett were the couple. I had heard from some folks about the house’s party reputation. The magazine reported: "The house and its grounds were the scene of some of the city’s most memorable parties and social occasions."

"Despite the home’s looming large in the city’s social history, the majority of those who travel down Red River and MLK have driven by it a thousand times without even knowing the home was there," the article said.

Until reader Rowland Cook asked me about the house, I, despite living in Austin since 1979, was in that majority.

"The lone survivor of a different era, it now stands in the shadow of two brutally unattractive academic buildings," the article noted. It also talked about the "unabashed Frenchification of the house through the addition of balconies, grillwork and interior fittings from the legendary Weigel Iron Works."

That work was done by Caroline Roget — "a colorful figure on the Texas political scene," the magazine said — who bought it in the late 1940s and later sold it in 1959 to noted interior designers Watson and Garrett. Some local folks seem to think they know what made Roget so colorful on the Texas political scene. I don’t know enough to go any further.

More from L Style G Style:

"None of those who have lived in the house, however, influenced its destiny as much as Arthur Watson and Robert Garrett, the two men who called it home for 50 years. Beginning in September of 1959, when Watson, a nationally known interior designer and Austin native, bought the property from Miss Roget, the pair began creating their own private Xanadu. The popular duo promptly opened the doors of their home, christened the Chateau, to an endless stream of Austin society. The city took notice of the handsome couple, and invitations to their frequent cocktail parties, weekly gatherings and holiday soirees were eagerly sought by Austin’s who’s who."

Garrett told the magazine the parties hosted as many as 350 guests.

"The kitchen, at the time, was like those on a small yacht. As long as everyone stayed in their spot and didn’t flail around too much while working, everything came out just fine," he said in the article. "The drinks flowed like a river, so that usually smoothed over any otherwise rough spots for our guests. We were known for Arthur’s Bloody Marys, for the chateau Pink Gins and our lethal Velvet Hammers. Hardly a day passed that we did not entertain friends, clients or other guests for some occasion."

"Rock Hudson also came to the Chateau for several low-key respites," the article said. "Between Watson and Garrett’s interior design business and their love of all things beautiful, the home was filled with remarkable objects from around the globe. … Upstairs, French chandeliers, European furnishings and priceless art ornamented the public spaces."

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In the 2011 interview, Garrett said his life with Watson in the house was "magical." He still feels that way, punctuating his memories of the house with delightful laughter.

"Can you get in there and look at it," he asked me in our phone chat.

I told him how UT, citing safety concerns, said it would not allow me inside the locked gate at the end of the driveway that leads to the house from Red River Street.

"Nobody knew it was there," Garrett said of the house. "It was kind of hidden back in the bushes. I kind of helped that by building a wall."

"It was a wonderful house to live in because it was three stories so you could entertain on the second floor and then have the dining room all set and ready to go, the candles lit when you’d go down and have dinner and them come back up to a great living room for after-dinner drinks," he said.

More on the drinks in a minute.

Who were the guests?

"Friends," Garrett said, "mostly friends. Friends and friends of friends. You know how things get. You have a party and people hear about it, and they call their friends and they say c’mon, c’mon."

And c’mon they did. The Rock Hudson appearance, he recalled, was not at a party.

"He was at a football game and all of a sudden people recognized him and he came running up the driveway," Garrett recalled. "I let him in so people didn’t swamp him."

I mentioned to Garrett that back then Austin sensibilities about same-sex relationships were not what they are today.

"We lived in our own little world and we didn’t let people’s talk bother us. If they want to say what they want to say, well let them say what they want to say," he said. "I’ll say what I want to say."

Garrett jokes that he is 99.9 years old. Actually, he was born in 1930 in Henrietta, about 20 miles southeast of Wichita Falls.

I asked him why he moved out of the house.

"I couldn’t take care of the pool and the greenhouse and all of the stuff," he said. "I had help, but they were spending all their time taking care of the property and not me. So I said to hell with this."

He sorrowfully believes UT eventually will tear the house down. But Big State U. can’t erase his memories.

"I loved the parties. It was a wonderful house to live in and a wonderful area to be in," he said. "I’ve had a good life."

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I promised to tell you about one of the signature drinks served at the parties. The L Style G Style article back in 2011 had the formula for Arthur Watson’s Bloody Mary Cocktail and a libation called Velvet Hammer a la Chateau.

Garrett said the latter was from a Dallas restaurant. "And it was very popular," he said. "It was just like drinking air and all of a sudden it would just hit you in the back of the head with a hammer."

One more thing: Dr. Stephen Sonnenberg, an adjunct professor and resident fellow at UT’s School of Architecture, told me he is working with some folks toward the possible construction of a veterans community park and pavilion on the Watson House site. This is in very early stages.

Sonnenberg envisions the Watson House, or more specifically perhaps parts of it, being incorporated into the project as "a tribute to the past."

Sounds like an interesting project. If nothing else, maybe it will help focus attention on the future of the Watson House.