Galveston's Carr Mansion claims spot on Texas Monthly's best new hotels list

PHOTOS: Inside Galveston's Carr Mansion

A mansion built on Galveston Island just after the Civil War, surviving the devastating 1900 hurricane along the way, will begin a new life as an boutique bed-and-breakfast destination later this summer.

See more photos from inside this huge island house... less PHOTOS: Inside Galveston's Carr Mansion

A mansion built on Galveston Island just after the Civil War, surviving the devastating 1900 hurricane along the way, will begin a new life as an boutique ... more Photo: Maggie Kloss Photo: Maggie Kloss Image 1 of / 78 Caption Close Galveston's Carr Mansion claims spot on Texas Monthly's best new hotels list 1 / 78 Back to Gallery

The Carr Mansion in Galveston made the cut for this year's Texas Monthly list of the 10 Best New and Improved Texas Hotels.

The estate saw a comprehensive remodel last summer, when it debuted as a quaint island bed and breakfast. It retained its Greek Revival style, which was popular in Galveston in the late 1800s and early 1900s, so its intriguing grandeur still welcomes guests today.

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"The majestic home has undergone many a transformation between its construction as a private residence, by Lewis W. Carr, in 1866, and its current incarnation as a bed-and-breakfast (including an unfortunate era that saw the installment of hot tubs on the verandas)," Texas Monthly writes. "The B&B is old-school elegant but radiates easygoing charm."

Indeed, the interior is decked out in eclectic furnishings, a sort of bohemian chic that still embraces the home's elegant structure.

Each of the eight guest rooms is themed, some of which honor past residents. The property has passed hands several times over the last century. Among its notable owners, for which one of the rooms is decorated, is Texas Governor Richard Coke, who purchased the house from Lewis R. Carr in 1870, just four years after it was completed.

Other suites include "The Church Lady," named after a pastor's wife who lived and operated a church there in the 1950s. "The Merchant" is named for E. B. Nichols, a prominent banker in 1800s Galveston who originally owned the land on which Carr Mansion was built.

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Horace Sloan and Jane Austin Sloan, sister of Texas founding father Stephen F. Austin, were other notable residents who lived in the home from 1876 until 1889.

The resilient structure survived the Great Storm of 1900, after which it was raised eight feet.

Over the last several decades it's seen its fair share of reincarnations. It's been used as a church house, boarding home, private residence and as the Mermaid & Dolphin Boutique Inn in 1998.

Last year, investment group GTX Ventures purchased the mansion and called in famed Texas interior designer Shannon Eddings to breath new life into the space.

"It combined two of my passions, history and design, and got me seriously interested in 1800's Texas architecture. It was exciting to juxtapose the historic woodwork and molding of the place with the clean-lined, contemporary furniture and lighting," Eddings told the Houston Chronicle last year.

Now owner Joellyn Moynahan welcomes guests to the Carr Mansion and wakes them the next morning with a homemade breakfast of Southern comfort fare.

Guests particularly enjoy the mansion's proximity to the Historic Strand District and the beaches, which can be reached by bikes or a golf cart available for patrons' use.

Rates at the Carr Mansion start at $179 per night.

Elsewhere on Texas Monthly's list, downtown Houston's Hotel Alessandra and Tilman Fertitta's The Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston also claimed spots on this year's best-of roster. The annual list honors new or recently revamped Texas lodgings.

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