DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, some houses just sit there on a lot, minding their business. And then there are houses that become landmarks — the kind people navigate by, talk about, point to.
The Goodall Wooten House in Austin is that second kind. Let me tell you how it got there. Goodall Harrison Wooten was born in 1869 in Paris, Texas — son of a Confederate veteran, Dr.
Thomas Dudley Wooten, and his wife Henrietta Goodall Wooten. The boy had ambition in his bones. He went to the University of Texas, where he earned both a Bachelor's and a Master's degree.
That wasn't enough. He pushed on to Columbia University, where he received a medical degree in 1895. So by his mid-twenties, Goodall Harrison Wooten had set up a medical practice in Austin, and in 1897 he married Ella Newsome — born in 1878, a woman who would leave her own mark on this story in ways that may surprise you.
Construction on the house began in 1898. Dallas architect Charles O'Connell designed it, and it was completed in January of 1900. At the time, it was a simple house — respectable, sure, but simple.
Ella Wooten, though, got to work on the grounds, and before long the place was known all over Austin for its extensive gardens. Then came 1910, and the renovations that changed everything. That simple house was transformed into a grand Classical Revival mansion — wraparound gallery, balustrade, massive two-story paired columns with Ionic capitals, handsome brick and stonework throughout.
One of the premier examples of that architectural style in all of Austin, standing as typical of the large-scale homes that rose in this neighborhood at the turn of the century. The house stayed in the Wooten family until 1944. Goodall Harrison Wooten himself passed in 1942 — Ella, remarkably, lived until 1972.
But the house they built together, the one she gardened into a landmark and the renovations of 1910 made magnificent, that one outlasted them both. Some places just do.
What the marker says
Goodall Harrison Wooten (1869-1942) was born in Paris, Texas, the son of Confederate veteran Dr. Thomas Dudley Wooten and his wife, Henrietta Goodall Wooten. Goodall Harrison Wooten attended the University of Texas, were he earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees; and Columbia University, where he received a medical degree in 1895. He established a medical practice in Austin, and in 1897 married Ella Newsome (1878-1972). Construction of this house began in 1898 and was completed in January 1900. Designed by Dallas architect Charles O'Connell, it soon became an Austin landmark and was known for the extensive gardens planted by Ella Wooten. Renovations in 1910 changed the simple house into a grand Classical Revival mansion, and it remains one of the premier examples of that style in Austin. Prominent features of Goodall Wooten house include its handsome brick and stonework, wraparound gallery, balustrade, and massive two-story paired columns with Ionic capitals. It is typical of the large-scale homes built in this neighborhood at the turn of the century. The house remained in the Wooten family until 1944. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1990