WACO, Texas — Fans of Waco's power realty couple, Chip and Joanna Gaines, only have a few more weeks left to check out their latest "Fixer Upper" before it officially makes its debut to the world.
Their latest project is a common sight for many Waco residents who travel along Austin Avenue: Cottonland Castle, or you might know it as "the Castle."
Luckily, you won't have to wait until the new season of "Fixer Upper: Welcome Home" premieres on Oct. 14 to see how they restored the place. Instead, you can take an intimate, in-person guided tour throughout the century-old structure from now until Oct. 26.
Find out how to buy tickets below.
Backstory
According to Joanna Gaines, her husband was the main driver who dreamed of renovating the Castle for 20 years. She admitted in the 2019 Winter edition of Magnolia Journal that he saw it as an "exciting" opportunity while she saw the Castle as "incredibly daunting" and even "haunted."
"Chip did know all along, deep in his bones, and what I have learned to see too, is this: If you look past the cracks in the masonry, past the rotted floorboards, past the wilderness taking over the backyard, there is a lot of beauty to be found in this old castle," she wrote in the journal.
After decades of waiting, the Gaines were able to buy the historic building in 2019.
"Chip saw the beauty and potential in this place years earlier than I did, but he never gave up, and because of that, we now get to make this castle beautiful again," she wrote during the Winter 2019 edition of Magnolia Journal.
Brief history
Construction of the Castle began in 1890 when a local stone contractor, John Tennant, decided to build himself a new home, according to wacohistory.org. However, financial burdens caused Tennant to sell the unfinished home in 1906, which the new owner abandoned two years later, the site says.
In 1908, the unfinished home was bought by Wacoan and Civil War veteran Capt. Alfred Abeel, who was able to complete the construction in 1913. Abeel modeled the three-story home after a small German castle along the Rhine River, and included eight fireplaces, a servants' quarters, a tower, and used materials like stone and marble from places like Italy and France, according to Waco History.
Photos of Cottonland Castle in 2019
How to check the Castle out yourself
One hour, on-site tours of the newly renovated Castle costs $50 a ticket and it's available for tours Monday through Saturday.
The tour not only focuses on the Gaines' renovations and designs room-by-room, but it also goes in-depth on the Castle's full history.
Twenty percent of ticket sales will be donated to The Cove, a local non-profit benefiting the homeless youth of Waco.