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Bauer House Hospitality Is Long Time RFSA Tradition

The annual RFSA Reception at the Bauer House, held this year on May 7, is an opportunity not only to visit with long-standing friends and former colleagues but a chance to enjoy this lovely Tarrytown home which serves double duty as the residence of the UT System Chancellor, and as the site for the System's public entertaining occasions.  RFSA has been the grateful beneficiary of the Bauer House hospitality for years.

In addition to RFSA, Bauer House hosts myriad organizations and friends of the system from throughout the state. According to Rod Caspers, Bauer House director of creative services, the House often holds 10 events per wee, and he is now working on next years calendar.  These official UT System functions might include working sessions for the Board of Regents, retreats for the 15 presidents of the component System institutions, or a tribute to the state Governor for a Day because of the System's close relationship with the legislature. 

Typical of the events at the Bauer House was a reception honoring the UT football team after winning the National Championship in 2004.  Furthermore, Mr. Caspers noted that a special effort is always made to reach out to all branches of the System.  For instance, those involved with the MD Anderson Children's Art Project are among its honorees.  Another ongoing Bauer House project is a Sunday afternoon Salon Series in which different guest speakers, such as authors of important books, award winning professors, or professors doing research of interest give talks about their work to System members and community leaders.

The original home was built in 1936 by RB Cousins Jr., first commissioner of the Board of Insurance Commissioners, that was created by the Texas Legislature in 1927. The last private owners, Mr. and Mrs. Earl Shouse, conveyed the property to the UT System Board of Regents in 1968. The Regents designated it as the future home of the System Chancellor, but after careful evaluation of the costs involved in modernizing the house and meeting the required codes for its new function as a public building, they decided to tear down the home and build a structure more suited to its new purpose. The Bauer House as we know it today was completed in 1971 and designed in the same Georgian/Federal style as the original, with the addition of a library wing and a larger kitchen. Its first residents were Chancellor Charles A LeMaistre and his family and since then it has been home to five other Chancellors. It is named for former UT System Regent, W.H. Bauer and his wife.

Set on three tree-shaded and well-groomed landscaped acres, the downstairs public area of the three-story house consists of a reception area, dining and living rooms, a library and a kitchen equipped to serve a large crowd.  The second and third stories are the private living quarters.

According to an article in the April 1971 Alcalde written by Jack Maquire, former executive director of the Ex-Student's Association, the structure was built for $31.61 a square foot. All costs were covered by private donations, and no tax dollars were used in its construction.

A large pool is located in back of the main house, and beyond that is a 2005 addition, the Charmaine and Frank Denius Pavilion, which replaced an earlier pool house. A gift of the Denius family, the pavilion can seat up to 64 persons for dinner and is also used for training seminars and workshops.  A former guesthouse is now used as an office for the Bauer House manager and groundskeeper.

Most of the furnishings were bequeathed from the estate of Karl Hoblitizelle of Dallas, founder of Interstate Theaters, and date from the 18^th and 19th centuries. Other items come from the collections of the Ransom Center and Blanton Museum.  Because all are University property, every item has an inventory tag and number.

In a 1971 clipping in the files on the Bauer House at the Austin History Center, a newspaper reporter describing a tour of the newly-completed home found it worth noting that among its luxuries were an elevator, an ice machine in the kitchen, and a dozen colored punch-button telephones.

RFSA is pleased to have been a welcome guest of the Bauer House in the past and hopes to continue this relationship for many years to come.