Hotel Ella

The hotel’s background has deep ties to Texas history beginning in 1846, when the site’s land was first granted to Adam Maag by the state just one year after it was admitted to the union. It was purchased from him in 1878 by Thomas Dudley Wooten, one of the founders of the University of Texas. Wooten’s son, Goodall, married wife Ella shortly after, and the couple moved into a new home on the property in 1900. Ella Wooten, the namesake of Austin’s latest luxury boutique hotel, serves as inspiration for the current project. Her impeccable taste became evident in 1910, when she oversaw an extensive renovation of the original house, transforming it into the Greek revival structure that stands today. Opting for new columns on her house rather than a trip around the world, Ella called on the Vanderbilt family for a recommendation, using the same stone carver employed to construct the legendary Biltmore Mansion in Asheville. In 1925, Ella hired Neiman Marcus to redecorate her entire home at a cost of $10,000, the equivalent of one million dollars today. An avid gardener, she introduced the first Azalea bushes to Austin, 1,800 of which covered the property’s landscape at one time. No stranger to the Austin social scene, she was known for her style, hospitality and culinary skill – setting the standard for which Hotel Ella will operate.Following her husband’s death, Ella Wooten sold the property in 1944 to Fred Adams, who converted it into University of Texas student housing. The building continued to serve as such until 1979, when it was purchased by Delois Faulkner and converted into the Austin recovery center, existing as a rehabilitation center for the next 17 years. In 2001, the structure acquired new ownership when Bill Gurasich transformed it into Mansion at Judges’ Hill.In 2013, under new ownership, the hotel underwent an impressive multi-million dollar update that would surely make Ella Wooten proud, redefining it as the boutique property where modern luxury, tradition and distinctive service coalesce.