One of Waco’s most beautiful homes, tucked away on Austin Avenue under a canopy of trees, is called the Cottonland Castle. While most Wacoans would likely recognize the beautiful structure that looks like it belongs in medieval times, they might not know just how amazing the story of the women who once owned the home is.
Pauline Pipkin Garrett graduated from Baylor in 1923 with a bachelor’s degree in music. However, her education was far from finished. Aspiring to one day take over her family’s local business, W. P. Pipkin Drugs on Elm Avenue, she enrolled at Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. She was one of only 100 women in the college compared to 3,000 men.
She graduated in 1926 and joined her father’s business, working alongside him until he died in 1935. She began managing the store and continued to do so until her mother also passed in 1953. It was then that she took over full ownership.
Under her leadership, the store flourished, and what was once a small local pharmacy became nationally recognized.
But Pauline’s love for music never faded, and anyone who stepped into her home in Cottonland Castle, purchased by her and her husband, Waco attorney Barney Garrett, in 1936, could see that. She dedicated one of the rooms in the home to music, filling it with a beautiful grand piano and multiple string instruments.
Pauline was a successful businesswoman who turned her family’s business into something amazing — despite the limited opportunities for women in business. Her legacy lives on in Cottonland Castle. The property was purchased in 2019 by Chip and Joanna Gaines and completely remodeled, but still stands proud and distinct on Austin Avenue and is now open to the public for tours.
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