History of Bellevue Place/
North-Evans Chateau

The North-Evans Chateau, first known as Bellevue Place, was built by Harvey and Catherine North in 1874. The architect was Alfred Giles, who later became famous for his gothic victorian style.

Before coming to Austin, Harvey North was a merchant in New Orleans. He took his family on long visits to Europe, giving credence to the idea that Bellevue Place's castle imagery evoked European castles. By 1876, North's fortunes in Austin real estate began to falter. Just two years after building the mansion, it was for sale. After several unsuccessful attempts to sell the building, Catherine North finally sold Bellevue Place to Augusta and William Gaines.  Gaines was the owner and editor of the  Daily Democrat- Statesman  They purchased the mansion in 1884, for only half the amount it cost the North's to build. Ownership of Bellevue Place passed back to the Catherine North. 

In 1892, Major Ira Evans bought Bellevue Place and turned the home into a showplace, with the help once again of Alfred Giles. Ira Evans served as the youngest speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. He was a leader in trying to secure education for newly freed slaves in Texas and helped to establish and fund the new Tillotson College, later to become Huston-Tillotson College. He served as chairman of the Board for the newly formed Austin National Bank and his beautiful home was the founding location for many social and civic groups, most notably the Texas Historical Commission.

Starting with the North's wooden porch (replaced by limestone in the 1920s), Giles extended the home toward the west with a series of graceful rusticated limestone arches. He fortified the rooftops with crenellations and added a side entrance of exquisitely carved limestone.

Today the house is lovingly maintained and preserved by the members of the Austin Woman's Club. Features and amenities from the late 1800s include:

• Stately stone porches with lovely carved ornamentation
• Delicate hand-carved cherry wood grills and paneled Texas pine wainscoting
• Lovely drawing rooms, furnished with antique Louis XV and Louis XVI period furniture and Persian rugs
• Massive hand-carved curly pine doors
  
• Ornate hand-cut and stained glass windows
• Original light fixtures and crystal chandeliers
• Charming fire places of marble, carved wood, and European tile.