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Saturday, May 28, 2011

House of the Day: Venetian Palazzo Steps Out of a Saddlery With Capone Connection

× Like us and you'll find top breaking news in your Facebook newsfeed. Sign up for our daily email newsletter and get top stories and breaking news delivered to your inbox. Wednesday, May 25, 2011, by Rob Bear

Have a nomination for a jaw-dropping listing that would make a mighty fine House of the Day? Get thee to the tipline and send us your suggestions. We'd love to see what you've got.

Location: Austin, Texas
Price: $4,400,000
The Skinny: Since the 1930s, Capitol Saddlery had been operating out of a converted fire station in downtown Austin, Tex. The shop supplied boots to some famous and infamous people—Al Capone sourced a pair of manheels from Capitol back in the '40s. (The gangster connection shouldn't come as a shock, considering the owner started the shop using seed money from his rum-running activities.) Today, things are a little more legal at 1614 Lavaca Street, but no more sedate. In 2007, "professional muse" Giselle Koy transformed the old shop into a decadent palace reminiscent of a threadbare Venetian palazzo. But Koy apparently tired of Austin before completion, as she now spends more time in California, and listed the downtown pad for $4.4M. So far, it's been on the market for more than a year without finding a buyer or taking a price chop.
· 1614 Lavaca [Realtor.com]
· Capitol Saddlery, first firehouse turns Venetian palace in downtown Austin [Statesman]


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