Posted: Tue, 19 Apr 2016 02:40 PM - 38,854 Readers

By: Jan Buchholz

A Lake Austin estate in a coveted location with a prominent family legacy is on the market for $35 million.

The nearly 13-acre property at 1804 Rockmoor Ave. has been owned since the 1950s by E. Gary Morrison's family.

The location is just west of Oyster Landing Marina — a favorite hangout for lake lovers, which includes restaurants, offices, a dock and waterfront decks.



Click to a see a slideshow of the Rockmoor property, which includes a spacious residence and 660 feet of waterfront. It includes five bedrooms and five full bathrooms, a greenhouse, meandering stone stairways and paths and a swimming pool amid lush landscaping.

"It was [my grandparents'] lake house in the 1950s," said Anna Lee of Moreland Properties, who is listing the property, along with colleague Eric Moreland.

In the 1960s Gary Morrison and his wife Anna Mae commissioned George Page, a founder of Page Southerland Page Architects, to design a contemporary home that would accommodate their expanding family.



"My siblings, cousins and our children had the pleasure of growing up there," Lee said. "The home was a place we went to fish, visit our grandparents, enjoy parties, host birthday parties and use my grandmother's boat to learn to ski."

The property is now being sold after Anna Mae's death in November 2015. She was 99 years old and the strong, but nurturing, matriarch of the family.

"She taught all of us manners, grace and love," Lee said.

Gary Morrison died in 1982. He was an executive with Radian Corp., an environmental consulting firm that grew exponentially and was acquired by other entities over time. He was also very active in business organizations and matters involving the University of Texas.



Moreland said the property is unlike most other luxury properties in Austin.

First, he noted, was the generational legacy of the estate, and second, "It's one of the largest acreage tracts inside the [Pennybacker Bridge]."

Though there might be a potential for subdividing the land, Lee and Moreland said the sellers hope the eventual buyers are sensitive to the property's history.

"It all depends on the buyer, but the family would appreciate a thoughtful approach to any changes," Moreland said.

The cachet of owning on Lake Austin has been magnified recently in the rosy denouement of the Dell Match Play tournament, which was hosted last month at Austin Country Club a short distance upstream, Moreland opined.

The setting on the water in the shadow of Pennybacker Bridge, he said, "was captivating. It was truly magical."

Moreland has already seen an uptick in interest from around the globe for residential property that fronts Austin's lakes.

*  Story Contributed by: Jan Buchholz