Judge Roy Hofheinz in his opulent office at the Houston Astrodome
Posted on 04/08/2015 3:07:06 AM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
Now filled with nothing but cobwebs, the Houston Astrodome was once considered a palace for football and baseball fans. Less well known was the palace that the Dome's visionary Roy Hofheinz built for himself inside the Eighth Wonder of the World.
Time Life photos show the apartment's whimsical style, highlighted by red carpet that coved the floor and walls of a conference room, which also featured zebra-print chairs and chalices in front of each seat. Psychedelic wallpaper covered the salon, while Asian dragon statues flanked the massive desk in Hofheinz' office.
The apartment also featured a putting green, a shooting gallery, a puppet theater and a bowling alley, while a private terrace overlooked the playing field.
The décor in the apartment was gaudy enough to make Elvis blush. Its flamboyant style was described as "early King Farouk" by Bob Hope, according to the LA Times, and "early whorehouse," according to Sports Illustrated. However, the quarters reflected their designer.
According to a 2012 story from MLB.com's Dinn Mann, Hoffheinz "had an appetite for the ornate, would stretch to impress for Texas-sized bragging rights, all part of the show."
"Here was a man who went against the grain, who tried to do the best rather than the obvious. He wanted Houston to have Sinatra, Elvis, the Circus, never-before-seen luxury suites, cushioned stadium seats, Evel Knievel, Muhammad Ali fights, Houston vs. UCLA, a scoreboard spectacular like no other."
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
Judge Roy Hofheinz in his opulent office at the Houston Astrodome
A trailer trash Bond villain. “No, Mr. Bond. I ‘spect ya’all to die!”
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!
There was another, similar, property — a pent house apartment at the hotel across the road from the Astrodome. I attended parties at both of these locations as the guest of some oil company back in the 1970s as part of the Offshore Oil Show and Technology Conference. By then, the Judge had retired and was living elsewhere. Big companies would rent these facilities to entertain their guests as part of the week long oil show. My husband’s company was an exhibitor, and we always got an invitation.
I also attended an Oriental jade show at the hotel pent house apartment on another occasion. The decor at these properties was over the top.
One of them had about 7 bedrooms — each a different theme. There was a Tom Thumb bedroom that was decorated with all kinds of Tom Thumb memorabilia. A tarzan bedroom with a jungle theme and a rattan swing. A fabulous kitchen that was the size of half my house. The Astrodome apartment had a sports room that overlooked the playing fields and had a miniature scoreboard — an exact replica of the real scoreboard.
The oil companies always provided great bands and refreshments. This article brought back fond memories.
What a hideous sense of style and waste of building materials.
I’ve seen YouTube clips of events in the astrodome, the air was blue with cigarette smoke.
That, too!
Not too different from architecture and interior design that you might have found in Las Vegas, or Los Angeles of the era. What was different about the Hofheinz apartments was the variety of styles and the use of actual antiques, artifacts, and memorabilia in the interior design. It was just jaw dropping. Not beautiful — jaw dropping. And fun.
Oh, I remember something else. The reason those apartments were available for oil companies, and others, to rent for parties is that Roy Hofheinz was confined to a wheelchair by the mid 70s and was worried about escape should a fire break out. He moved out to a ranch (I think). In any case, he was no longer living there. His son was Mayor of Houston at the time.
Oh yeah, I remember those parties at the Astro Village Hotel. I worked for an oil exploration firm in Houston in the late 80’s/early 90’s. During OTC each year, Houston Helicopters would pick up groups of us at our office and fly us to the hotel for the parties. It was quite an experience, to say the least.
We must have not been on the A list. We never got delivered in a helicopter! We had to drive there in a station wagon. LOL
Oh yes. We were gone by the early 80s. That’s why we missed the helocopter rides! That and we lived nearby.
I was always amazed how much money was spent by the service companies at that event to entertain clients. Quite a debauched experience that I’m certain I’ll never be privy to again.
Me neither. But, it was fun at the time.
Not necessarily. There’s often a huge difference between the overall shape of a building like a dome stadium, and the necessary elements within. Filling that space with a huge apartment makes way more sense than building an entire separate mansion.
At the link there are lots of pictures of the ‘dome and its apartments. Many of them show Hofheinz and his grandchildren (ages about 4-6) partaking of the features of the dome, including the puppet theater. THere was a carosel room for them too.
No, I meant the hideous decor was a waste of work, materials and money
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