Just a short drive from downtown, Mayfield Park and Nature Preserve feels like stepping into another Austin entirely. Inside its antique rock walls, towering palm trees, lush cottage gardens and water lily and lotus ponds create a quiet, secret world — and wandering through it all are the park’s famous residents, brilliant free-roaming peacocks basking in the sun, roosting in the trees and strutting along the paths.
The story begins with a cottage built between 1860 and 1880, purchased in 1909 by former Texas Secretary of State Allison Mayfield as a family retreat on 23 acres. In 1922 the property passed to his daughter Mary Frances and her husband, Dr. Milton Gutsch, who shaped the gardens visitors love today with gardener Esteban Arredondo. The beloved peacocks arrived as a gift in 1937, and today’s flock descends from those first birds. In 1971 Mrs. Gutsch willed the home and grounds to the City of Austin as a public park, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Beyond the two acres of walled gardens — with 32 volunteer-tended beds, koi and turtles in the ponds, and herons overhead — another 21 acres of preserve trails invite a peaceful walk under what the city calls the largest stand of Sabal Texana palms north of the Rio Grande. Mayfield Park, at 3505 W. 35th St., is open daily and free; please leave pets at home, stay on the paths, and give the peafowl plenty of respectful space. It is, quite simply, an oasis.
Photo: Mayfield Park
