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E wing's column raves abut the design of the Celestial Suite, then details the '60s swells who oohed and aahed over the splendors of the Suite in its first big reveal. All the press turned out to pounce on the story — competing gossip columnists Maxine Mesinger and Marge Crumbaker, as well as KPRC's Tim Nolan, were joined by socials Allan and Shirley Becker, Sidney and Marti Schlenker, and Clair and John Mullins. And, in from Palm Springs, the man of the night arrived: Harper Goff with wife, Flossie. Astroworld's chef Joseph Gunter Lowe served a buffet of grand proportions. Betty Ewing dubbed it a "Roman- type feast … roast beef, chicken, ham, shrimp, crab claws, stuffed mushrooms, tomatoes and eggs, highly polished fruit displays, bushels full of almonds, pastries." A photo taken by Chronicle photographer Blair Pittman documents the scene: a lavish spread in the Golden Bird Cage Dining Room, placed atop a highly carved dining table (whose top, Ewing shared, lifted off to reveal a turn-of-the-century pool table). For this grand occasion, the Judge and his new wife dressed up: He in a magisterial robe and wig along the line of a British barrister, she in a pale-blue Indian sari set off by a jangling headdress of ancient coins. Hotel manager Jim Spring and wife Marjorie, in a chic "Christmas green pantsuit," clinked cocktails in the Roman bath. The long, Spanish-style, filigree adorned hallway was thronged with celebrants, from a grande dame in a flowing gown set off by marabou boa to a pretty young thing in a short frock, Mary Janes, and a flipped-up bouffant. The judge and Mary Frances are preserved for the ages in Pittman's black-and-white party portrait, poised on the tiger-skin rug in the P.T. Barnum Suite. THE END OF AN ERA The decade after the Dome unveiled was not good to Hofheinz. He suffered a debilitating stroke in 1970 but would forge on for another 12 years, gamboling about in his wheelchair, waited on by Mary Frances, even traveling to Europe, and still smoking his beloved stogies and indulging in rich Cajun foods, topped off by ice cream sundaes. By 1975, the Judge lost much of his empire in a complicated reversal of fortune involving the lost value of his P.T. Barnum investment. In 1973, a fire two floors below the Celestial Suite forced a harrowing early-morning hotel evacuation by the Hofheinzes; while the suite was undamaged, that incident put the kibosh on high-rise life for the Judge forever. He lived out his final decade in a colonial-style mansion in River Oaks, physically diminished but mentally sharp. He did survive to see a moving tribute to himself, held in 1979 at the Astrodome, the temple to baseball, sports, and entertainment he willed into existence. WHO CHECKED IN Astrodome headliners made for interesting tales of Celestial Suite guests: Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, and reportedly Johnny Cash, Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra (who briefly dated the Judge's daughter, Dene), Jerry Lewis, and Mohammed Ali. Hofheinz's politico buddy President Lyndon Baines Johnson — pals since they met in 1928 at the Democratic National Convention in Houston — has also been cited as a Celestial Suite regular. During those times when the suite was occupied by high-paying guests, Mary Frances and the Judge traveled or returned to the Dome. Other clues turn up to the history of the Celestial Suite, in old newspaper photography negatives, including the Minidome awaiting contestants in the national Pillsbury Bake Off of 1972. That same year, the Astroblast, a benefit for Theatre Under The Stars, was held at the Celestial Suite. In 1975, The Marble Library was the scene of a dignified gathering with Vice President Nelson Rockefeller and the leaders of Houston's African-American community. (continued)