In 1880, wealthy Bayou Sarah entrepreneur named Morris Wolf constructed an elegant, Victorian home for his wife and children. Mr. Wolf was a partner with Julius Freyhan & Co., “suppliers of plantation goods as well as boots, buggies, and coffins.” The traditional home was grand in scale and detail. The fact it was even constructed just twenty-four years after the end of the civil war was quite an accomplishment in itself, given the challenging living conditions at the time. The Wolfs lived there until 1903, at which point it was sold to the Schlesinger family for $3,500. After changing hands a few more times, the property ended up being sold in 1954 to an investor who cut the home into apartments.

Eventually, the home fell vacant (shown above). After sitting empty for years, many of the property’s fine appointments had been stolen. All the fireplace mantles were gone, as were the light fixtures, most of the exterior doors and all but one ceiling medallion. The remaining ceiling medallion can be seen today in the Summer Parlor where guests check in for their rooms. It is quite the sight.

In 1984, an electrical engineer (Richard Filet) working on the nearby nuclear power plant construction project purchased the empty home along with his wife, who wanted to restore the home and turn it into a B&B. At the time, the two story addition in the back did not exist, so it was just the original home and the servants’ quarters, which are today rooms 1-4. The Filets restored the servants quarters and used them as guest rooms. They also restored the collapsed rear porch, ultimately enclosing it for use as a dining room.

The B&B performed well, and the Filets added a two story addition with six more rooms. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Filet sold The St. Francisville Inn to Laurie & Pat Walsh, who lived in New Orleans. The Walshes operated the inn for the better part of thirty years until they sold it in 2018 to Jim Johnston and Brandon Branch. At this point, the decision was made to take the property in a different direction with a ground-up renovation and the ultimate goal of offering five-star accommodations paired with an on-site restaurant and bar.

Several photographs are shown herein of wallcoverings, hinges, and other the overall condition of the home before it was restored by the Filet family.