Preserving the Narrative at The Celestine
The courtyard at The Celestine Hotel, where Tennessee Williams reputedly worked on "Streetcar Named Desire." The hotel's coffee bar, shown on the ground level here, used to be Room 10, Williams' favorite when he stayed at the Maison De Ville. Photo by Ellis Anderson
September 2024A classic French Quarter building with a storied past has been recreated into an alluring boutique hotel named after one of its historic owners, Celestine Peychaud.
– by Kim Ranjbar
photos by Ellis Anderson and Kim RanjbarA few days after Mardi Gras this year, a small but storied French Quarter hotel reopened as The Celestine, with 10 well-appointed guest rooms, and a burbling-fountained courtyard. Only seven months later, the sensitively refashioned hotel was awarded a coveted MICHELIN Key, a distinction held by fewer than 300 hotels in the entire country.
MICHELIN Guide bases their judging on five categories: Architecture and interior design, quality and consistency of service, value for the price, contributing significantly to the guest experience, and overall personality and character. The Celestine shines in all five, but personality and character – and history – are surely at the forefront.
One of The Celestine's suites
Only steps away from raucous Bourbon Street at 727 Toulouse, the property has long been one of unusual tranquility, a refuge sought out by artists and celebrities since 1944, when the 18th century townhouse was converted into the Maison de Ville hotel.
Today the Celestine’s guests and visitors can spend time in the very spaces where one of our country’s foremost playwrights and screenwriters, Tennessee Williams, reputedly worked on his most celebrated play, A Streetcar Named Desire. Talk show host Dick Cavett recorded a televised interview with Williams at the Maison de Ville, sitting in front of the same fountain that murmurs in the courtyard today.
The central courtyard at The Celestine
The boutique hotel’s extraordinary renovation and recreation began in 2023, when hotelier and restaurateur Robért LeBlanc of LeBlanc + Smith collaborated with CureCo founder Neal Bodenheimer, and development partners Talbott Ottinger and Chris Dawson.
“It just felt like the right time to reinvest in the French Quarter, salvage a pretty iconic property, and tell a fresh story that may re-engage locals,” says LeBlanc. “I think it behooves us to be good shopkeepers and remind the world how magical the Quarter is.”
Robért LeBlanc
Designer Sara Ruffin Costello, who also worked with LeBlanc + Smith on the collective’s Uptown boutique hotel The Chloe, used a palette of both light and dark greens, terracotta, and pale gray, one Costello describes as Caribbean-inspired influences seen through an old-world French and Spanish lens.
“Everything was about surprise, delight, and ultimately calm,” explained Costello. “A sort of haven from the chaos on the streets outside.”
Mural by Diane Killeen in The Celestine's foyer, photo courtesy The Celestine
James Jeffrey, The Celestine's managing director in the hotel's concierge and coffee shop, formerly Room 10. A mural and antique artwork give the room a timeless feel.
The coffee bar at The Celestine
A Storied Past
The only known photo of Henriette DeLille, taken in 1855, courtesy The Sisters of the Holy Family.
Built in 1791, the three-story Creole townhouse was originally the home of Jean-Baptiste Lille Sarpy (var. de Lille) and his common-law wife Marie-Josephe "Pouponne" Diaz. Their daughter, Henriette Diaz DeLille lived at 727 Toulouse Street for a brief time, though she strongly opposed her parents’ “left-hand marriage,” an extralegal arrangement of the time between European men and women of color.
In defiance of her parents, DeLille refused to participate in the practice and turned to God. She spent most of her life educating children of color and caring for the sick, poor, and elderly. A devout Catholic who formed her own congregation called The Sisters of the Holy Family, DeLille is undergoing review for beatification with the Holy See, and was named “venerable” in March 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI.
Later in the mid-19th century, the residence became home to Antoine Amédée Peychaud, a local pharmacist who is the disputed creator of our city’s most famous cocktail the Sazerac, and undisputed inventor of Peychaud’s Bitters. He lived there with his wife Celestine, whose preferred arrangement of her French Quarter home bucked the neighborhood’s trends of the day.
“It was customary that the first floor of the building would be a retail space, but Celestine wanted it in a different location than the home,” says LeBlanc. “That's why we named the hotel Celestine.”
727 Toulouse Street, circa 1940, before it was renovated to become the Maison de Ville in 1944. Image from Vieux Carré Commission Virtual Library.
At some point, the entire dependency building was gutted. Room 10 - now The Celestine's coffee bar – would someday be downstairs. The date on this image is unknown, but could possibly be from the 1940s renovation before the Maison de Ville opened. Image from Vieux Carré Commission Virtual Library.
The hotel pays homage to that “spirited” history. Partner Neal Bodenheimer created Peychaud’s, a neoclassical New Orleans cocktail bar honoring its namesake’s signature bitters. And the guest rooms include mini-bars lavishly supplied with a selection of liquors, mix-ins, and snacks. The heady supply of items offer a roaring start to your own in-room party, where you can learn how to craft cocktails out of Bodenheimer’s tome Cure: New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix 'Em – available for research on every nightstand.
A trio of cocktails at Peychaud's, photo by Kim Ranjbar
“We wanted to tell a story about the cocktail as a cultural influence,” says LeBlanc. “Peychaud’s impact on cocktail culture in this city is bigger than anyone could give him credit for. Peychaud bitters is the foundation of almost any New Orleans cocktail.”
Appropriately refreshed to offer luxury, European-style rooms, The Celestine boasts a melange of antique furniture bought locally at the Lower Garden District’s Merchant House, Dop Antiques on Jefferson Highway, and Mid-City’s Floor 13. Ultimately, one of the largest obstacles to overcome for Costello came while attempting to unload The Celestine’s new treasures from her car.
“Parking truly became the thing! Most of my vendors were great about it, and most of the meter maids were forgiving. You have to orchestrate this ballet of efficiency on the fly.”
One of Celestine's suites
Looking out across the Court of Two Sisters courtyard to the back of Preservation Hall.
Aside from a gorgeous floor-to-ceiling mural in the hotel’s foyer and other touches painted by local decorative artist Diane Killeen, most of the art in The Celestine came from a “treasure trove of discarded art,” old portraits and landscapes discovered in the building’s attic.
“I don’t know how long [the trove had been there], but it had obviously been tucked away for some time,” says LeBlanc.
Scattered all throughout guest rooms and common spaces, many pieces from the attic’s horde are hanging in Peychaud’s bar. Since the art trove’s provenance is a mystery, one of the bartenders playfully invents his own stories about the people and places depicted.
Part of the treasure trove of artwork discovered in the building. Note the photo of Tennessee Williams and Dick Cavett in the courtyard, photo by Ellis Anderson
Who is this mystery gentleman whose portrait was discovered in The Celestine's attic? No one knows, but ask Jordan Bearss, one of the bartenders at Peychaud's and he'll spin you a fascinating story.
But most stories at The Celestine don’t have to be invented. The building once hosted high-profile celebrities like Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor. The concierge desk and coffee bar that opens directly onto the lush patio was formerly Room 10, where Tennessee Williams frequently stayed.
But beyond the four-poster antique beds draped in luxury linens, whimsical mosaic-tiled bathrooms stocked with couture bath products, and its shiny new MICHELIN Key, The Celestine, at its heart, remains what it has always been: a historic landmark and home to some of our city’s most celebrated.
“We don't really own these buildings,” says LeBlanc. “We have them for one point in time. We’re just stewards.”
"We don't really own these buildings - we're just stewards." Robért LeBlanc. Photo by Ellis Anderson
Literary Bonus: Video of Tennesse Williams interview in the Courtyard at 727 Toulouse, now The Celestine.Your support makes stories like this one possible –please join our Readers’ Circle today!
