Hotel Villa Convento - New Orleans

The Hotel Villa Convento is located on Ursulines Avenue in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana.  The hotel sits on property once belonging to the Ursuline nuns.  In 1805 they partitioned off their land and by 1833 the property was purchased by Jean Baptiste Poeyfarre who built the Creole townhouse which still stands today.  Poeyfarre died ten years later and his widow sold the property to Octave Voorheis, who held onto the property until the depression following the Civil War forced him to sell.  The hotel's infamy resides in the years after the war, in which it is claimed the home became a brothel.  Although no direct evidence points to this, it is said that the Hotel Villa Convento was the original House of the Rising Sun.  During the time there were many brothels in the community, and any one of them might have served as the inspiration for the famous song, but the Villa Convento has remained near the top of the list, its origins lost to time.  From 1902 to 1946 the house was in the possession of Pasquale Taromina and his family.  Following their departure the home became a rooming house, which it functioned as until 1981.  Musician Jimmy Buffett was a frequent guest here, staying in room 305 during his visits.  As with many old homes in New Orleans, there are purported to be hauntings in the house, especially in room 209.  Today the home functions as a hotel. 

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