The historic Cornstalk Hotel, the 208-year-old French Quarter landmark that shut down four years ago during the pandemic and never reopened, is back on the market after a sale of the property fell through earlier this year.
The boutique hotel — named for the cornstalk pattern of its cast-iron fence — is one of the historic neighborhood’s iconic properties. Located in the 900 block of Royal Street two blocks from Jackson Square, it has been featured in countless movies and TV shows, most notably Elvis Presley’s 1958 classic “King Creole.”
The asking price for the property is $5.2 million, according to the database of commercial property listings.
The historic Cornstalk Hotel in the French Quarter, which never reopened after shutting down during the pandemic four years ago, is back on the market for sale after a deal to sell the property fell through earlier this year. (Staff photo by John McCusker, The Times-Picayune | NOLA.com)
“It’s a fabulous property and we’ve had a lot of interest,” said Michael Bain of Dorian Bennett Sotheby’s, who is listing the property. “It’s a historic building in a historic district.”
Rich history
The Cornstalk Hotel was built as a private residence in 1816 for Francois Xavier Martin, the state’s first attorney general and, later, a long-serving justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. The famous fence came 40 years later, when a subsequent owner commissioned it for his wife, a native of Iowa, who missed the cornfields of home (or so legend has it).
The fence is one of just two in the city — the other is in the Garden District — and was created by a Philadelphia ironworks firm. In addition to ears of corn, the fence has pumpkins at the bases of the columns entwined by vines and morning glories. An iron butterfly adorns the gate.
The historic Cornstalk Hotel in the French Quarter, which never reopened after shutting down during the pandemic four years ago, is back on the market for sale after a deal to sell the property fell through earlier this year. (Staff photo by John McCusker, The Times-Picayune | NOLA.com)
The house was damaged by fire in 1900 and renovated in the Queen Anne style for which it is known today, with its turret and bay. It was converted to a hotel early in the 20th century and has hosted Paul Newman, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, and Bill and Hillary Clinton, according to Fodor’s Travel.
Interested buyers
In more recent years, the hotel, which boasts fireplaces, stained glass windows and canopy beds in the 14 guestrooms, was managed by HRI Hospitality. It’s not clear why hotel owner Deborah Spencer chose not to reopen after tourists began to return to the city after the pandemic.
The historic Cornstalk Hotel in the French Quarter, which never reopened after shutting down during the pandemic four years ago, is back on the market for sale after a deal to sell the property fell through earlier this year. (Staff photo by John McCusker, The Times-Picayune | NOLA.com)
In August, Spencer said by phone that the property was undergoing a renovation and would eventually reopen, but she declined to provide additional details. She could not be reached for comment Monday.
In the meantime, Bain said the hotel has been actively listed for sale even though there’s no “For Sale” sign on the gate. He said the online listing has attracted the interest of several potential buyers, including a local hotel group, which entered into a purchase agreement several months ago to buy the property.
“But they’re in the middle of doing another renovation and they decided to back out of the deal for a little while, through no fault of ours,” he said. “They said they’ll come back to us in the fall.”
