A Photo Tour of the White House Hotel | Biloxi, Mississippi

I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to tell you this story and share these pictures with you.

Growing up on the Mississippi Coast, I've driven down Highway 90 (the beach highway) countless times. When I was little, my family attended a church just off of 90 in Biloxi. My dad worked at Keesler Air Force Base, so sometimes we would go in the main gate - just a couple blocks off 90, on White Avenue. Needless to say, it's a familiar road with familiar sights and one that I drive down every chance I get.

There was one sight on that road that always made every Coast resident a little sad, though. At the corner of White Avenue and Highway 90 stood an old hotel, falling down and abandoned for decades. A few times, funds were scraped together and work was begun...but inevitably, the money would run out, or a hurricane would hit, and the work would come to a halt. By this time several years ago, this is what we saw:

(source: Flickr)

(source: Flickr)

Then some framing was put up, but once again, a fence went up around the property and it sat...for a few more years.

(source: here)

You can read more about the story of the White House Hotel here.

But then....

About a year ago, there was a buzz around the old property. It was suddenly filled with workmen and machinery. "It's going to open in the summer of 2014!" they told us. Oh, but we couldn't believe it. We'd been told it was going to open before, and it never did. We wouldn't believe it...couldn't believe it...until it opened.

This time, though, they were right. The work continued.

Every time we drove down Highway 90, we'd peer out the car windows.

"They've got the framing up!"
"There's a new roof!"
"Wait! They put the windows in!"
"Y'all!! The columns are back!"
"They dug out the swimming pool?!? I didn't know it was even THERE!"
"Guys they paved the parking lot!!!"
"They must be working on the inside now!"
"They're putting in the landscaping!!!"

Along with this flurry of activity came the news. "IT'S OPENING AUGUST FIRST."

And on August first, two thousand fourteen, the White House Hotel opened once again in Biloxi, Mississippi.  ***applause***

A few days later, Sarah and I couldn't wait. We HAD to see it. So we drove down 90...turned on White Avenue...and turned into the parking lot. The parking lot that used to be grass. The words, "I just can't believe it!" were repeated many times.

Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you......The White House Hotel.

Upstairs on the third floor, over the lobby area.

 

Sarah and I wandered down a hallway.
"I think the northwest wing of the building must be this way..."
We came around a corner and gasped.
Go back to the top of the page. Look at the roof on the left. The copper roof and dormer windows. With nothing below it.
Those dormer windows were all that was left of that part of the hotel for years.
This is what is under those dormer windows, y'all:

  Back on the first floor, looking into Cora's Restaurant (named after the original owner of the hotel, Cora White).

Historic photos of the hotel hang on the walls throughout the building.

A couple days after Sarah and I saw the hotel, we brought our mom with us and looked around some more. :) This time, it wasn't raining, and all the outdoor furniture was uncovered.








The wood on the wall behind the check-in desk is original flooring from the hotel.


This staircase is in the center of the "middle" section of the hotel. Some of the railing is original.




The sweet girl at the check-in desk took us down the hall to one of the rooms that looks out on the pool.










Third floor outdoor lounge above the main entrance.

The Buick Skylark stays parked outside the main entrance and is available for brides and grooms to use as a getaway car. :)

If you're interested in seeing more photos, check out the White House Hotel website and Facebook page.

For the love of the Coast,

Rebekah