Beauvoir - Jefferson Davis's Beautiful View

The most interesting historical site in Biloxi is Beauvoir, the post-Civil War home of Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy during the Civil War.

At the end of the Civil War, Davis was imprisoned for two years.  When he was released from prison upon the funding of his bail by generous Northerners, he had very little means to support himself.  In 1876, having heard of his financial and personal difficulties, the owner of Beauvoir invited him to live there as he worked on his memoir, "The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government" (1881). Later, his wife Varina joined him.  Davis arranged to purchase the property in 1879 and lived there until his death in 1889.

The weather this afternoon was damp and chilly, so we took the opportunity to bicycle over and tour the home and grounds.

Hurricane Katrina did substantial damage to the property in 2005.  However, with more than $4 million dollars in restoration funding, the house has been repaired, many original features of the grounds restored to the conditions they were in during Davis's residency, and a new "presidential library" has been constructed:

The facility's executive director is Bertram Hayes-Davis, the great-great-grandson of Jefferson Davis.

Here Kathy admires the large sign at the entrance:

The house itself is a beautiful antebellum Louisiana raised cottage-style plantation residence:

The house was elevated on 62 eight-foot-tall brick piers to provide air conditioning—not to avoid high water. However, elevating the house saved it from the storm surges of Camille and Katrina.  The heavy slate roof is sealed around the edges and is constructed in such a way that high winds press the roof down on the house rather than blowing it up and away.  It is believed that these two features are the primary reasons the structure has withstood 18 hurricanes since it was built.

The house has two cottages, one of which is visible in this side view.  Davis had occupied one of the cottages when he first moved to Beauvoir, prior to his purchase of the property.

The main part of the house consists of a central hall surrounded by four rooms - the parlor and Davis's library on one side, and two bedrooms on the other.  The Davises' bedrooms extended away from the house on one side, reachable only by walking outside over the back porch.  On the opposite side of the house, extending back from it, were the adults' dining room and the children's dining pantry.

Here's a photo of the front parlor, as seen from Davis's library.  What is thought to be the last portrait painted of Davis hangs on the right wall of the parlor:

The parlor gives a wide and open view of the Gulf, which lies only about 400 yards from the front porch:

Visible out the window in the photo above is a large green wooden gate replacing a marble gate that was crushed by the President Casino when the casino structure was unmoored from its position in the Gulf and thrown ashore by Katrina's storm surge (we have a photo of the casino where it came to rest in our March 5 blog entry).  The house is protected from future storm surges by a 23-foot high seawall that is part of the original structures built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1951.  The seawall is a key component of the 26-mile artificial beach of pristine white sand that comprises the Mississippi  Gulf Coast.

From the back porch is visible part of a formal garden known as "Varina’s Rose Garden."  While the garden had been built over when the property was occupied as a home for Confederate veterans and their widows from reconstructed from 1903 to 1957.  This reconstruction was built from a hand-drawn chart made by Jefferson's wife, Varina Davis. The garden covers an area in excess of an acre:

Further back, behind the garden, are a cemetery for Confederate soldiers, and a beautiful stream and ponds known collectively as Oyster Bayou, which is in the process of restoration to its original beauty:

The scale of the house and property are modest, and call to mind Monticello, who was Davis's namesake and hero.  They share a similar graceful beauty and must have provided a peaceful home for a man whose life was chaotic and tragic in many ways.