A Visual Romp Through the New Hotel Saint Vincent in New Orleans

The best moments of historic preservation happen when new life springs in a neglected space; when designers honor past architects and idealists but also flex a little muscle. Hotel Saint Vincent in New Orleans’s Lower Garden District opened only a few months ago, debuting as a poster child for just such a scenario. In a 70,000-square-foot brick building (circa 1860) on Magazine Street, Austin-based hospitality industry veterans Larry McGuire, Tom Moorman, and Liz Lambert saw potential. They now manage the landmark building and designed the property, preserving the exterior. Inside, guests arrive to find seventy-five rooms and suites and multiple dining enclaves including fine-dining Southern Italian at San Lorenzo and the eclectic-art-filled Chapel Bar. Perhaps the coolest aspect of Hotel Saint Vincent? The woman who first brought the building to life, and whom it now deeply honors in this new chapter: Margaret Haughery was an Irish immigrant who arrived in New Orleans in the earliest days of the 1800s. She lost her parents, and, despite being an orphan, overcame and flourished, opening a bakery and a dairy as an adult. Her heart remained devoted to the city’s orphans and in 1861, she opened this building as the Saint Vincent’s Infant Asylum. For the new owners, it was tantamount to tell that story in ways both obvious and intimate. Guests walk to the nearby corner of Camp and Prytania Streets to visit her marble likeness—Margaret Haughery was the second woman in America ever honored with a statue. Step inside Hotel Saint Vincent to learn more.