LAUREL — Thousands of tourists come to the Mississippi Gulf Coast searching for relaxation. Others are drawn by the lure of easy riches at the Vegas-style casinos. For history and culture buffs, it’s the chance to walk in historic footsteps that draws them to the state’s coastal cities. Foremost among these is Beauvoir, the final home of Jefferson Davis, the first and only President of the Confederate States of America.

Carefully maintained and recently renovated post-Hurricane Katrina to appear as it did when Davis retired here, the 1853 home, now a national historic landmark site, offers a moving presentation of Davis’ story and final years, along with artifacts, antiques and a fascinating library of memorabilia.

In his last public speech, Davis, said, “The past is dead; let it bury its dead, its hopes and aspirations. Before you lies the future, a future full of golden promise, a future of expanding national glory, before which all the world shall stand amazed.”

Those last words could easily have been used to describe the renewed splendor of Biloxi’s Beauvoir. Following a one-year, $4 million renovation project mostly funded by Federal Emergency Management Agency, Beauvoir reopened in June 2008 after Katrina destroyed 30 percent of the home where Davis spent his final days.

Beauvoir, which means “beautiful view,” weathered 21 hurricanes prior to 2005. Located at 2244 Beach Blvd., Beauvoir celebrated the 200th birthday of Davis on June 3, 2008, with a spectacular reopening ceremony attended by more than 1,200 people, including two dozen descendants of Davis.

Operated by the Mississippi Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, Beauvoir once again draws thousands of tourists interested in touring the historical home, museums and grounds. Beauvoir continues to be operated as a shrine to Jefferson Davis, and, as the deed proclaims, “to the memory of the ex-Confederate soldiers and sailors, their wives and servants, or to the memory of the Confederate Cause.” Two separate museums are maintained, the Davis Family Museum and the Confederate Museum. However, major emphasis in all operations is placed on Davis.

In 1879 when Davis retired to write his memoirs, he purchased Beauvoir — a Creole cottage in Biloxi overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. While inspecting property on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, he paid a call on Beauvoir’s owner, who was a family friend. He told her of his plans to try to find a place to write his books and papers.  She encouraged him to stay at Beauvoir in one of the two pavilions in front of Beauvoir to write his books. He agreed to do so only if he paid $50 a month for room and board.

After two years of living on the property, Davis bought Beauvoir for $5,500. Following Davis’s death in 1889, his daughter and later his widow inherited the property.  

Mrs. Davis sold the property to the Mississippi Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans with the orders that the property be used for a Confederate Veterans Home for the veterans and or their widows at no charge. She also mandated that Beauvoir serve as a memorial to Davis and the Confederate Soldier. Both of these stipulations have been followed to the present day.

Following the post-Katrina renovation project, the home and grounds have been fully restored. In fact, historical experts were so impressed with the “new” Beauvoir that the home was awarded the Mississippi Heritage Trust 2010 Heritage Award of Excellence.

“Beauvoir looks better than the day it was built,” says Richard Forte, Beauvoir’s acting director. “It is absolutely beautiful.”

Besides damage to the main house, structures on the 52-acre property, including a guest cottage and gift shop, were a total loss following Katrina. The storm also washed away about one-third of Beauvoir’s artifacts, including some of Davis’ manuscripts and about $250,000 worth of Confederate currency.

“If that storm had lasted another hour, I don’t think we would have had anything left,” Forte told USA Today in 2008. “God was looking over this place.”

Forte said replacing what Katrina destroyed wasn’t an easy endeavor. Slate for repairing the roof had to be imported from the same quarry in Wales that supplied some of Beauvoir’s original building materials. Hard-to-find heart pine was also used to replace wooden beams. Workers also used a 19th-century building technique to create interlocking joints for the main frame of the house.

Architect Randy McCaffrey was in charge of making sure that the project adhered to strict guidelines for preserving Beauvoir’s history.

“Our mandate was to maintain as much of the original fabric as possible,” McCaffrey said, “and I believe we’ve achieved that.”

While much of the exterior appears as it did prior to 2005, there are subtle changes noticeable to those who were frequent visitors before Katrina.

Gone are the oyster shells on the ground outside the house, replaced instead with crushed limestone. Instead of oil paint, artists Philip Ward and Linda Croxson used resistant acrylic to recreate murals originally painted in 1856. Also, workers installed stainless steel braces and reinforcing rods to make Beauvoir “probably 400 times stronger than it was before,” Forte said.

Prior to Katrina, tens of thousands of people visited Beauvoir every year to learn about Davis, a West Point graduate who was a U.S. senator and secretary of war before becoming president of the Confederacy during the Civil War.

Now, Beauvoir is more than just a memorial, said Bertram Hayes-Davis, a Beauvoir board member who is also a great-great grandson of Jefferson Davis.

“It’s something that portrays the (coast’s) recovery from the disaster,” he said. “It’s one of those icons that has risen back to be better than it was before Katrina.”

Beauvoir is open from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m., Sunday- Saturday. Admission is $9 for adults, $5 for children and $7.50 for seniors, students, AAA Auto Club members and Active Duty Military. Call Beauvoir at 228- 388-4400 for more information.