The Patio Royal in March of 1955, shortly before it closed and Brennan’s moved over from their original location on Bourbon Street. They bought the building from Tulane in 1984. With a nod to the building’s past, Brennan’s Restaurant rents out the private Morphy Room on the 2nd floor for small parties. It features a portrait of Paul Morphy over the fireplace and a chessboard set up and ready to play.
The building at 417 Royal St., built c. 1795, has a long and storied past, with ties to Edgar Degas, Andrew Jackson, and Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Alonzo Morphy and his son, Paul, America’s first chess master. After Paul retired at age 22, he became a recluse and died in the Morphy House in 1884. The building has carried the name in some way since then.
In 1920, after the Morphy House fell into disrepair, William Irby bought, restored it and then donated it to Tulane University. Tulane rented it to socialite and preservationist Jeanne Castellanos, and in October of 1921, she opened the Patio Royal, which quickly became an elegant hub of New Orleans social life.
The opening day tea saw lines of limousines down Royal Street. Patio Royal was the site of constant social events, including debutante and sorority parties, club luncheons, alumni meetings, dinner dances, and Carnival breakfasts and afterparties. While the inside rooms were luxuriously decorated with Spanish and Moroccan items from Castellanos’ travels, the courtyard was the preferred area to be seen. Flowering plants, magnolia trees, and lively awnings created an elegant, shaded space. Wooden benches from Ursulines Convent were set against the vine-covered red brick walls.
In 1952, after Mrs. Castellanos retired, the Patio Royal was leased to Ad Given Davis, a larger-than-life restauranteur who owned the Bar-None Ranch in St. Rose. Davis made extensive renovations to the building, including adding air-conditioning… but not just inside. In what was assumed a first in the world, Davis installed air-conditioning in the outdoor patio. The theory was that the warm air above the building would act as a blanket to hold the cool air down, but he also installed a giant awning to facilitate this, as well as provide cover from rain and sun.
Davis spent a couple years hosting Latin dance nights and serving steak, lobster, and Creole dinners alongside his signature over-sized Old Fashioneds. Two heart attacks and a suspicious arson led to Davis giving up his lease in 1955, at which point Brennan’s Restaurant moved into the building. They remain there today.
