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Who is Dan Dyess, the owner of Nottoway Plantation in Louisiana?
Dan Dyess expressed devastation over the fire that destroyed Nottoway Plantation in Louisiana and is uncertain if restoration is possible.
The Nottoway plantation house, an essential element of Louisiana’s history, went up in flames at 2AM on Thursday (May 15) when staff at the building reported seeing smoke coming up from the south wing. Dan Dyess, the current owner of the building, has expressed his devastation at the event and is uncertain about the possibility of restoration. The State Fire Marshal’s Office began its investigation to deduce the cause of the fire on Friday and is still unclear on when a conclusive report could be produced.
The official website of this now popular resort and wedding location describes it as “one of the South's largest historic mansions, located on the famous River Road between Baton Rouge and New Orleans."
Chris Daigle, President of the Iberville Parish, expressed his condolences at the loss of one of the city’s “most iconic landmarks” on social media. Daigle described the charred mansion as the “cornerstone of our tourism economy” and remarked how its absence would be felt deeply.
A troubled history
Though famed for its stunning white columns, grand balconies and spectacular three-story Rotunda, the Nottoway plantation house has a troubled history. Originally designed as a 64-room foot property sprawling across 53,000 acres by Henry Howard at the behest of a wealthy sugar planter, John Hampden Randolph, the mansion remained a painful reminder of the worst of enslavement.
The mansion was built entirely using bondage labor and served as a profitable sugar plantation employing about 150 slaves in the 1860s. Half a century later, the building was sold off to the Owens family who started using the mansion partially as a luxury resort space.
The structure was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Following a series of handovers and buy-outs, the property finally found its way in the hands of Dan Dyess, a Natchitoches area lawyer, in late 2024 when he purchased it from hotelier Joe Jaeger Jr.
Who is Dan Dyess?
Along with owning the Nottoway plantation house, Dyess is also the owner of the historic Steel Magnolia House Bed and Breakfast in Natchitoches.
“We’re very devastated, we’re upset, we’re sad,” said Dyess on Friday. “We put a lot of time, effort and money to developing this property. This was my dream that has now been dashed.”
Though efforts are underway to uncover the cause of the fire, Ken Pastorick, the Public Affairs Director for the State Fire Marshal has stated that the process will take time. “This is a large-scale fire that destroyed a huge piece of history, and it’s gonna take time for our investigators to look at this and figure out how it happened and why it happened,” he said.
Depending upon the extent of damage revealed by the fire department’s report, Dyess is expected to take a decision on whether he will be restoring the property.
While Iberville residents have expressed their despair over losing a piece of historic and personal relevance, many have also showed indifference towards the event due to its tangled past.
By Stuti Gupta
