The once grand estate sat neglected until a couple from California chanced upon Monmouth while traveling to Natchez in 1977.  They fell in love with Monmouth, and purchased the dilapidated estate in 1978.  More than a century after John Quitman’s death, Ronald Riches, a California developer with a love for history, and his wife Lani, mother of their two daughters, Angela and Alana, began turning into reality their dream of saving Monmouth.  This would take a heroic effort by the Riches, for the house and the grounds were far removed from its antebellum splendor.  

      It took a series of what Ron calls “acts of fate” to introduce them to Monmouth.

After Lani and Ron had traveled to Natchez, a chance meeting on a trip to Hawaii by the Riches led to their first Natchez friendships when they met Juan and Jyles Eaves.  Lani and Ron were in Hawaii celebrating Lani’s parents, Harry, and Gerry Sinclair’s 35th wedding anniversary.  Gerry introduced Lani to Juan and Jyles Eaves and their daughter, Juanita Eaves Kennedy.  The result proved fortuitous, as Juan and Jyles later became an important support to Lani and Ron before they bought Monmouth, ultimately setting the stage for the Monmouth purchase. 

      Once in Natchez, a casual chat in a gift shop implanted the initial idea of purchasing a home in Natchez, when Ron told some local women how lucky they were to live in such a nice community.  One of them remarked “why don’t you move here?”  It was at this time that she mentioned that Monmouth was for sale.  Later that day, when the Riches dined at King’s Tavern, a historic Natchez restaurant, a waiter mentioned his own interest in someday restoring a house.  It was during this time that the Riches first met Buzz Harper.  Monmouth had been removed years earlier from the Pilgrimage tour, and private arrangements were necessary to see the mansion.  Harper arranged for Lani and Ron’s first introduction to Monmouth.   

      The final so called “act of fate” occurred the following day.  Traveling back from their Natchez excursion, their car became stuck in mud.  Unable to move, they met transplanted New Yorker, Ernesto Caldera, who had become part owner of Jefferson Davis’s boyhood home, Rosemont, in nearby Woodville.  He said he had adjusted so well to his new Mississippi lifestyle that he did not miss the big city at all. 

      Ron and Lani saw Monmouth at its worst, with peeling paint, termite infested walls, cracking plaster and a closed east wing, because, as Ron wrote in his journal, “some tenants had just moved out of that area and had left it a smelly, ugly mess.”  Yet, the idea had been planted.  “To me, a Southern California boy, all the land was unbelievable,” he wrote.  “As I looked around, I could imagine myself and Lani walking the grounds, with the girls playing in the distance.”  Daughters Angela and Alana were ten and six at the time. 

      As they flew back to Los Angeles, Ron knew he had been smitten, although he only partly understood his own emotions.  Ron recalled, “I didn’t know if it was my ego, my love of history, or my love of possibly living in a small community without the hustle and bustle that a large city life brings.”  He initiated serious negotiations to purchase Monmouth, with the transaction hinging in part on Ron receiving a partial grant from the State of Mississippi to facilitate the complete restoration intended by the Riches.  

      In May 1977, the Riches were to return to Natchez to work out the details of the purchase, but were under intense pressure from family and friends to give up the project.  Both were having second thoughts.  Conflicted, Ron asked Lani to make the decision.  A woman of deep religious conviction, Lani looked to the Bible for guidance, he remembers, “and she would have to follow me where my decision led us.”  In a state of emotional stress, Ron went to work on the day of their planned flight.  Saying to himself that he must be crazy, he threw his Monmouth file into the trash.  At the same moment, Lani was being encouraged to persist by close friend Beverly Afifi.  Two hours before their scheduled departure, Lani called Ron and said they should go.  Ron snatched the file out of his wastepaper basket and rushed home.  Hastily grabbing their suitcases (hoping they weren’t empty), they were quickly transported by Ron’s parents, Jack and Trudy, to the Los Angeles airport just in time.  The purchase became final on Valentine’s Day 1978; an appropriate date for what Ron terms “a labor of love.” 

      The Riches initiated restoration plans for Monmouth even before the purchase was finalized.  Work accelerated once the documents were signed, and Ron and Lani made two decisions at the outset, which would have tremendous implications for the project.  First, they encouraged the support of the Natchez community by using local contractors and businesses whenever possible.  Danny Smith, an area contractor, did all the restoration’s carpentry and served as general contractor for all of Monmouth’s fifteen rooms.  It was tedious work, complicated by extensive termite damage to the interior moldings.  These efforts paid off when Danny Smith won acclaim from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History for the restoration of Monmouth.  Secondly, Natchez interior designer and antique dealer, Buzz Harper, offered invaluable advice and friendship, collaborating closely with Lani on everything from landscaping to the interior design of the estate.  Harper and the Riches traveled throughout the United States and Europe in search of appropriate furnishings and antiques.  The Riches considered themselves”caretakers” of Monmouth for future generations to come. 

      The Riches decided to be as historically authentic as possible in the restoration.  Clues to the location of pre-Civil War buildings, driveways and trees came from a map designed in 1864 by Union army engineers during the military occupation of Natchez, as well as from several archeological excavations.  Old photographs of Monmouth were located and examined, with a paint consultant determining Monmouth’s previous exterior and interior colors.  Even broken windowpanes needed the correct restoration decision.  The glass could be replaced by new, but old-looking glass, or by clear new panes.  The decision was made to use the new clear glass so one could always tell the difference between the actual old glass with its wavy look and the new replacements.   

      Extensive measures were taken to restore the expansive grounds to reflect the elegance of the main house and outer buildings. Lani and Ron commissioned William Garbo Sr., a landscape architect, to provide design services for developing a period style garden within the 26 acre site.  The result was a lush, expansive garden, which includes a pergola, rose garden, cut-flower garden, and an herb garden, all of which were built and planted under Garbo’s supervision.  A grader, clearing two acres of the back property, discovered the area had been terraced in Quitman’s time, and Ron and Lani kept the terraces as the backbone of their grounds restoration. 

      Twentieth-century Monmouth saw not only the decline of the estate and its grounds, but the scattering of many of its prized furnishings.  When the Riches purchased Monmouth, several pieces of furniture found in the house were discovered to be original Quitman pieces.  These included: an antebellum rosewood parlor set upholstered in damask, a sideboard with a carved head of a soldier, a bench, two chairs and a full tester bed.  The Riches located and purchased General Quitman’s large bed separately.  

      Opportunities continued for the restoration and the preservation of Monmouth’s history.  As the restoration of Monmouth progressed, Professor Robert May of Purdue University began the historical restoration of Monmouth and John Quitman’s history.  May was able to establish provenance of artifacts related to Monmouth.  Ron and Lani purchased more than 100 Quitman letters from a private collector and then forwarded copies to May for his research.  Today, Monmouth’s manuscript records are housed in universities and archives throughout the United States, resulting in Monmouth’s historic legacy documented in books and scholarly journals. 

      The purchase of Monmouth by Ron and Lani Riches carried with it a commitment to bring back to life its once grand opulence.  This included the grounds, as well as the structures.  Once the main house was completed, attention turned to the exterior structures and grounds.  By the early 1980s, a brick courtyard was installed immediately outside the rear of the main house.  The brick dependency located just to the rear of the main house was fastened with metal supports to shore up its bulging walls.  This too was finished during the same period.  Within a short time, the house was ready for guests. 

      The Monmouth we see today not only recreates the past as memory, it also continues it.  For example, Monmouth hosted its first wedding in 1821, when Margaret Hankinson married Thomas Nixon.  Later, the antebellum weddings of enslaved house servants Harry Nichols to Flora Withers, along with Viola Vessels to Marcellus Brannicks, and Isaac Hughes to his bride, Corrie, were held at Monmouth. The house also witnessed Quitman family weddings over the years. The tradition continued into the 20th century as celebratory receptions honoring the weddings of Ron and Lani Riches daughters, Alana to Gary Rubens, and Angie to Kevin Belinkoff, were celebrated at Monmouth. Lani and Ron’s grandchildren, Kyle Weber, Ashley Rubens, Allison Belinkoff, Ethan Rubens, and Myles Gregory Rubens now play on the grounds where their mothers, Alana and Angie once played as young girls. Today, travelers from all over the nation and the world come to Monmouth to exchange their wedding vows because of its beautiful and romantic scene.   

      In addition to the many tourists, (including United States governors and presidents) and visitors who now journey to Monmouth to experience its peaceful and historic ambiance, it has become a place attractive for business.  Film crews have often used its historic setting for feature films, commercials, and documentaries, and business groups find it a wonderful location for conferences and meetings.   But at its heart it is a small luxury hotel serving tourists and visitors to Natchez looking for a romantic and enjoyable stopping point as they travel the Natchez Trace, visit the historic homes of the area, or just want a lovely sojourn in a beautiful and historically authentic setting. 

      Affairs of not only the heart, but of the spirit, have become part of Monmouth tradition. The recent addition of an outdoor sanctuary styled as a Palladian Temple culminated a yearlong effort to celebrate the aesthetic, and provide a site for quiet reflection and meditation.  Events such as weddings can be solemnized in the Reuben L. Harper Sanctuary, named for longtime friend Buzz Harper. 

      Under the loving ownership of the Riches, this small luxury hotel allows visitors and guests the opportunity to step back to a time romanticized by such books and films as Gone With The Wind and So Red The Rose, without leaving the comforts and amenities of a luxury hotel.  Dining on expertly prepared five-course cuisine under the glow of Waterford crystal gasoliers, strolling along Monmouth’s sprawling lush grounds, and sleeping in equally luxurious rooms that once housed Civil War soldiers, the wealthiest Nabobs of the Old South, and slaves alike, truly sparks one’s historical imagination.  

       Indeed, it has been a long journey from the Monmouth of 1818 to the Monmouth of today, but for those who wish to partake of that journey, it is a trip filled with historical memories and stories richly and profoundly human.