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The Hornibrook Mansion Empress of Little Rock
Little Rock, Arkansas, United States · Independent · High Luxury
The Hornibrook Mansion was finished in 1888 for $20,000, a theatrical Gothic Queen Anne by architects Max Orlopp and Kasper Kusener, built entirely of Arkansas materials with a three-and-a-half-story corner tower. In 1897 it became the first home of the Arkansas Women's College, the state's first institution of higher education for women. Restored from 1993, it opened as the Empress of Little Rock bed and breakfast in 1995, reputedly haunted, and MICHELIN gave it Two Keys in 2025.
- 9 rooms
- Opened 1995
- Neighborhood: Quapaw Quarter
- Architect: Max A. Orlopp; Jr. and Kasper Kusener
About The Hornibrook Mansion Empress of Little Rock
- Completed in 1888 for $20,000, architects Max Orlopp and Kasper Kusener built it entirely of Arkansas materials in a theatrical Gothic Queen Anne style with a three-and-a-half-story corner tower.
- In 1897 it became the first home of the Arkansas Women's College, the state's inaugural institution of higher education for women.
- Restored by new owners starting in 1993, it opened as the Empress of Little Rock bed and breakfast in 1995 and is reputedly haunted.
History
The mansion at 1366 Rock Street in Little Rock was completed in 1888 for James H. Hornibrook, a prosperous local businessman, at a reported cost of $20,000 — a substantial sum in Arkansas at the end of Reconstruction. Architects Max Orlopp and Kasper Kusener designed it in the Gothic Queen Anne style, a richly theatrical idiom that was then at the height of its national fashion, and they executed it with a completeness of detail unusual even by the standards of the era: a divided stairway sweeping up from the entrance hall, a three-and-a-half-story corner tower commanding views of the surrounding neighborhood, stained-glass skylights casting colored light on the interior woodwork, and a series of octagonal rooms that break the conventional domestic floor plan into something closer to a Victorian fantasia. The structure was built exclusively of Arkansas materials, a point of local pride.
The mansion narrowly escaped the catastrophic Little Rock fire of the late nineteenth century and emerged with its original fabric largely intact. In 1897 it became the first home of the Arkansas Women's College, the state's inaugural institution of higher education for women, a tenure that added a layer of historical significance to its architectural distinction. Over the following decades the building passed through various hands and uses before being identified by the National Register of Historic Places as the finest example of ornate Victorian architecture in Arkansas and the most important surviving regional example of the Gothic Queen Anne style.
The Empress of Little Rock — its current operating name — opened as a bed-and-breakfast in the restored mansion, preserving the nine guest rooms and suites in a Victorian idiom of antique furnishings, canopy beds, and period detail. Gourmet breakfast is served in the formal dining room. The complimentary evening cocktail hour maintains the mansion's tradition of hospitality in rooms that have changed relatively little since Hornibrook first received guests beneath their stained-glass ceilings. The MICHELIN Guide awarded The Empress Two Keys in 2025, recognizing it as an exceptional stay within a category of historic small inns.
The setting
1 mile from MacArthur Park Historic District. 3 miles from Clinton Presidential Center.
Experiences
- Photography and video productions — The historic mansion is offered as a setting for portraits, editorials, commercial productions, music videos and television filming, booked in advance.
Amenities
- The Secret Garden
- Landscaped grounds
- Elegant parlors
- Secret Garden
- Chapel
- Elegant indoor and outdoor event spaces
- Bridal brunches (advance notice required)
- Wedding packages (garden, mansion & garden)
- Overnight lodging for wedding guests
Awards
- AAA Four Diamond (2026)
- MICHELIN Two Keys (2026)
Open The Hornibrook Mansion Empress of Little Rock in the atlas for live weekend rates, photos, and the full folio.
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