200 wooded acres. 44 hotel-style rooms. A 12-acre lake. 65 minutes from New Orleans Airport. Where churches, schools, leadership programs, and organizations gather to think, plan, pray, and grow together.
For more than three decades, the Solomon Center has welcomed groups whose work matters too much to do anywhere ordinary — leadership cohorts shaping their next year, school chaplains forming young faith, vestries discerning a parish's future, recovery groups rebuilding lives. The work is yours. The place is ours.
Different missions, different rhythms, different reasons to gather. Each finds the same thing here: a place apart that supports the work.
Mt. Carmel Academy. Brother Martin. Christ Episcopal. St. Martin's. Country Day. Southeastern. Tulane. Catholic, Christian, and independent schools across South Louisiana have made the Solomon Center their retreat home for decades — chapel, dining, lodging, and 200 acres for student formation.
Every TraditionThe Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana — our home — gathers here. So do Catholic parishes, Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist, and non-denominational congregations. We actively welcome Jewish, Muslim, and other faith communities seeking a retreat home in South Louisiana.
Strategic Off-sitesLeadership Acadiana. Leadership St. Tammany. Cardiovascular Institute of the South. The Jungian Seminar. Conference rooms with AV, breakouts, dining service, and the rare gift of zero distraction. Strategy sessions and team-building, away from the office.
Mission-DrivenRecovery programs. Generation Hope. Southeastern Courage. Ministries doing the work of restoration deserve a place of restoration. Our pricing structure honors mission-driven organizations.
New OfferingFor families and couples seeking a faith-rooted ceremony in a setting that means something. Funerals now; intimate weddings — Episcopal, Catholic, and ecumenical — formally launching in 2027 in our consecrated chapel and on our grounds.
If you've gathered here before, you know what makes the Solomon Center work — the chapel light, the lake at dawn, the pavilion in the afternoon, the way conversation deepens when phones stay silent among the pines.
You may also remember a difficult stretch. Aging HVAC. A Lodge that wasn't what it should be. Water damage in unusual spots. Lodging rooms with outdated carpeting and uncomfortable beds. Many groups gave us grace through that period. Some moved their retreats elsewhere — and we don't blame anyone for it.
Here's what's true now: Twelve of our fifteen buildings' roofs are fully replaced. A quarter-million dollar investment in our Lodge's HVAC system. The Chapel and Lodge buildings are fully weatherproofed and sealed. Fresh paint and wallpaper that breathe new life into the spaces. Our campus foundations renewed for the next generation of guests.
If you've been away, this is the moment to come back. We look forward to hosting you again.
Six purposeful environments. Each one earns its place.
Executive Chef Jeff Cristina trained at Palace Cafe in New Orleans, helped open Tableau in the French Quarter, and brought that kitchen to the Northshore. He came to the Solomon Center in 2016 — and he's still here because food, for him, is not a three-times-a-day task to dispatch. It's the part of your retreat people remember.
Jeff is part of the team that meets every new group in the planning stage. He learns who you are, what kind of gathering you're hosting, and what would make it better. Then he and his sous chef Brad Henley — also New Orleans-trained — cook for you specifically. Seasonal, leaning into the South Louisiana palette they were raised on. Herbs from the on-site garden Jeff and his wife Helly tend. Salad dressings and sauces made in-house. Ingredients sourced as close to Loranger as the season allows — including from Jeff's own family farm nearby.
"Not your typical conference center fare."
— a comment we hear from first-time guests, often by the second meal
Dietary accommodations are routine, not exceptional: kosher, halal, vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, keto, allergies, nightshade aversions, anything else your group brings. Tell us. Jeff's team plans around it.
The Solomon Center is a ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana. That foundation shapes the way we welcome groups — every guest is treated as someone created in God's image, every gathering as worth our full attention.
It does not, however, narrow who we welcome. Our largest single audience is Catholic schools. We host Baptist, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, and non-denominational gatherings. We host corporate teams, civic leadership programs, and recovery communities. Faith roots the place; the doors open wide.
"To provide hospitality in a Christian environment; to encourage our visitors to seek and find spiritual renewal and religious education."
— Solomon Center mission statement, since 1993
Our Story & MissionOur event planning team responds to every inquiry within one business day. We hold dates while we build a proposal. There's no pressure to commit until you're certain — we'd rather host the right group than the next group.
Or call directly: 985-748-6634
