NATCHEZ &045; A deserted downtown greeted a California family when they arrived in Natchez for the first time in the spring 2004. &uot;It was a Sunday night, and there was not a soul in town,&uot; recalled Carmen Raisner, who, with her husband and two sisters and their husbands had rented a van in New Orleans to make the trek to Natchez.

They parked and went into the Eola Hotel. &uot;No one was on the streets,&uot; Raisner said. &uot;The town was so beautiful, devastatingly beautiful. And the hotel was perfect.&uot;

Superlatives abound when Raisner, her husband, Morris Raisner, her sister Marina Cavette and husband, Chris Cavette, recall their first visit to Natchez and the path that has led them to buy homes in the Deep South town they had known only in history books.

The Raisners were planning a trip to Europe when Carmen decided they instead should go to New Orleans. She invited her sisters and their husbands along. &uot;I saw Natchez on the map. We’ve all been Southern devotees all of our lives and had read about Natchez. I looked at the mileage from New Orleans and decided we should do it.&uot;

They were not disappointed. A day of touring, eating in Natchez restaurants and meeting people along the way, and they were hooked, Marina Cavette said. &uot;We loved the tiny garden district. We met a waitress in a restaurant who told us about crawdads and the trailer camp where she lived. The friendliness of the place was amazing.&uot;

Back home in Orange County after their trip, the couples resumed fast-paced lives and high-pressure jobs, but memories of Natchez would not let go of them, Carmen said. She called Marina and suggested Natchez would be a good place to retire.

&uot;My sister called. That’s all it took. Carmen and I were on the Internet looking for houses,&uot; Marina said.

In January, Carmen decided the time was right. &uot;Morris has battled cancer for four years. We both have very demanding jobs. I looked at him one day and said, ‘let’s get out of here; let’s go to Natchez.’&uot;

The third sister and her husband have not bought into the Natchez move as yet, but the other sisters expect to bring her around, they said.

Carmen and Marina contacted Liz James of Prudential Stedman and Associates Realtors, finding her through a Natchez real estate search. &uot;We hit it off right away,&uot; Marina said.

The two couples wanted different kinds of homes. Carmen and Morris wanted &uot;to own a piece of history. We wanted to be downtown.&uot;

Both Marina and Chris Cavette are artists. They wanted property further from town, plenty of space and perhaps a pool, they said.

Ultimately, James found houses that suited both couples. &uot;It happened so perfectly that it was almost frightening,&uot; Carmen said.

For the Raisners, she found a spacious house on Washington Street, which the couple purchased before seeing it. Carmen recalls her first impression of the house. &uot;I jumped out of the car and started crying,&uot; she said. &uot;It was dark, but a full-lit night. I was instantly in love. I believe I kissed the porch.&uot;

Leading up to the purchase, the Raisners went ahead with the sale of their California house and packed their furniture for Natchez. &uot;I called Liz and told her we’d sold our house and that I was sitting there homeless. She said not to worry. She called a couple of hours later and said she thought she had the perfect house.&uot;

The Cavettes had a similar experience but had not sold their California home. They were prepared to buy the Natchez house but had not seen it. In fact, Chris Cavette had not seen the house until earlier this week.

&uot;I was in awe,&uot; he said. &uot;The room, the area to walk outside, the noise of the frogs &045; I probably had the best sleep I’ve had in 10 years.&uot;

The Raisners are settled into their home, where Blanca Cartwright, the sisters’ mother, lives with the couple. The Cavettes will not make the permanent move to Natchez for perhaps another year, they said.

The Raisners are continuing in jobs similar to their California positions but working by way of the Internet. The Cavettes will continue working as artists after their move to Natchez is complete and hope to open a downtown shop.

Chris Cavette operates an upscale framing shop and art gallery in California and will bring a similar idea to Natchez, he said. &uot;And we’d like to paint everything in Natchez, provide some affordable original art that people can buy when they visit.&uot;

Getting to Natchez may take some effort, Carmen said. &uot;That suits us just fine. People who come here really want to come,&uot; she said. &uot;We never imagined we’d live here.&uot;