Last bank Bonnie and Clyde robbed turning into Airbnb

DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) – A couple is planning to transform the last bank Bonnie and Clyde robbed into a luxury Airbnb with a pie and wine bar.

Most banks don’t like to advertise they’ve been robbed, but the crime is the claim to fame for the 140-year-old First National Bank in Stuart, Iowa. It was the last bank the infamous pair robbed in 1934.

Its exterior stucco is now showing signs of trouble, but David and Sheila Stone are coming to the rescue to save the building.

“Everybody cares about the building itself and the integrity and the structure and making sure it doesn’t fall down,” building owner Sheila Stone said.

The Stones, who moved to the area from Washington state on a whim, want to do more than fix the historic landmark. They want to give it new life.

“There’s a lot of interest from people coming from out of town to come look at the building, but nobody has really been able to get inside,” owner David Stone said.

Inside the old bank, there’s a rough patch in the vault’s ceiling from where a warning shot was fired as Bonnie and Clyde forced customers and tellers into the vault during the robbery.

The Stones plan to create a luxury Airbnb apartment on the second floor of the property called Bonnie and Clyde’s Hideaway.

The first floor will be a pie and wine bar with a speakeasy vibe as a tribute to a wild and historic bank-robbing gang with an all-but-forgotten Iowa connection.

“We look forward to not just bring people into this building, but bringing people into Stuart and just having the whole area thrive,” David Stone said.

If all goes as planned, the new bank building should be open and ready to go by next spring.

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