THE GREAT DAYS OF THE GARDEN DISTRICT

The foregoing is meant to provide a setting for the information to

follow. The scene described is not based on an actual occurrence,

although it is entirely probable, and factually correct as to dates,

places and people except for the Laytons. "Any resemblance is entirely

coincidental," as the usual disclaimer says. The merger of Lafayette

City and New Orleans did take place under the circumstances described,

although no such public event was recorded in the newspapers. This _mise

en scène_ has been contrived merely to serve as a vehicle for revealing

the surroundings and events of the period, since the essence, the

individuality, the physical characteristics of old Lafayette City are so

important to the full understanding and appreciation of the present

Garden District and its great houses.

It is equally important to go back one more step to learn how Lafayette

City came to be; and it is highly interesting to anyone with the

slightest historical inquisitiveness. For the area which was Lafayette

City, some four miles removed from what is considered the "historical

section" of New Orleans, the Vieux Carré, is still closely interwoven

with the original colony's basic story line.

Louisiana was first seen through European eyes by the Spanish

conquistadores of De Soto's expedition in 1540. The Spanish did nothing

to make use of the vast territory they first claimed. Almost 150 years

passed before the white man again cast an interested glance in this

direction. This was the period of French exploration in the 1650's, when

Canadians began to look south from the Great Lakes and wonder if all

were true that the Indians told them about the great river to the south

which led to the sea through a land of wealth and plenty. This increased

curiosity resulted in the famous La Salle expeditions and the claiming

of the entire central area of the United States for France in 1684.

Still, no colonial interest was aroused. It took the threat of war and

the encroachment of English colonies from the East and Spanish from the

West to make the French take Louisiana seriously as a possible source of

wealth for the throne.

To secure the colony from attack, forts were built in Canada and on the

Great Lakes. The distinguished French-Canadian naval officer, Pierre Le

Moyne d'Iberville, hero of Hudson's Bay and other battles with the

English, was sent to install a colony on the Gulf Coast and to build

bastions to guard the great river.

The first Colony in Louisiana was founded at Ocean Springs, Miss., near

Biloxi, in 1699, by Iberville. It wasn't until 1718 that another Le

Moyne, the Sieur de Bienville, succeeded his brother and persuaded the

French authorities to move the capital of the colony to a site on the

Mississippi River. Not until 1722 did the capital finally move to New

Orleans, to the area we now know as the Vieux Carré, the old quarter.

After the founding of the city of La Nouvelle Orléans, a fine example of

foresight was shown by Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville,

governor of the colony. He wisely realized that the land surrounding the

young city would become valuable, and according to the custom, he asked

for a grant of land from the Company of the Indies, the agency which

operated the colony for the King. He asked for "the concession of a

tract situated above and at the limits of New Orleans, facing the

Mississippi River, and in depth running West quarter North West to the

Mississippi, in the bend above the Chapitoulas...." This would include

an area roughly from Bienville street in the Vieux Carré, up the river

beyond Carrollton to Nine Mile Point, and back from the river to the

undrained swamps where Claiborne Avenue is today.

Hardly had he been given possession of his land than Bienville received

a further ruling that a governor could not receive concessions of

property except for "vegetable gardens". Bienville, therefore, caused

the first section of his land from just above Bienville Street, to the

lower limit of what was later Lafayette City to be known as his

"vegetable garden". On the rest he settled German families in small

farms or plantations.

Some of these immigrant farmers were successful, but most succumbed to

the floods and the fevers. Others departed for healthier sections of

Louisiana. In 1728 the ax fell again on Bienville's right to hold

property, and it was not until 1737, according to the best evidence,

that he succeeded in having his original claim, or what was left of it,

sustained. By that time, many parts of his original plantation had been

sold to new owners, some even having been sold by Bienville himself.

These tracts became proud plantations with lovely homes fronting the

river and extensive indigo, and later, sugar cane, fields running far to

the rear.

Five of these baronies were those of d'Hauterive, Broutin, Darby,

Carrière, and Livaudais, roughly situated between what was known as

Felicity Road and almost to Grand Route Wiltz (Louisiana Avenue).

These five plantations, called Faubourgs by the old French people,

gradually became consolidated into three small communities fronting on

the river, with residences built on lots into which the earlier farm

lands had been divided. The communities were called Nuns, Lafayette and

Livaudais. Then in 1833 these three communities joined forces to become

the city of Lafayette and were so incorporated by an act of the state

legislature.

Eleven years later, Lafayette annexed a small settlement on its upper

boundary, the Faubourg de Lassaiz, which extended the city to what is

now Toledano Street. Further expansion was blocked still later when the

citizens of the next upper community, Faubourg Plaisance, voted very

definitely _not_ to unite with Lafayette City.

Although the municipal personality called Lafayette City has

disappeared, the way of life it launched within the framework of greater

New Orleans will remain as long as there is a New Orleans. There was the

gay, industrious, hard-working, but pleasure-loving commercial part of

old Lafayette; and the spacious, gracious section of the great homes,

the ante-bellum and post-bellum houses of the area known as the Garden

District.

Why did the uppermost plantation of those which formed Lafayette City

become so desirable as a district of imposing and elaborate residences?

[Illustration: Contemporary sketch of Mme. Livaudais' house set in

lovely garden. Plantation home was never completed. Ruins were

removed in 1863.]

In the year 1816, the river crevassed at the Macarty plantation, several

miles upriver from the Livaudais property, and its waters inundated most

of the large holdings down to New Orleans. Among them was the great

plantation of Jacques François Esnould Dugué de Livaudais, whose father

and grandfather had been large landowners.

François de Livaudais had married just about the best catch any man

could aspire to: Célèste, the daughter of Philippe de Marigny, the

wealthiest man in Louisiana and perhaps one of the wealthiest men in all

America. The marriage represented the union of two vast fortunes, and

the couple began construction of the castellated, lavish plantation home

on their country domain.

Perhaps the floodwaters dampened their ardor for a castle on the

Mississippi to rival those of their ancestors in France. Perhaps it was

something else. In 1825 the Livaudais were separated. In the settlement,

Madame Livaudais received the plantation among other properties and

funds. She moved to Paris, where as La Marquise de Livaudais she cut a

wide swath, being among King Louis Philippe's inner circle. Through her

New Orleans attorneys she sold her plantation to a group of real estate

entrepreneurs for $500,000. They engaged the eminent surveyor, Benjamin

Buisson, formerly an engineer of Napoleon's army, to lay out the

plantation into streets and lots.

Thus from just below First Street to just above Ninth Street (now

Harmony) and from the river back to St. George Street (now La Salle)

this expanse of property, the original Faubourg Livaudais, was divided

into squares and placed on the market, with one exception. Madame

Livaudais retained the tract with her house on it, including her garden.

This is why the blocks between Washington Avenue and Sixth Street from

the river to La Salle Street are wider than the other blocks. They

follow the width of Mme. Livaudais' house and grounds.

The house itself was never completed. For brief periods, members of the

Livaudais family appear to have lived in the habitable portions. It was

once used as a public ballroom, though which sections of it were

adaptable for that purpose have never been specified. Itinerant

wayfarers settled within its shambles as years passed. In 1861 it was

briefly converted into a plaster factory when that commodity became

scarce because of the Federal blockade. Two destitute, frail old crones

next made it their home. These female hermits, it was said, refused all

offerings of food or money. Little wonder that the ruin became "The

Haunted House of Lafayette", until it was finally torn down in 1863.

The Livaudais plantation became a valuable part of Lafayette City at its

incorporation with the Faubourgs of Nuns and Lafayette in 1833. It

supplied, besides more river frontage, fine residential sites, covered

with the rich silt from the Macarty crevasse. It would indeed grow

anything, but particularly, flowers in profusion.

[Illustration: Omnibus line using double-decker vehicles was the

first means of transportation between New Orleans, Lafayette, via

Tchoupitoulas.]

The fragrance and the variety of floral abundance evoked the paeans of

poet and author. It was natural that some of the wealthy "American"

families and later even a few Creoles should seek these new sites for

their great homes. An omnibus from New Orleans ran regularly out

Tchoupitoulas. The New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad, chartered by the

same session of the legislature which incorporated Lafayette, began

regular service from the heart of the growing business and financial

section in New Orleans proper up Nayades Street (now St. Charles Avenue)

right through this verdant section on its way upriver to the town of

Carrollton.

In 1834 a spur route turned off Nayades and came out Jackson Street to

the river, along Lafayette City's most elegant thoroughfare. The wealthy

citizens of New Orleans and the successful merchants of Lafayette City

began to spread out in the section which quickly became known as the

Garden District. Although many fine homes were built on the outer

fringes of the quadrangle formed by Jackson and Louisiana Avenues and

Magazine Street and St. Charles Avenue, it is generally agreed today

that the Garden District lies within these boundaries. However, in the

1850's the term was not so strictly applied and Josephine and Apollo

(Carondelet) Streets were included.

[Illustration: First steam train of New Orleans and Carrollton

Railroad on Nayades, now St. Charles Avenue, gave access to Garden

District.]

The operator of this mule car branch railroad which first served

Lafayette City crosstown was the New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad

Company. In July, 1834, it was franchised to construct a "single railway

commencing from the intersection of Jackson and Nayades Streets into

said city running through Jackson to the site of the projected market

house, thence branching around said market house and running to the

river Mississippi." The rate of travel could not, by law, exceed four

miles per hour.

[Illustration: Quaint old picture from Stanton home on Jackson

Avenue, with mule car going past Trinity Church towards St. Charles

Avenue. Jackson has always been one of Garden District's elegant

streets.]

Historically, the Lafayette river front had long been the scene of

commerce. The succession of Spanish governors, who took over the colony

after 1763, failed to enforce the strict embargo against any but Spanish

vessels trading with New Orleans merchants. The British, under the

pretext of sailing their commercial vessels up the Mississippi past New

Orleans to their own colonies at Manchac, Baton Rouge and Natchez, would

tie up above New Orleans in the future Lafayette area, and carry on a

heavy trade in merchandise and slaves with the businessmen and planters

in and around the city. Directly across the river from the site of

Lafayette, in what is now Gretna, the audacious British maintained two

floating warehouses and even "built a warehouse on land to facilitate

the passage of the floating warehouses of their vessels" according to a

contemporary report.

We can visualize the busy river front at this point on the east bank,

with merchants plying back and forth in skiffs, and larger batteaux

bringing loads of the high quality English goods, including cloth,

cutlery, farming utensils--and slaves. New Orleans businessmen who dared

not indulge in this illicit trade protested to the Spanish authorities

who continued to wink at the British until the American revolution made

anti-British sympathies fashionable. Then Bernardo Galvez, the Spanish

governor, on April 17, 1777, seized the English boats and warehouses,

and the illegal trade stopped. But it is safe to assume that the

commercial identity of what became Lafayette's riverfront persisted,

perhaps even its later competition with New Orleans having begun in that

early illicit trade.

The good business prospects in Lafayette caused men to say that the city

might possibly "capture" New Orleans some day. The Texas cattle trails

ended their long treks over the prairies at Gretna. Cattle boats brought

the Stock across the river to the slaughter houses with special landings

for the pounding, snorting beasts, skittering down the gangplanks into

the pens, as if entirely cognizant that the end of the trail had come

now for certain.

If one could stand the smell, it was a curious and exciting vista

watching the steamboats unload cattle at Lafayette. Satellite industries

lined the river front, the tallow renderers, the soap-boilers, the hide

merchants, the tanners, the disposers of unused parts, and the bone

grinders, whose odoriferous products made tasty vegetables and sweet

sugar cane grow, paradoxical as that seemed.

King Cotton considered the wharves at Lafayette one of his royal ports.

The puffing, graceful white swans of the Mississippi began to nudge the

rows of flatboats from the river front. In the Forties the city council

decreed exclusive facilities between First and Second Streets for

steamboats, with inclined landing areas. The city supplied heavy, thick

planks, bound on each end with iron bands and proudly branded "L", for

the use of the steamboats calling at its wharves. By 1850 twenty piers

had been constructed to accommodate the packets.

The "breadbasket" of the upper valley dumped its cargoes at Lafayette

wharves also. The first grain elevator on the lower river was built at

the foot of Harmony Street. Flour was an important commodity, with busy

factors waiting to trade as the clumsy broadhorns, floating on the

current, edged into their moorings. So crowded were the flatboat

moorings--above Second Street--that flatboat captains received a $10

fine for not immediately removing the large steering oars on each side.

Twenty-four hours was the time limit for unloading.

At first, 80-foot sections of the river front had been set aside for the

flatboats, once delivered of their cargoes, to be broken up. But this

became a nuisance, and by 1845, it was forbidden along the entire

Lafayette river front.

There was always a ready market for the timbers from broken up

flatboats, or "gunwales", as the long, heavy fore-and-aft planks were

called. Many of the early houses were built of these excellent,

weathered timbers from the virgin forests of the upper valley. Most of

the streets of Lafayette, until after the mid-nineteenth century, were

"paved" with them, as were the sidewalks, or "banquettes". The long

boards would not disappear so quickly into the mud, as would rocks and

bricks. Numerous cottages remaining in various sections of New Orleans

near the river are built of these sturdy, enduring timbers.

Lafayette City was a complete entity in every respect, with the

exception of a bank. There was a branch of the Carrollton Bank to serve

its citizens, at the corner of Jackson and Levee, but it was not their

own. No doubt a Bank of Lafayette was high on the list of these

enterprising citizens, when annexation took place.

[Illustration: Row of buildings at Seventh and Laurel in 1866.

Second from right is tannery. Note bridges over deep gutters. Some

are still in use.]

James H. Caldwell, the theatrical impresario, entrepreneur, the man most

responsible for the development of the "American" section, the former

Faubourg Ste. Marie, left his enterprising mark on Lafayette. In 1847,

the City Council granted him the sole right of vending gas lighting

under the name of the Lafayette Gas Light Company. He could lay pipes

and conduits at the company's expense in the city streets. For the

privilege, the company had to supply gas to public lamps throughout the

city as well as in public buildings at special rates. The first home

reported to have gas illumination was that of Mr. E. S. Miles on Nayades

(St. Charles) between Sixth and Seventh.

[Illustration: This unique building housed the Sixth Precinct on

Rousseau near Jackson, on site of earlier Jefferson Parish

courthouse and prison. Egyptian style building still stands, now

serves as city sign shop.]

Lafayette was the scene of a celebrated legal case involving large and

valuable sections of the city, second in local court annals only to the

Gaines litigation. The original name of the faubourg which later became

known as Lafayette was Faubourg Panis, after its owner, the Widow Panis.

She first had this property subdivided into lots and streets. Her

daughter Mme. Rousseau, a widow, inherited the faubourg. In 1818 she

sold the remaining property for $100,000 to John Poultney, who died

before he could pay for it. His creditors, who had advanced him part of

the money to make the purchase, paid the notes and proceeded to sell

lots in honest belief of clear title. Poultney's wife, on behalf of

herself and her minor children, had renounced their rights to the

property. The name of the faubourg was changed at that time to

Lafayette, in honor of the French patriot who had visited New Orleans.

Later the Poultney heirs claimed that their tender age and legal

incapacity prevented them from accepting the property at the time of the

succession. The suit was instigated in 1832 and rambled through the

courts until 1855 when the United States Supreme Court upheld the

Louisiana tribunal against the plaintiffs. Interestingly, one of the

disappointed claimants was the then Major G. T. Beauregard, engineer in

charge of construction of the New Orleans Customhouse. Mrs. John

Poultney had been Emilie Toutant-Beauregard.

The city was not without its theatrical attractions. The only actual

theater built for stage presentations was the Lafayette on Rousseau

between Philip and Soraparu Streets. It was in the center of the block,

on the lake side, directly across from Terpsichore Hall, the favorite

_salle à danser_. The theater opened in late December, 1848, and

according to the _Statesman_, "has already increased property values

near it." It had 100 feet of depth, was 55 feet wide, 40 feet high, and

its stage was 35 feet deep, said the newspaper account. Sol Smith, one

of the pioneer actors who penetrated the "frontier" communities from the

East, along with Noah Ludlow and his troupe, played the Lafayette and

left this comment, dated February, 1849:

"A theater in Lafayette, a suburb of New Orleans, was opened under the

management of Mr. Oliver this season. The prevalence of the cholera

blighted any prospects there might have been of success. This company

was composed principally of new beginners and their salaries were paid

in various commodities, such as the manager stipulated to receive of the

citizens for tickets. It was a stipulation in each article of agreement

(so the manager told me) that every actor should take a portion of his

salary in _coffins_, should he need any!--that is to say, if he should

die during the season, he should be _buried on account_; the style of

coffin, number of carriages, and so forth, to be regulated by the amount

due at the time of his demise.

"I had a fellow feeling for this manager, and when he asked me to act

one night for him, assuring me that I could fill the house at double

prices, I could not refuse him, though I doubted very much whether my

acting would add anything to his receipts. Manager Oliver was right,

however, and I had the pleasure of playing the _Mock Duke_ in the _Honey

Moon_ to one of the most crowded audiences I have ever acted to. Of

course, under the circumstances, I would take no pay for my night's

services, though the grateful manager offered me a clear half of the

receipts.

"The season failed totally, the manager left for parts unknown and next

season, after a vain attempt by one Hickey to resuscitate the drama by

presenting some horrible representations (or misrepresentations rather)

of Yankee character, the theater took fire one day and was burned to the

ground. Lafayette is too near New Orleans to give an efficient support

to the theater."

The earliest homes in Lafayette naturally were built on streets closest

to the river. As early as 1842, the crusty editor of the _Daily

Picayune_ in New Orleans was rhapsodic over the beautiful cottages in

Lafayette City with their handsome architecture and lovely gardens. The

_Lafayette Spectator_, by 1850, was equally enthusiastic. "The City of

Lafayette", wrote John McMillin, "at no previous time could boast of so

many valuable buildings in progress as at present. Styles, finishes and

materials being so vastly improved." The cottages were becoming mansions

at this point, getting away from the flatboat gunwales.

"Such is the demand for lots," continued McMillin, "in the back part of

the city that they are selling for nearly double the price of those

three or four squares from the river. Lots on or near the railroad (St.

Charles Avenue) sell for $1,800. Those on Jersey (Annunciation), $800 or

$900. Cheapest lots are on Jersey and Laurel Streets.

"To become independent here," he advised, "it is necessary to purchase a

few lots only, at a low rate and keep them a few years when the

fortunate owner finds himself well off in the world. We believe for the

next five years real estate will increase 20% per year."

In 1852, Lafayette City counted a population of 12,651 with 1,539 slaves

added. This was short of the anticipated total because the city had just

come through a particularly devastating yellow fever epidemic in which

some 2,000 souls had been lost. One journalist felt that the census

takers had not been thorough in their tally.

The city burial grounds, the Lafayette Cemetery on Washington between

Coliseum and Prytania, laid out in 1833, was hard put to find space for

the bodies. Apparently most of the deceased were part of the huge

drifting population, newly arrived immigrants, the flatboatmen and

others, for only 389 citizens of Lafayette could be accounted for by the

census taker among those buried in the cemetery.

The prospects of the Garden District of Lafayette were also favorably

mentioned by the editor of the _Spectator_, a Whig newspaper published

there during the mid-century era:

"It is already the seat of fashionable residences. The property in the

rear of the district has been greatly sought by merchants and bankers

and professional men. Little or none has been held for speculation. It

will maintain its value."

The appearance of the Greek Revival mansions now rising from the

vicinity of Nayades and in toward Magazine supported the claim that at

this time, New Orleans had more per capita wealth than New York.

It appears from the best sources that the first house of consequence to

be built in what is now the Garden District proper was that of Thomas

Toby in 1838. He came from Philadelphia, and his father's ships brought

some of the materials for the house from his native city. This house is

still standing at Prytania and First Streets. Others who built in the

same general neighborhood in the following decade were F. B., T. B., and

Charles Conrad, P. N. Wood, Judge R. F. Ogden, Captain Thomas Ivey, and

Charles Briggs. The Fifties saw the greatest activity of construction of

the great houses of the Garden District.

This section, peopled as it was chiefly by those who conducted their

businesses in New Orleans, but who enjoyed the shaded gardens for their

residences, rapidly developed a life apart from the teeming waterfront

of Lafayette City. Inevitably a rivalry began. The catalyst was the

constant annoyance of pounding hooves and the odors of the

slaughterhouses and tanneries. Eventually, the early residents of the

Garden District were instrumental in getting the Lafayette City Council

to pass restrictive measures which removed the cattle landing. The

important commerce of this trade moved upriver to the neighboring town

of Jefferson, which caused the fiery editor of the _Spectator_, the

outspoken champion of the city's growth, to howl from his columns that

the city had lost a million and a half dollars in trade a year by this

act.

He belabored particularly the aldermen from the "rear of the city" who

"turned up the whites of their eyes and stopped their delicate noses as

they passed by with their white gloves on and exclaimed, 'What a

nuisance!'"

[Illustration: Tomb of members of Jefferson Fire Company No. 22 in

Lafayette Cemetery. "Ready at the First Sound" was motto. Relief

shows 1832 engine.]

Despite these earmarks of a brewing donnybrook, one couldn't exactly

blame the owners of the fine gardens for objecting to "the great numbers

of horses and mules running at large, particularly at night, occupying

the sidewalks to the danger of the passers-by and racing up and down

streets, disturbing the rest of the families." Not only horses and

mules, but goats, too! "If a gate is left open for a minute, choice rose

bushes suffer and the rare plants of the most careful training are

ruined. Our feed stores are compelled to keep an extra clerk to protect

the corn sacks and bales of hay from these bold plunderers." At least

there was a law passed in 1841 which prohibited the keeping of bears in

Lafayette City.

[Illustration: One of Garden District's great houses was the

Stauffer mansion on Jackson, corner of Prytania, shown in Archives

drawing dated 1870.]

In the early days of Lafayette and the Garden District, "the war"

referred only to the very real and fresh memories of Jackson's battle

with the British at Chalmette hardly twenty years previously. In the

Forties, it referred to the War with Mexico, in which many Lafayette

citizens took part. Troops were encamped and trained on some of the

vacant lots. The Rev. Jerome Twichell held Presbyterian services for

them, and a government warehouse near the river on Washington dispensed

supplies to troops coming down the Mississippi for Mexican service.

Then, in 1861, "the war" took on a present and terrifying meaning.

Although no actual fighting was reported in or around the Garden

District, the coming and going of troops, the warships passing on the

river, the shortages because of the blockade, the restrictions of the

occupation, the loss of sons, brothers, husbands and fathers, the

surrender of proud homes for quartering of Union officers--these and

other tangible evidences left deep scars.

Perhaps the Garden District's most distinguished and colorful figure to

wear the gray uniform was Bishop Leonidas Polk, bishop of the Episcopal

Diocese of Louisiana and rector of Trinity Church. A West Point

graduate, he answered the call to the priesthood in 1831. When war came,

after repeated urgings from his former West Point classmate, Jefferson

Davis, he "buckled the sword over the gown", as he phrased it, and

accepted a commission as major general. In June, 1864, while he was

reconnoitering near Etowah, Ga., this gallant figure was stilled by a

cannon ball, leaving memories at Trinity which persist to this day.

After the war two other prominent figures in the Confederacy were

closely associated with the Garden District. Jefferson Davis often

visited his friend Judge Charles Fenner and died in the Fenner house on

the corner of First and Camp Streets. General John B. Hood, "The Gallant

Hood", had his family home on the corner of Third and Camp.

[Illustration: Bishop Leonidas Polk of Trinity Church became

Confederate general.]

Calvary Episcopal Church's resolute minister, the Rev. John Fulton, was

one of the three Episcopal ministers who defied General Benjamin "Silver

Spoons" Butler. In morning prayer this trio omitted the prayer for the

President of the United States and all in civil authority. They instead

invited their congregations to join in silent prayer. This enraged

Butler, and after several verbal altercations with them, he exiled the

group to a New York prison.

Butler quartered officers in several Garden District houses, including

that of General Wirt Adams on Chestnut and Josephine, now owned by

Trinity Church and called Copeland House. For his own use Butler cast

his covetous eye on the fabulous Washington Avenue "Italian villa" built

by James Robb and later owned and occupied by John Burnside, wealthy

merchant and planter. It is told that Butler and his retinue approached

the front door, to be met by Burnside. The Union general not only was

refused use of the house but was not even admitted. And the refusal

stuck. The reason: Burnside was a British citizen. So Butler took the

lovely home of Confederate (late U.S.A.) General David E. Twiggs, on

Camp near Calliope Street, which still stands today as St. Theresa's

school.

The homes of the elite attracted their share of celebrities to the

hospitable, high-ceilinged drawing rooms and parlors, and to the dining

tables so immaculately set and served with viands to please a nabob.

Culture, travel and education were hallmarks of most of the inhabitants

of the great houses. Delightful, spirited discussions on a wide variety

of subjects kept visiting authors, poets, artists and correspondents for

the eastern magazines enthralled.

[Illustration: House erected in 1860, said to have been built by

James Robb for his daughter, at corner Washington, Camp.]

[Illustration: House as it appears today, with galleries, ironwork

added in 1870's.]

Strangely, these distinguished writers and authors went back to their

offices in the East and proceeded to turn out bales of copy about New

Orleans but with only side references to the Garden District. Passing

mention was made of the luxury and beauty of the homes of this area, but

the French Quarter was the subject of all the sketches and engraved

illustrations. Rare is the surviving sketch, tintype or glass plate

photo of amateur or professional.

Yet the district captivated the earliest of many visitors who put their

sentiments down for posterity. The Rev. Theodore Clapp, beloved parson

of the mid-nineteenth century, wrote of his arrival in 1822, before

Lafayette was so named:

"On a beautiful morning near the close of February we were landed at

Lafayette where the boat stopped to discharge a part of her cargo, about

three miles above New Orleans. The passengers, impatient of delay,

concluded to walk to the city. Leaving the levee, we took a circuitous

route through unenclosed fields, which a few years before had belonged

to a large sugar plantation. They were adorned with a carpet of green

grass, where herds and flocks grazed in common. Here and there we passed

a farm house in the midst of gardens, luxuriant shrubbery and orange

groves.... The air was cool, inspiring and scented with the flowers of

early spring. The music of the thrush and various other species of

singing birds, saluted our ears with their sweetest notes. All things,

so far as our eyes could reach, seemed like a paradise. These suburbs,

then so radiant with rural charms, are now the site of a large portion

of the buildings belonging to New Orleans."

Walt Whitman, a writer for the _New Orleans Crescent_ in 1848, living on

Washington Street near the river and travelling to and from his desk in

New Orleans by omnibus, must have been impressed by the large live oak

trees in Lafayette City. In a later edition of "Leaves of Grass", he

refers to the live oak as "rude, unbending, lusty, made me think of

myself."

Commenting on the ways one kept cool in summer, Julian Ralph, in _Dixie,

or Southern Scenes and Sketches_, related:

"... when I rode through the Garden District--the new part of the

town--my lady friends pointed to the galleries and said: 'You should see

them in the summer, before the people leave or after they come back. The

entire population is out-of-doors in the air, and the galleries are

loaded with women in soft colors, mainly white. They have white dresses

by the dozen. They go about without their hats, in carriages and in

street cars, visiting up and down the streets. In-doors, one must spend

one's whole time and energy in vibrating a fan.'"

Writing of the Garden District, Mark Twain said: "All the dwellings are

of wood ... and all have a comfortable look. Those in the wealthy

quarter are spacious; painted snowy white, usually, and generally have

wide verandas, or double-verandas, supported by ornamental columns.

These mansions stand in the center of large grounds and rise, garlanded

with roses, out of the midst of swelling masses of shining green foliage

and many-colored blossoms. No houses could well be in better harmony

with their surroundings, or more pleasing to the eye, or more home-like

and comfortable-looking...."

[Illustration: "The galleries are loaded with women in soft colors,

mainly white."]

George Washington Cable, who is credited with introducing the French

Quarter's charms to the world, was born on Annunciation Square, just

below Lafayette City and later grew up and spent many years in various

homes in the Garden District. Cable was internationally celebrated in

his day for his Creole stories. His house on Eighth Street, between

Chestnut and Coliseum, still standing today, was a mecca for visiting

authors. Public education had its start in Lafayette City shortly before

it was started in New Orleans. However, Cable gives a delightful glimpse

of the wild carefree youngsters of Lafayette in the 1830's before the

free educational institutions were established:

[Illustration: Mark Twain and George W. Cable posed for this picture

during a lecture tour. Twain wrote of evening at Cable's Eighth

Street home.]

"... The mass of educable youth--the children who played 'oats, peas,

beans' with French, German and Irish accents, about the countless

sidewalk doorsteps of a city of one and two-story cottages (it was

almost such); the girls who carried their little brothers and sisters on

one elbow and hip and stared in at weddings and funerals; the boys whose

kite-flying and games were full of terms and outcries in mongrel French,

and who abandoned everything at the wild clangor of bells and ran to

fires where volunteer firemen dropped the hose and wounded and killed

each other in pitched battles; the ill-kept lads who risked their lives

daily five months of the year swimming in the yellow whirlpools of the

Mississippi among the wharves and flat-boats, who, naked and dripping,

dodged the dignified police that stalked them among the cotton bales,

who robbed mocking-birds' nests and orange and fig trees, and trapped

nonpareils and cardinals, orchard-orioles and indigo-birds in the

gardens of Lafayette and the suburban fields--these had not been reached

and had not been sought by the educator."

Visualize Twain, Cable and Charles Dudley Warner of _Harper's Magazine_

at Cable's Eighth Street home. Add Lafcadio Hearn and Joel Chandler

Harris for very good measure. You have the principals of a scene which

actually took place, well documented by Cable's children who were also

present as youngsters, and described delightfully by Mark Twain in _Life

on the Mississippi_. Briefly, Twain, Warner and Hearn had come to join

the host in welcoming the famous "Uncle Remus". A literary evening

ensued, but to the dismay of the children, not only was "Uncle Remus"

white, but he didn't _talk_ the dialect of which he was the undisputed

master. Harris was so very shy that Twain read the "Tar Baby" for him to

assuage the feelings of the disappointed youngsters. Then the authors

read from their own works; Cable played his guitar and sang his

celebrated Creole songs. Twain's amusing passage describing the scene

has an equally humorous sketch showing himself reading while the others

are sound asleep.

[Illustration: Lovely raised cottage on Eighth Street was Cable's

home, scene of many literary gatherings during late 19th century in

New Orleans.]

Great sports figures knew the Garden District. The Southern Athletic

Club, at Washington Avenue and Prytania Street, now Behrman Gymnasium,

was a center of athletic endeavor for the elite of the area, and its

volunteer military units had headquarters there. Among the sports

luminaries who used its facilities was the great Jake Kilrain. He

trained there in 1889 for his bout with John L. Sullivan at Richburg,

Miss. In 1892 "Gentleman Jim" Corbett trained there for his celebrated

fight with Sullivan at the Olympic Club, and to the Southern he returned

triumphant for a victory celebration. The S.A.C. had New Orleans' first

Turkish bath. In 1878, the Lawn Tennis Club had the city's first tennis

court at Jackson Avenue and Prytania.

The most discussed showplace in an area of palatial homes was the

Renaissance-inspired house of James Robb on Washington Street, now

Avenue. His dream house deserved all the adjectives lavished upon it.

The one-story brick and plaster mansion was surrounded by gardens

rivalling those of Europe's royal estates. He brought over a German

gardener to design and maintain them. Statuary by European and American

masters embellished the grounds.

Some contemporary observers found the severe classical exterior a bit

plain, but inside there was a lavishness of detail which made even these

carpers wax enthusiastic. The house contained frescoes by the celebrated

Dominique Canova, priceless European pictures, furniture, rugs and

objects. The most famous art work was probably Hiram Powers's _Greek

Slave_, the daring marble beauty which had shocked New York. Robb

allowed it to be exhibited in several cities before bringing it to his

home. Everywhere it aroused controversy. Today it is in Washington's

Corcoran Gallery of Art.

Robb, millionaire businessman, president of the first trunk line

railroad to New Orleans, the New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern

(later part of the Illinois Central) lost his fortune and in 1860 the

great house which had been dubbed "Robb's Folly" was acquired by another

millionaire, John Burnside. Under his ownership the beauties of the

dwelling were preserved. The noted octagonal room, decorated in the

Pompeian fashion, with its arrangement of mirrors which reflected the

scene _ad infinitum_, continued to excite admiration.

In 1890, Mrs. Josephine Newcomb purchased the three-acre square and its

buildings for the girls' college which she had endowed some years

before. In converting it into a school, great care was taken to preserve

the architectural beauty. When Newcomb College moved to its present

campus in 1918, the old campus was acquired by the Baptist Bible

Institute, later the Baptist Theological Seminary. They used the site

until 1955, when they, too, moved to larger quarters. The Baptists

extended Conery Street through the square, divided the property into

lots, and sold them. Fine new homes have arisen there.

The people of Lafayette were notably deep in their religious faiths and

in love for their fellow men. This is shown by their early church

organizations, by their solicitation for the welfare of the indigent and

the orphans of the immigrants devastated by cholera and yellow fever

epidemics, and by their inauguration of public education, lyceum

programs and a library.

It is interesting to note that, with the background of Germans and

Irish, it was a Protestant church which first was erected for a

Lafayette City congregation. In a building on St. Mary Street, near

Fulton (now St. Thomas), as early as 1831 the Methodists were meeting.

Some 10 years later the same denomination built a new church on Magazine

Street out of flatboat gunwales, and this was known for years as the

"Flatboat Church". Later it became identified with a young pastor,

Elijah Steele, who had died of yellow fever. As Steele's Chapel it

united with the St. Mary Street Church and the Andrew Chapel, which had

been built on Dryades and Felicity in 1835, to form the Felicity

Methodist Church.

Although a parish was chartered for Lafayette Roman Catholics in 1836,

they had no church and no priest until 1843. That year Father Peter

Chakert, of the Redemptorist order, gathered the faithful in Kaiser's

Hall on Chippewa and Josephine Streets for masses on Sunday morning

after the past evening's dance had ceased. The following year saw the

start of their first church on Josephine Street, St. Mary's Assumption.

This lovely little wooden chapel, with its bell which was cast at Des

Allemands, was later replaced by the present structure. However, the

first building is still standing, moved to St. Joseph's cemetery on

Washington Avenue, where it serves, all white and clean, as a mortuary

chapel, 117 years old.

St. Mary's Assumption first served all the Roman Catholics of Lafayette

with sermons alternating in German, French and English. In 1850 St.

Alphonsus Church was completed across the Street, chiefly for the Irish,

and nine years later, this remarkable tri-lingual parish opened a church

for the French people on Jackson Avenue. This was taken down in 1925,

but is perpetuated in the Chapel of Our Mother of Perpetual Help at

Third and Prytania, the old Lonsdale-McStea house.

[Illustration: Surveyor's drawing of Livaudais Plantation, or

"Faubourg", divided into squares for sale of lots following purchase

from Mme. Livaudais. She retained square with her house and garden,

near river. Note how this square governed size of entire row of

squares, as they are today.]

A SKETCH OF THE PLAN OF THE FAUBOURG LIVAUDAIS,

_Drawn at the request of_ Messrs. L. PEIRCE, W. H. CHASE, M. MORGAN and

S. J. PETERS,

By B. BUISSON, Surveyor for the Parish of Jefferson--March, 1832.

PRINTED BY BENJAMIN LEVY, CHARTRES-STREET.

The year 1840 saw the Presbyterians organized in Lafayette City under

the popular Rev. Jerome Twichell. Their church, completed in 1843, on

Fulton between Josephine and Adele, was also occasionally used by the

Society of Friends. Henry Clay attended services once in the church soon

after it was opened. The Prytania Presbyterian Church, where George W.

Cable worshipped and sang in the choir, was founded in 1846.

Episcopal services began in a room on the corner of Washington and

Laurel streets in 1847. Later that year, construction started for the

Church of the Holy Trinity at the corner of Live Oak (now Constance) and

Second streets. In 1851, the Rev. Alexander F. Dobb, a dynamic

churchman, began working for the construction of a handsome new edifice

at Jackson and Coliseum Streets. Trinity Church, as its name was

shortened, was occupied in 1853. Unfortunately, Mr. Dobb and his wife

died in the tragic yellow fever epidemic of that year and never saw the

completed church.

Congregation Gates of Prayer, the Jewish synagogue, originally

worshipped in a building near the corner of Sixth and Tchoupitoulas

Streets, but in 1854 it moved to a building, still standing though no

longer used for that purpose, on Jackson Avenue.

Missions for the German Protestants were provided by the Evangelical,

Methodist, Presbyterian and Episcopal churches in various locations.

Lafayette City is no more. Its heritage is two-fold: the sturdy

Irish-German stock of its riverfront section; and the great houses and

cultural heritage of the Garden District, its fine residential section.

Of the former, volumes could be written; of the latter, the following

pages will attempt to touch the high spots. If this small book

encourages the reader to visit the scenes described, if it provides a

setting for the better appreciation of the great houses, the many hours

of patient research and writing will be well rewarded.

[Illustration: Mansion on Prytania, between Philip and Jackson,

typifies great days of Garden District, was once home of authoress,

historian Grace King.]

[Illustration: Frances Jones was Miss King's illustrator.]

LOUISE S. McGEHEE SCHOOL

2343 Prytania Street

[Illustration: LOUISE S. McGEHEE SCHOOL]

_The Main Building_

Formerly one of the most lavish private homes in the Garden District,

this mansion now serves as the main building of the Louise S. McGehee

School, for almost half a century one of the outstanding private schools

for girls in the South. Amid architectural surroundings which bespeak a

bygone age of leisure, work and study now prevail as the students pursue

their exacting college preparatory curriculum.

Designed in the splendid free Renaissance style by James Freret, the

mansion was constructed in 1872 for Bradish Johnson, a young man of

wealth and discrimination whose family fortune was based on sugar

plantations. Its erection marked the second great period of affluence

for the Garden District. According to tradition it was built at a cost

of one hundred thousand dollars and its furnishings were as lavish as

the house itself. Always beautifully maintained by the Johnsons and the

Walter Denègre family, its later owners, the architectural features of

the building have been carefully preserved by the school corporation. Of

undiminished loveliness are the fluted Corinthian columns, lofty

ceilings and elaborate moldings embellished with classical motifs. An

outstanding feature of the building is the winding staircase which rises

at the rear of the marble-floored entrance hall. This stairway of

unsurpassed beauty has been frequently honored as a masterpiece of

design and craftsmanship.

A curious fact about the building is that neither a marriage, a birth,

nor a death has ever taken place within its walls. However, since its

acquisition by McGehee school in 1929 it has been the scene of many

scholastic triumphs. The school features an honor system and student

self government, the first high school in the city to establish this

type of government. Nearly all of the school's graduates have gone to

college and most of the alumnae are active in civic affairs.

[Illustration: Magnificent spiral staircase in marble-floored

central hall of former Bradish Johnson mansion has mahogany railing,

stained glass skylight. Johnson fortune was based on large sugar

plantations. City house was showplace.]

A stroll around the grounds on the First Street side gives a good view

of the former servants' wing, which extends to the rear, looking today

much as it did when the house was new. The beautiful grounds are

particularly lovely in the spring when myriads of azaleas are in bloom

as well as the large wisteria vine which drapes the arch of the front

gate. Aged and majestic are the many magnolia trees, the largest of

which some years ago was declared by E. H. Sargent, then curator of the

Arnold Arboretum, to be the most magnificent specimen of _magnolia

grandiflora_ in the United States.

Provision for fine private education for girls has long been a tradition

in the Garden District. By a strange coincidence, three of the earlier

schools were within the immediate neighborhood of what is now McGehee

School, and one of these was on the very spot.

In 1853 the Reverend William Duncan, later a professor of Greek and

Latin at the University of Louisiana, opened the Young Ladies' Seminary

on the corner of Jackson and Prytania Streets. The seminary offered what

was for that time quite an impressive curriculum in languages, arts and

physical sciences.

Little is known today about the Carnatz Institute, a "fashionable

academy for young ladies", which in the 1860's occupied a substantial

brick cottage on the present site of McGehee School. This corner of

First and Prytania streets had been one of the first settled in this

part of Lafayette. Here Charles Conrad, one of a prominent family of

lawyers, had his cottage. Nearby were the houses of Alfred T. and Frank

Conrad, also barristers. Sometime later General W. R. Miles was said to

have owned the Conrad house which subsequently became the Carnatz

Institute. In addition to day students this school attracted boarding

students from Mississippi, Alabama and Texas. The Institute was

advertised as having a "healthy and secluded location with spacious

rooms and shaded grounds." It is not known whether the academy moved or

was disbanded when Bradish Johnson bought the property and removed the

old house to make way for his new mansion.

Of more recent vintage was the school of Mrs. Francis D. Blake which was

located in a large gray house, now demolished, on the downtown lake

corner of Prytania and Philip Streets. Mrs. Blake, a daughter of the

famous Bishop Leonidas Polk, was assisted in running the school by her

sister, Mrs. Lucia Chapman. This school of Sally Polk Blake is of more

than passing interest because in the last years of the school the

English teacher was the youthful Miss Louise Schaumburg McGehee. When

the doors of Mrs. Blake's were closed, parents of undergraduates asked

Miss McGehee if she would undertake to run a school for their daughters.

In 1912 Miss McGehee began her school in a small cottage on Louisiana

Avenue near St. Charles. The following year the school moved to more

commodious quarters at 1439 Louisiana Avenue. Assuming corporate status

in 1929, the school purchased the Johnson-Denègre house and moved to its

present location. The carriage house of this mansion was converted into

a gymnasium and the stable into a cafeteria.

A program of growth and expansion was undertaken in 1953-54 with the

construction of a new building containing elementary classrooms and an

assembly room. By 1960 McGehee School had acquired adjoining properties

which complete the school's ownership of the entire Prytania Street

frontage on the lake side of the 2300 block. Plans begun in that year

call for the construction of a lower elementary building, new cafeteria

and gymnasium and a studio-laboratory wing to the upper school building.

This project will be financed by a drive for capital funds, launched in

1961.

During its history, McGehee's has seen changes not only in its physical

plant but also in its organizational structure. In 1937 the school was

re-incorporated as a non-profit institution, which status it has today.

HARRY MERRITT LANE HOUSE

1238 Philip Street

[Illustration: HARRY MERRITT LANE HOUSE]

The classic Greek Revival Style and all that typifies antebellum life in

the South are to be found in the stately Lane home. The handsome

two-story-and-attic brick building with its front and side verandas was

built in 1853-54 for John H. Rodenberg, a dealer in feeds. In addition

to the stunning front portico, the view from the corner reveals the

charm of the Chestnut Street elevation with the gently undulating effect

achieved by the juxtaposition of a pair of shallow bays.

In the years after it was built, the mansion was the residence of the

Hardie and Brooks families and for more than 50 years was known to New

Orleans society as the Pipes house. For many years it was the home of

the late Federal Judge Wayne G. Borah and his family, Mrs. Borah being

the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. David W. Pipes. In 1969 the house was

purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Harry Merritt Lane, Jr., who have preserved

all the notable traditional features of the house while adapting the

rear section to accommodate the needs of their active young family of

four.

The substantial methods of construction used by early builders resulted

in the brick-bearing walls being 18 inches thick. The 14-foot-high

ceilings are typical of houses of the period as is the Victorian parlor,

18 by 40 feet in size. The two large crystal chandeliers in this room

are reflected in gold leaf mirrors over the twin white marble mantels.

Lovely traditional furnishings complete the picture.

The cypress woodwork, doorframes in the so-called "keyhole" design,

bronze doorknobs, and heart pine floors are in the best traditions of

buildings of the period.

One of the focal points of the patio is a curious bit of Southern

Americana, a plant bed made from the brick foundation of an old cistern

where rainwater was collected. Every house had one or more of these

tanks, made of wood and usually painted green. As a rule the cistern

stood quite high, built upon a stilt-like frame, and was located in

plain view near the back corner of the house. The sight prompted Mark

Twain to write, "There is a mansion-and-brewery suggestion about the

combination."

Here in the garden are many rare varieties of old camellias, grown from

cuttings by Mrs. Pipes, who brought them from her family home in the

Feliciana section of Louisiana more than fifty years ago. In addition to

these fine specimens, this lovely Southern garden abounds in other

interesting plant materials. Around the pond are plants of Creole

boxwood (_Buxus japonicus_) which were propagated many years ago to

supply the beautiful box hedge which flourishes on the property. The

very tall palm tree is one of the few remaining in the Garden District

where once they were plentiful, as old pictures show. Hurricanes, time

and freezes cut down their numbers. On this tree grows a spreading

wisteria vine which seems a shower of lavender in the spring.

Notable also are the sweet olive trees, crape myrtle, pear, Japanese

plum (loquat) and coral tree (_Erythrina Cristagalli_). The latter is

nicknamed locally the "crybaby tree" because at certain times the

flowers emit a colorless fluid reminding some of tears. Contributing a

tropical touch are the showy bougainvillea which climbs the side of the

house, and the Hawaiian ti plant.

[Illustration: Semi-octagonal bay with decorative iron railing, twin

chimneys of massive gable, are architectural features of south side

of Lane house.]

FORMER HARRIS-MAGINNIS-CRASSON HOUSE

2127 Prytania Street

[Illustration: FORMER HARRIS-MAGINNIS-CRASSON HOUSE]

As this edition goes to press, preservationists are fighting to stay the

demolition of this handsome raised cottage. Its interesting and varied

history dates from 1857-58 when it was erected for Alexander Harris, a

cotton broker. In 1871 it was sold to John H. Maginnis, whose family

lived there for many years. It was the local headquarters for the

American Red Cross from 1939 until 1954 when it was purchased by Dr. and

Mrs. Clyde Crasson, who restored the building to its original beauty as

a home.

The well proportioned lines of the Greek Revival mansion were designed

by James Calrow, who, with his partner Mr. Day, also served as builder.

Although the three fine houses he designed during this period show

Calrow to have been a man of unquestionable talents, he is otherwise

unknown to architectural historians.

Symmetry and grace characterize the imposing portico with its eleven

Corinthian columns, echoed by the capitals of the pilasters flanking the

front door. While construction of this house was under way in 1858, an

interested spectator of its progress was T. K. Wharton, one of the

architects of the customhouse. In his diary, now in the New York Public

Library, he notes on February 10 of that year that this house "promises

to be the handsomest piece of work in the District." Its style, he later

remarked, is "rich Corinthian, very handsome."

The broad gallery, so typical of the Garden District, is also

embellished with the popular grillwork, "iron lace" as it is sometimes

called. An astonishing diversity of ironwork patterns is to be seen in

the area. This particular design of fruit and flowers is a fine example

of both single- and double-faced cast iron used in alternation.

Proceeding up the broad, high flight of center stairs, the visitor

crosses the wide veranda and reaches the handsome front door, which in

its carved basket of fruit ornamentation repeats one of the motifs of

the grillwork. An old-fashioned pull type of doorbell announces a

caller. Inside one enters a center hall of breath-taking proportions.

Within its area of 67 feet by 12 feet could be placed several rooms of a

modern development house. Here again we find the reflection of the

classic revival in the elaborate plaster work of cornices and ceiling.

On the right of the entrance hall is a large drawing room of the type

called "double parlor" because of the suggested separation into two

rooms, each of which was treated identically and had matching mantels. A

balanced spacing of all openings in the room plus the treatment of

windows as doors in the French mode give harmony to the room. Both

mantels are of black and gold Italian marble with bronze trim. The front

mantel features the _fleur de lis_ of France while the companion mantel

has the crossed bows of Louis XVI and the roses of Marie Antoinette.

Both fireplaces are backed with black iron embossed with the _fleur de

lis_ design.

Across the hall is the dining room, which is lighted by the original gas

chandelier, now wired for electricity. Here the graceful mantel is of

white marble. Directly behind this room the Crassons have installed a

family room kitchen in the early American style. Originally the kitchen

was outside, as was the custom of that day, but the present owners made

a more convenient arrangement for modern living by this relocation. The

comfortable sitting room has a black and gold mantel with the same Louis

XVI motifs as one in the drawing room.

No trace of the original garden which extended to Jackson Avenue

remained when the Crassons purchased the property. They are now in the

process of restoring this corner to some of its former beauty. In the

front of the house, however, huge oaks and palms remain from the past.

According to reliable sources, these massive oaks were planted as young

saplings on September 14, 1874, the day the carpet baggers were driven

out of New Orleans.

[Illustration: Double doors, ten feet tall, are natural cypress.

Corinthian capitals of pilasters, molded plaster cornices are

typical parlor details.]

ATWOOD L. RICE, JR. HOUSE

1220 Philip Street

[Illustration: ATWOOD L. RICE, JR. HOUSE]

While it was the home of Isaac Delgado, this exquisite dwelling housed

the art collection which became the nucleus of our city's art museum.

Although this is one of the largest houses in the Garden District, a

delicacy of proportion and the tree-shaded garden within which it stands

serve to minimize its great bulk. A good notion of its size can be

obtained from counting the many chimneys which rise from the slate roof.

Constructed entirely of wood, it exemplifies the style developed locally

just before the War Between the States. Here we find the characteristic

fluted Corinthian columns used on both upper and lower galleries and

linked by iron grillwork. Gracefully curved upper portions of windows

and shutters lend a note of harmony. The semi-octagonal bay which

extends on the north side of the house was once the dining room but was

transformed into a bar and kitchen in recent years. The north wing of

the house has also been converted into a separate _maisonette_.

Little is known about the construction of the house. It was built in the

late 1850's for Mrs. Augustin Marius Tureaud, believed to have been the

daughter of James Mather, who was mayor of New Orleans in 1810. In 1866

the house was sold at auction to Trinity Episcopal Church for use as a

rectory. For some reason this purpose apparently was never carried out,

and the house was sold again in 1868 to Samuel and Sarah Delgado for

$12,400.

Samuel Delgado was a prosperous sugar and molasses broker. Childless, he

and his wife took into their home their fourteen-year old nephew, Isaac

Delgado, who came from Jamaica. Apparently having exceptional business

aptitude, the boy entered the world of commerce almost immediately. In a

few years he began amassing the fortune he was to use for charitable

purposes. Long before his death Delgado, a bachelor, gave away huge

sums. He donated his art collection and $150,000 to erect the Delgado

Museum of Art in City Park. It was completed in 1911 and the old man was

quite disappointed that ill health prevented his attending the

dedication ceremonies. On his death in 1912, he left his millions for

hospitals and the trade school which bears his name. His home he

bequeathed to the city. For a brief period it served as the British

Consulate, and then in 1920 it was sold to David Pipes, who owned the

fine house next door which is now the Lane home. Present owners are Mr.

and Mrs. Atwood L. Rice, Jr. who purchased the house in 1972 from Mr.

and Mrs. John R. Fitz-Hugh. Charmingly furnished, this house is a fine

example of how an early Victorian mansion can be adapted to modern

living.

The beautifully landscaped garden is planned to feature color in the

spring with a predominantly green effect for the hot summer months.

Across the front of the yard is a hedge of white camellia sasanquas.

From front to back on both sides, the garden is bordered with dwarf

azaleas which range in color from deep red (Hexie and Henodegeri) to

pinks (Pink Pearl and Coralbells) in the center to white (Snow) in the

rear. The large azaleas in the side garden are Pride of Mobile. Among

the other plants are camellia, crape myrtle, cocculus, cherry laurel,

pear and wild plum, many of which are grouped around an inviting patio.

[Illustration: Charming patio of Rice house adjoins comfortable open

porch which is shaded with colorful green and white striped canvas

curtains.]

THOMAS JORDAN HOUSE

1415 Third Street

[Illustration: THOMAS JORDAN HOUSE]

This great mansion on the corner of Third and Coliseum streets is an

outstanding example of the age of opulence. Designed by an unknown

architect, the house was completed in 1865 for Walter Robinson, a young

Virginian who came to this city to buy Cuban wrappers for cigars and to

purchase perique, an especially fine type of tobacco which to this day

is grown only in St. James Parish of Louisiana.

The house's second owner, David C. McCan, a native of Cincinnati, is

remembered for his philanthropy and civic endeavor. Third occupant was

Peter Pescud of Raleigh, North Carolina. His wife, Margaret C. Maginnis,

who reigned in 1874 as the second queen of the New Orleans Carnival,

made it a center of gay social activity.

Douglass Freret assisted the present owner, Thomas Jordan, Esq., with a

fine restoration.

Viewed from the street, the house presents an impressive sight. The

unknown architect set it far back on the lot, sideways to the street,

with a Palladian carriage house and iron gates. The impressive scale of

the house results from stories of equal height, 15 feet, 8 inches.

Double galleries with curved ends adorn the façade. These feature Doric

columns below and Corinthian above. Linking the columns are panels of

cast iron in a pattern somewhat heavier than usual, which admirably

blends with the feeling of solidity which the building gives. On the

southern exposure are double galleries framed in ironwork of a lacy

design, which effectively lightens and gives delicacy to the whole. Not

to be overlooked is the iron fence which, with its handsome shell

motifs, contributes to the effect of beauty.

Detailing of the interior, with its elaborate carved door and window

trim, fine plaster cornices and ceiling centerpieces, and especially the

superb winding staircase, is among the most elaborate in the city. All

the rooms are palatial, furnished with choice antiques, many the work of

America's foremost cabinet makers.

Painted ceilings are features of both living and dining rooms, that of

the latter executed with great delicacy after the manner of Robert Adam.

The wallpaper in the dining room is the famous Züber 1834 "Scenic

America". The chimney piece of this room was designed to contain a

wooden eagle found at the mouth of the Mississippi after a hurricane.

Carved from cypress, it is believed to be the sternboard of a pilot boat

built in Charleston at the time of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803.

A fascinating fact about this house is that it was said to be among the

first in the city to have inside plumbing, water being supplied from

cisterns on the roof, which also provided protection from fire.

[Illustration: Jordan house dining room has painted ceiling, pressed

glass chandelier.]

THOMAS B. FAVROT HOUSE

1448 Fourth Street

[Illustration: THOMAS B. FAVROT HOUSE]

During the fabulous 1850's when splendid mansions were rising all

through the Garden District, no structure was larger or finer than this

important house. Although usually identified as the "house with the

cornstalk fence", this house has other features to recommend it.

The tremendous size, the asymmetrical design and the beautiful iron work

galleries on front and sides make it an unusual structure. Designing

during a period when romanticism was the ascendant trend in arts and

letters, the architect Henry Howard turned to the Italian villa style,

which he skillfully adapted to the hot and humid New Orleans climate.

Built in 1859 for Colonel Robert Henry Short, a Kentucky colonel, the

house cost the wealthy commission merchant $23,750. Cost of duplication

today would be impossible to estimate.

The mansion presents an exterior which, except for the classical

pilasters of the entrance doorway, is a radical departure from the then

prevalent Greek Revival. Howard's expertness in the latter form at this

period had been demonstrated in the recently completed Belle Grove

plantation at Bayou Goula, one of the most magnificent of all the

plantation houses. Some of the features of the Belle Grove plan he used

again for Colonel Short. Despite the Italian façade beautifully allied

with New Orleans' beloved iron lace, the interior of the house adhered

strictly to the Greek Revival in woodwork and ornamentation. Marvels of

workmanship are the handsomely carved door and window frames and the

decorated plaster cornices and ceiling centerpieces.

The usual double parlors are found to the left of the entrance hall, but

in this instance they are not identical rooms. The rear one extends

farther into the side yard in a curved bay with an iron work gallery

outside. Giving an idea of the magnificent scale of the house are the

approximate dimensions of the parlors, which at their greatest points

measure 43 by 26 feet. The ceilings are 16 feet high.

Across from the back parlor is a library which extends out in a similar

manner on the Prytania Street side. The wide entrance hall is met at the

rear of the parlors and library by a large cross hall which contains the

stairway. This is of oak, evidently not the original since that kind of

wood was not used for buildings in this locality at that period. This

was one of many alterations made by one or both of the subsequent

owners: Miss Mary Morgan, who bought it in 1892 from Short's succession;

or Abraham Brittin, cotton broker, who acquired it in 1906.

Around the turn of the century other changes had been made in a

determined effort to wipe out every vestige of the neo-classic. Deep red

brocade was applied to the walls, and in one room the ceiling was

painted red. All woodwork was painted a gloomy brown with imitation wood

grain, while simulated wall panelling was used to change the character

of other rooms.

Some of the changes, however, were not as heavy and unattractive to

present day tastes. The already commodious dining room was further

enlarged with a delightful semicircular bay on the Prytania Street end,

and with an extremely decorative arcaded conservatory with open terrace

at the other end of the room.

Under the sympathetic restoration of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Jay Moran,

oppressive dreary paint gave way to light cheerful colors and spurious

panelling was torn down with a feeling of expansive grace regained. In

1971 the house was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas B. Favrot, for whose

large family it is a handsome and congenial setting.

Outside, the distinctive fence of morning glories intertwining

cornstalks which was falling to pieces in 1950 when the Morans bought

the house, has been restored. When the repairs were underway, an exposed

base of a fence post revealed that the iron work was supplied by Wood

and Perot, the famous Philadelphia foundry. Through the local agents,

Wood and Miltenberger, this firm supplied a good percentage of the cast

iron used in New Orleans. It is likely that the "iron lace" galleries on

this house were also their work.

[Illustration: Curved bay window at Prytania Street end of

tremendous dining room in Favrot house is Newport style feature

added near turn of century.]

BRYAN BELL HOUSE

1331 Third Street

[Illustration: BRYAN BELL HOUSE]

Iron lace, delicate but dramatic, casting lovely shadows across the

façade of the Bell house, has made this a favorite "shot" for

photographers, both amateur and professional. These cast iron galleries,

often called the finest in the city, make the house eye-catching, but

locally it is also famous for its associations with the New Orleans

family of the French painter Edgar Degas.

In 1850 Michel Musson, a prominent cotton merchant and postmaster of New

Orleans from 1849 to 1853, purchased the site and is said to have

commissioned James Gallier, Sr., to design his dwelling. Construction

was soon completed on this interpretation in wood of a formal Italian

villa, as its style has been defined by Samuel Wilson, Jr., local

architectural historian. Certainly in those days the designation would

have been more appropriate than now, the famous ironwork having been

added in 1884. The original Gallier plan had two bay windows on the

front, similar to one on the garden side of the house, with canopies

such as are on the Coliseum Street side protecting the upper windows.

The bracketed overhang of the roof on both sides is Italianate in

feeling.

[Illustration: Rare daguerreotype shows Bell house before grillwork

was added. Mansion had Italian villa influence, bay windows, shaped

canopies.]

In 1869 the house was sold to James Buckner, who in turn sold it in 1884

to Charles M. Whitney. In addition to altering the front of the house,

Whitney also added the Victorian stables which are still preserved

complete with brass name plates on the former stalls of his favorite

horses, Momus, Comus and Twenty-one. The last was named for a favorite

riverboat gambling game. At the rear of the property is a garçonnière

(literally "house of the boys") which is original, as is the ornamental

iron fence.

The house is now the property of Mr. and Mrs. Bryan Bell who have

furnished it with an excellent collection of antiques and paintings.

As a visitor enters the house, he is at once captivated by the graceful

curved stairs, typical of Gallier's work. This is of the unsupported or

free-hanging type. Throughout the house, woodwork of door and window

frames is of the famous neo-classic design, popularly called the

"keyhole design", which owes its inspiration to the vogue for Egyptian

styles which followed Napoleon's campaigns in that country. The lovely

living room cornices are of plaster, set out from the wall at a slight

angle with an openwork design which gives them the local name of "double

transparencies". The wide board floors are heart of pine, sun-cured

instead of kiln-dried which gave great durability to the wood.

Lovers of the unusual are always fascinated by the handcarved teakwood

mantel in the living room. Added by the Whitneys, it has a secret

compartment on either side.

An unusual feature of the house is the huge dining room, which, despite

its twin mantels, was always a single room. The large Musson family and

the many friends they entertained dictated a dining room of tremendous

proportions. The identical bronze chandeliers were originally for gas

but later were wired for electricity. Mrs. Whitney, however, not fully

trusting the new-fangled electricity, prudently had only half the arms

wired. The rest she kept for gas "just in case".

The spacious side garden of the Bell home uses many typical Southern

materials bordering a wide sweep of green lawn. The towering palm is a

species of date palm tree. On the trellises by the house are Carolina

jasmine (_Gelsemium sempervirens_) vines. At the corner of the house is

a large golden dewdrop (_Duranta repens_), a showy shrub which has

bright yellow berries and racemes of small lilac flowers, frequently at

the same time. Near this spot is a Lady Banksia rose (_Rosa Banksiae_),

for many years a New Orleans springtime favorite. In summer the famous

"Whitney pink" oleanders are especially striking. This variety was

propagated by Mrs. Whitney's gardener and is now one of the most popular

in the Crescent City.

[Illustration: Molded plaster cornices are set out from wall in

style locally called "double transparency".

This type of work is typical of that done by European artisans who

decorated many great Garden District homes.]

ADELAIDE L. BRENNAN HOUSE

2507 Prytania Street

[Illustration: ADELAIDE L. BRENNAN HOUSE]

Nearly a century after it was built, this vast mansion, a newspaper

editor's dream house, almost made the front page when a raging fire

gutted the interior and threatened destruction. Fortunately the house

withstood good times and bad, hurricanes and fire, and stands today

lovingly restored.

The quarter square of land at the corner of Prytania and Second Streets

was purchased in June, 1852, by Joseph H. Maddox, owner of the _New

Orleans Daily Crescent_, a prominent newspaper of the period. Plans for

his new residence were made by a local architect, John Barnett, and in

August of that year a contract for construction was signed with John R.

Eichelberger. As was often the case in those days, a different architect

was employed to supervise the construction. Edward Gotthiel was selected

for this job.

Unfortunately, soon after its completion, Maddox became embroiled in a

ruinous law suit which resulted in the house's being seized by the

sheriff and sold to John Coleman. Subsequent owners have been F. W.

Kirchoff, Alfred Moulton, S. P. Walmsley, C. D. Cecil, Walter S.

Simpson, and now Mrs. Brennan.

As envisioned by Barnett and brought to fruition by Gotthiel and

Eichelberger, the house emerged as one recognized for its exceptionally

fine proportions. A strict scale was adhered to so that all rooms, both

upstairs and down, are 22 feet square with the exception of the entrance

hall which measures 11 by 44 and the gold ballroom which is 22 by 44

feet.

Viewed from the street the front elevation of broad front galleries with

superimposed Ionic and Corinthian columns impresses even the casual

observer. A more practiced eye will detect refinements of scale and

detail which make it notable.

In 1954, soon after the Simpsons acquired the property and began

restoration, a major fire destroyed a large part of the interior.

Heartsore but undaunted by the monumental task they now faced, the

Simpsons were determined that the house should be restored as closely as

possible to its original state. Months went into the search for proper

materials and workmen who could execute in the style of a past century.

Today this beautiful home, with recent restoration by Mrs. Brennan, is

again the object of much admiration.

In the entrance hall the molded cornices around the ceiling are prized

"double transparency" style. The rosette was made directly upon the

ceiling at the time of the restoration. Others in the house were molded

separately and then applied. Following the popular neo-classic trend,

the doorframes were made in the "keyhole design", enhanced by handmade

hinges of silver over solid brass.

Many different woods are used to advantage in the house. Hall floors are

of pine, but cypress is the flooring for living and dining rooms.

Diagonally laid oak boards were placed over the old pine in the ballroom

to give a better surface for dancing. The magnificent stairway combines

cypress treads with walnut spindles topped with a mahogany rail.

Especially beautiful in the living room are the sliding doors made of

burl walnut. They complement the handcarved mantel, also of burl walnut,

with brass trim and Italian tile hearth.

In the dining room the fire blistered off layers of paint on the mantel

tiles and revealed beneath the original design of the tiles. This

Louisiana bayou scene is unique.

Most elegant room in the house is the gold ballroom, looking today much

as it did in 1870, when the Moulton family commissioned a Viennese

artist to decorate it. At that time the ceiling of the coved area was

done in tapestry. Since the fire, it has been hand painted in colors as

close as possible to the original. The birds are done on canvas, and the

field paper is a companion to that on the walls. In this room is a pair

of mantels, dark Italian marble rimmed with silver plated brass, with

hearths of Italian tiles. When the fireplaces are in use, fascinating

designs embossed on the iron firebacks glow and stand out in relief. At

the far end of this spacious chamber is a small room, now converted into

a bar, which was once the room where musicians sat while furnishing

music for soirées.

[Illustration: Native Louisiana birds in swamp setting are fireplace

decorations in Brennan house. Fire revealed presence of unique

painted files.]

FRANK G. STRACHAN HOUSE

1134 First Street

[Illustration: FRANK G. STRACHAN HOUSE]

By reason of its beauty alone this majestic house would deserve notice,

but history has touched the house, making it a landmark. It is revered

by Southerners because the Confederacy's beloved President, Jefferson

Davis, died within its portals. A granite marker placed beside the front

walk by the United Daughters of the Confederacy memorializes this sad

event.

Very little is known about the actual construction of the house, but it

is conceded to have been one of the very first large mansions of the

district. Records show that the site on the corner of First and Camp

Streets was purchased in May, 1849, by Jacob U. Payne and his business

partner, J. P. Harrison. It seems reasonable to suppose that the date of

construction was between that time and 1850, the dawn of Lafayette's

great era of building. Since no record of architect or builder has been

found, it is a popular local supposition that Mr. Payne himself designed

the house, carrying on the tradition of the previous century when many

gentlemen considered skill in architecture a necessary accomplishment.

The architect, whether Mr. Payne or some unsung genius, achieved a

masterpiece which has both dignity and grace. The use of the Greek

Revival style of architecture could not have been more correct. The

handsome portico with its double gallery is adorned with great columns,

Ionic below and Corinthian above, in the great classic tradition.

Massive gables of the house with their twin chimneys are typical of the

high quality of materials and workmanship employed. The cast iron

capitals of the columns are marked New York, 1848.

The exterior of the house is stuccoed brick and the thick walls within

are also of brick. Cypress was used for the beams; heart pine, for the

floors. Window frames and doors are of mahogany. The decoration of this

house is more restrained than in most of the houses built later when a

greater exuberance came into vogue. The cornice design was duplicated in

a miniature room depicting a New Orleans interior in the Chicago

Institute of Art.

From J. U. Payne, ownership of the house passed to his son-in-law, Judge

Charles E. Fenner, and his family. It was in the downstairs bedroom, on

December 6, 1889, that President Davis died. Mrs. Edward Gay,

granddaughter of the original owner, recalls that Davis, an intimate

friend of the Paynes and Fenners and frequent guest in their home, was

taken ill at his home "Beauvoir" on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and was

brought to her grandfather's house in an ambulance.

Joyous times as well as sad form the tapestry of this house's

associations with the Davis family. Winnie Davis, the daughter of

Jefferson Davis, had her happiest moments here. This lovely girl,

christened Varina Ann Jefferson Davis, had been born in the Confederate

Executive Mansion in Richmond in June, 1864. Her birth was regarded as a

single bright light in the darkest time for the South. Ever afterward

she was affectionately called the "Daughter of the Confederacy".

When she came of age, Winnie was presented to New Orleans society from

the Fenner home. Her social success was a tribute to her beauty as well

as an expression of the esteem with which her father was regarded. In

1883 Winnie was queen of the Momus ball, the theme of which was "The

Moors in Spain". The following year Winnie, along with the daughters of

Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and A. D. Hill, was signally honored by

Comus. These girls were given the honor of dancing the first quadrille,

Miss Mildred Lee being Comus's partner. Although they were not

officially proclaimed queens and maids of honor, the dynasty of Comus

courts dates from that ball.

Later, the charming Miss Davis had her turn to reign with full Carnival

panoply. Comus made her his queen in 1892. Mrs. Gay recalls how, as a

small girl, she stood by the steps to catch a glimpse of Winnie in her

white satin gown, styled along modified Oriental lines, as she entered

the carriage to go to the ball. A portrait of Winnie in this dress,

along with her jewels and the chalice Comus used to toast his queen, are

on display at the Confederate Memorial Hall.

In 1935 the house was sold for the first and only time to Mr. and Mrs.

William Bradish Forsyth. Present occupants of the house are Mr. and Mrs.

Frank G. Strachan. Mrs. Strachan is a daughter of the Forsyths. The

large house is furnished with a fine collection of European and American

antiques and _objets d'art_.

On the south side of the house is an enchanting garden pavillion, which

was designed by Richard Koch and Samuel Wilson, Jr., who have also been

consulting architects for restoration work on the house. The lovely

gardens were planted according to the plans of Umberto Innocenti, noted

landscape architect of Long Island, N. Y.

[Illustration: Classical serenity of summer house keynotes style of

formal Italian garden. Lovely structure is noteworthy feature of

spacious grounds.]

THOMAS M. TERRY HOUSE

1417 Third Street

[Illustration: THOMAS M. TERRY HOUSE]

Small and appealing, this remodeled carriage house furnishes a

delightful contrast to the huge mansions which surround it. Some thirty

years ago Dr. and Mrs. Thomas M. Terry bought the carriage house in the

rear of the large house at 2520 Prytania Street. The main house, built

in 1853, is attributed to Isaac Thayer, architect and builder, in Samuel

Wilson, Jr.'s _Guide to Architecture of New Orleans_--1699-1959,

although local tradition holds that it was the work of James Gallier,

the younger. This was the childhood home of John M. Parker, a former

governor of Louisiana.

After purchasing the rear portion of the property, the Terrys, under the

direction of Douglass Freret, architect, embarked upon a building plan

which preserved the interesting features of the original structure and

yet added modern convenience. The resulting arrangement has a serenity

achieved partly through a flowing use of available space and also

through selection of muted, quiet colors. Theirs is a house spacious

enough for entertaining yet a compact home for two.

The original outside walls of the carriage house are 13 inches thick, a

density which is readily seen in the depth of the doorways in the old

exterior walls. Preserved on the exterior are the broad doors which once

swung back to permit the passage of carriages.

The entrance hall, with kitchen on the left, is part of the additions

made by the Terrys. The hall flooring is beautiful Tennessee marble.

Although the brass stair post is not old, the well-worn steps, hidden

beneath the carpet, are the original outside steps leading to the loft

of the carriage house.

The elegant living room was once the carriage house itself, while the

extension on the street end, which now serves as a small study, was used

as harness room, it is believed. Together they form a room 20 by 34

feet.

Extending the width of the house in the rear is a 38-foot-long dining

room and enclosed porch. Huge sheets of glass installed in the spaces

between "iron lace" grillwork of a characteristic Garden District

gallery permit sweeping views of the garden while preserving the

traditional character of the dwelling.

The charming garden is a prize example of achieving maximum beauty in a

more or less minimum space. In competition with gardens of much greater

size, it won the New Orleans Garden Society Cup for three consecutive

years, at which time the cup was permanently presented to the Terrys.

Planned around a large swimming pool, it is skillfully laid out so as to

give the impression of much greater size. Among the plantings are found

azaleas, camellias, sasanquas, sweet olives, hibiscus, hydrangeas and

spring bulbs. The view from the rear of the garden toward the house is

particularly pleasing.

The late Dr. Terry was a tireless worker on behalf of the preservation

of the Garden District. During his twenty-year tenure as President of

the Garden District Property Owners Association, he helped launch an

energetic program aimed at preserving and restoring the beauty of this

section.

[Illustration: View across swimming pool toward back of Terry house

shows how glass enclosed iron galleries, new wing blend house with

traditional garden.]

GEORGE G. WESTFELDT HOUSE

2340 Prytania Street

[Illustration: GEORGE G. WESTFELDT HOUSE]

The simplicity and unpretentious charm of this ancient raised cottage

set well back amid luxuriant vegetation bring to mind the pleasant rural

character of the Faubourg Lafayette of the 1830's. Strongly akin to the

type of plantation architecture which developed in Louisiana, the house

was built by a pioneer resident of the Garden District, Thomas Toby.

In 1817 Toby left Philadelphia and came to New Orleans where he

introduced the use of long-tailed drays for hauling cotton bales. Soon

he had the largest wheelwright and commission merchant business in the

South. After the railway up Nayades Street made the new town of

Lafayette so accessible a suburban paradise, he chose a beautiful lot,

heavily wooded with fine oak trees, on the corner of First and Prytanée

(now Prytania) Streets. In 1838 he erected the charming white cottage

surrounded by a picket fence which became a point of reference when

describing the area. From that day the house has been known as "Toby's

Corner". Much of the lumber and supplies used in its construction was

brought from Philadelphia on the ships of his father, Simeon Toby, who

engaged in the East coast trade. Thomas Toby suffered severe financial

reverses in helping to finance the Texas revolution and some years after

his death in 1849, his widow sold the house.

The present owner George G. Westfeldt, Jr., was the fourth generation of

his family to occupy the house. At present the house is the dwelling of

the British Consul General, Mr. A. G. Maitland, and his family.

Thomas Toby had come to New Orleans the year following the disastrous

Macarty crevasse. Doubtless he was mindful that this circumstance had

ruined the Livaudais plantation's sugar cane crop, and that flood might

come again. Certainly a raised cottage, high water architecture if you

will, was an excellent choice of style. His dwelling had the typical

Louisiana arrangement of brick-piered basement at ground level with a

wide flight of stairs leading to the principal floor above. Originally

there were galleries only on the front and rear of the house, but

through the years other galleries were added as well as a wing on the

Philip Street side. Now the outside steps have been removed and the main

entrance to the house is through the ground floor hall.

The lack of elaborate ornamentation in the house is a testament to its

great age. The pine mantels in the summer living room downstairs and the

simplicity of the woodwork are examples. Also notably chaste in design

is the cornice of the upstairs drawing room. It has been estimated that

one square foot of this molding would weigh 12 pounds. In this room and

the dining room the Italian marble mantels are replacements made many

years ago. Fireplaces remain in almost every room in the house and are

sometimes used in the winter. As in so many houses in this neighborhood,

the handmade glass window panes with their delightful irregularities are

original.

Outside, the garden has been kept in a naturalistic planting to preserve

the plantation atmosphere. The large live oak in the back is a member of

the unique Live Oak Society and is listed as the Livaudais oak. The big

_Magnolia grandiflora_ trees, the much beloved Southern magnolia, were

said to have been planted in the year the house was built. The four

Italian sweet olive trees (_Osmanthes fragrans_) and the large crape

myrtles (_Lagerstroemia indica_) in the front are very old also. The

smaller crape myrtles form a collection of "friendship trees" which have

been received as gifts from nearly every Southern state. There are many

varieties of azaleas and camellias as well as a number of fruit and

flowering trees. A beautiful effect is created in fall and winter by the

colorful berries of the yaupon (_Ilex vomitoria_), the Southern holly,

which reaches nearly to the roof on the First Street side.

[Illustration: Thomas Toby, native of Philadelphia, was wealthy

commission merchant. He lost fortune financing Texas revolution.

Portrait by Vaudechamp.]

JOHN A. MMAHAT HOUSE

1239 First Street

[Illustration: JOHN A. MMAHAT HOUSE]

Roses, their beauty captured in iron, embellish the grillwork of this

palatial Garden District mansion. The interesting façade with double

galleries is distinguished by the use of "columns in antae", Corinthian

and Ionic columns between the square pilasters at the corners.

The contract for construction of the building was signed on January 3,

1857. For $13,000, so modest by present day standards, the owner, Albert

Hamilton Brevard, erected a mansion of many spacious rooms, ornamented

in the best classic fashion, with all the carved wood in the house of

solid mahogany.

Architect of this splendid, typically New Orleans interpretation of the

Greek Revival was James Calrow. Charles Pride was the builder.

Originally the lot comprised half a square extending all the way to Camp

street, boundaries which are still defined by identical fencing along

the block. This decorative fence was a patented design and as such was a

forerunner of the unaesthetic chain link fences of today. A century ago

it was unthinkable that beauty and utility not go hand in hand.

Two years after the completion of the house, Brevard died and his

daughter inherited the property. In 1869 she sold it to Emory Clapp for

his bride. In preparation for the newlyweds, special mirrors were

ordered from France for the double parlor, where they hang today. Made

of rosewood, these mirrors are ornamented with the monogram of the bride

and groom. A pair of the mirrors hangs over the marble mantels and the

other pair, hung at opposite ends of the huge parlor, reflect the

handsome crystal chandelier _ad infinitum_, a source of delight to

visitors.

On the south side of the house are double galleries of the same delicate

ironwork. The hexagonal library with bedroom above and the accompanying

grillwork gallery were added by the Clapps in 1869. For over 65 years

Mrs. Clapp made her home here, taking a loving interest in both house

and grounds. Upon her death in 1934 the house was purchased by Mrs.

Frank Brostrom. Next owners were Federal Judge and Mrs. John Minor

Wisdom, who occupied the house from 1947 until 1972. Present owners are

Mr. and Mrs. John A. Mmahat, who have tastefully preserved the various

outstanding features of the house.

Both inside and outside walls are of brick. The recessed entrance

provides space to fold back the tremendous storm doors. Door and window

frames in the house follow several patterns but for the most part are

topped with egg and dart molding and a Roman classic design of great

charm. Especially elaborate treatment of the woodwork was used in the

dining room. Among the many beautiful plaster ceiling centerpieces, the

medallion in the library is considered the finest.

From the entrance hall the stairway, which has rails and spindles of

mahogany, extends in an unbroken flight to the floor above. The typical

double parlor is divided by a large arch, necessary to support the

ceiling. This arch of carved mahogany terminates in a decorative corbel

at either end. Two fireplaces warmed the area in winter and many

windows, all with handmade glass, provided the necessary summer

ventilation. The marble mantels are unusual in that they are an

unidentical pair. One depicts spring; the other, autumn. Throughout the

house are rare antiques, paintings and _objets d'art_.

The front portion of the beautiful garden has a formal arrangement

focusing on a classical statue. There is also a bird bath backed with a

long bed containing cherry laurels (_Prunus Laurocerasus_), yews

(_podicarpus_), myrtles, a seasoning bay tree (_Laurus nobilis_), a

large cocculus, camellias japonica, and azaleas, edged with boxwood. A

huge purple bougainvillea climbs the iron lacework on the front, while

the back of the gallery supports a _Quirqualis indica_ vine, a tropical

plant sometimes called Rangoon creeper. The bed alongside the house has

camellias, multifleur, and Confederate jasmine vines (_Trachelospermum

jasminoides_).

An integral part of the landscape design is the limestone balustrade

which encloses the garden and runs along the flagstone paving. There are

formal boxwood parterres in the back garden and an inviting circular

bench which surrounds an exceptionally large sweet olive tree

(_Osmanthes fragrans_). The planting around the fish pond includes

podicarpus, sasanquas, bottle-brush (_Callistemon lanceolatus_), shrimp

plant (_Beloperone guttata_), loquat, viburnums, and barberries. White

azaleas in profusion lend springtime beauty.

[Illustration: Elaborate ornamentation over windows and doors in

Mmahat house is of carved mahogany. Note ceiling medallion detail,

crystal chandelier.]

THOMAS NORTON BERNARD HOUSE

1328 Harmony Street

[Illustration: THOMAS NORTON BERNARD HOUSE]

Strikingly handsome in its simplicity, the Bernard house is often cited

as a pure example of a Louisiana raised cottage. Sturdy brick pillars

support the wide gallery which is reached by a long flight of steps.

Wooden railings are plain while windows to the floor are symmetrically

arranged on either side of the recessed doorway.

Long owned by various members of the Bernard family, the cottage exudes

family tradition but the builder and construction dates are unknown.

Earliest record of the "property with improvements" is 1861. Bernard

family lore tells of workmen who were finishing the roof watching

Admiral Farragut's fleet steam up the river toward New Orleans in 1862.

The floor plan of the main floor of the house is typical, a wide central

hall, in this instance eight feet wide and 33 feet long, which extends

from front gallery to back gallery. Behind the characteristic double

parlors on the right of the hall an added wing contains dining room and

kitchen. All rooms are large, distinguished in proportion but not formal

in character. Modernization has been done in an unobstrusive way by the

present owners who also corrected alterations done some 20 years ago so

that all changes are now compatible with the structure's original lines.

This old house has been adapted skillfully to the needs of an active

family with the attic converted for boys' bedrooms and additional rooms

in the ground floor basement. The spacious corner lot is landscaped with

swimming pool and patio.

GEORGE A. COIRON HOUSE

2926 St. Charles Avenue

[Illustration: GEORGE A. COIRON HOUSE]

A delightful Southern home with many galleries to catch the breezes, the

Coiron house dates from 1882, yet it was designed and built in the

manner of dwellings of the 1860 period. The architect is unknown but the

original owner was one Thomas McDermott, who resided there for many

years with his two maiden sisters.

Older Garden District residents still recall McDermott sitting on the

little porch off the dining room every summer evening, smoking his cigar

until dusk. One charming eccentricity of the McDermott sisters earned

them a place in the ranks of colorful individuals who have made the

Garden District their home. When the garden produced no live blooms,

these old ladies pinned paper flowers to the hedge on the Seventh Street

side of the property.

Subsequent owners of the house were Mrs. Hughella Virginia McCloskey,

Henry Mooney, Ernest Scipio Myers, Mr. and Mrs. Morris Legendre, and, by

bequest of the Legendres, Christ Church Cathedral.

Extensive restoration work was done by the present owners Mr. and Mrs.

George A. Coiron, Jr., after they purchased the house in 1964 from Mrs.

Sylvia Reiner, who had acquired it from the Cathedral.

During the renovation, interesting construction details of this finely

built house were revealed. Year-round comfort was assured inside the

house by the original designer who left air chambers between the inner

and outer walls, which are braced some 12 inches apart. Every room has a

balcony or gallery.

Above the front door is the number 710, etched in France, which was the

original street numeral on St. Charles Avenue before the municipal

numbering system was changed in 1895.

A bit of history attaches to the iron fence and gates which were

installed in 1934 by Mr. Myers. The rear gate, originally from old

Spanish Fort, had been purchased for $35 from a junk man who got it when

the popular lakefront amusement park was demolished.

JOHN B. HOBSON HOUSE

1224 Jackson Avenue

[Illustration: JOHN B. HOBSON HOUSE]

Particularly charming, this raised cottage is one of the few remaining

vestiges of the elegance of the homes along Jackson Avenue during the

early days of the Garden District.

Research by Samuel Wilson, Jr., architectural historian, establishes

that the house was built around the time of the War Between the States

by a man named Swain, who previously had resided in a house on the

corner of Philip and Chestnut streets. In 1869 it was the property of

Louis Schneider. In May of 1881 the house was sold to Isaac West, whose

family lived there until 1929, when it was purchased by the Kilpatricks.

They in turn sold to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Pigman. Mr. and Mrs. John B.

Hobson bought the house in 1962.

The beautiful façade is embellished by a deep cornice, fluted Corinthian

columns and lovely "iron lace" in a pattern of lyres and flowers.

Instead of the usual symmetrical arrangement of windows on either side

of the central doorway, the Hobson house has a gentle bay on the left

side. Originally the house had a large rear wing which was destroyed by

fire in the 1950's.

Inside the house are found ornate and elegant plaster moldings and

ceiling medallions. A spiral stairway rises dramatically to the second

floor from the wide central hall. The Hobsons have furnished the house

with a collection of 18th century English antiques.

CHESTER A. MEHURIN HOUSE

1427 Second Street

[Illustration: CHESTER A. MEHURIN HOUSE]

This dignified and handsome Greek Revival house has been the property of

Mr. and Mrs. Chester A. Mehurin since 1948. During their long period of

ownership, the Mehurin's have completely restored the house, under the

supervision of Koch-Wilson architects, made some additions and also

delved into the interesting history of the property.

The house was probably built by Mrs. Jane Fawcett, widow of James

D'Arcy, on this ground which she purchased in 1845, in the rear of her

other property facing First Street that she had purchased the year

previous. According to Mrs. Dagmar Renshaw LeBreton in "A Tour of the

Garden District" the D'Arcy-Mehurin house was part of a large plantation

home moved here by the D'Arcy's in the early 1850's and then added to.

Such house moving was not uncommon during that early period, strange as

it may seem.

A number of architectural features help establish the date of the house

as circa 1850. The ceilings are only 12 feet high and the doors were

originally single width. The door moldings are in the same pattern as

those in the Pontalba buildings, also created in the 1850's.

At the time of Mrs. D'Arcy's death in 1885 the house was under lease to

Dr. Henry D. Bruns and was described as "a commodious and well-built

two-story and attic frame-slated residence, with hall in the center, and

contains parlor, library, dining room, kitchen, etc. and some numerous

bedrooms above. Bathroom, pantry, etc., with marble mantels and

gas-light fixtures throughout. Embellished yard and garden, two

cisterns, sheds, etc. Stylish appearance, choice neighborhood."

In 1907 the house was acquired by Mrs. Henry C. Miller, whose daughter

Miss Lottie Miller conducted a fine private school for girls there until

about 1931 when Dr. John H. Musser bought the place. The ironwork on the

house was added at that period. The Mehurin's purchased the house from

Dr. Musser's estate. Many old out-buildings, including a wine cellar,

were removed by the present owners so that the present garden could be

established.

LELAND S. MONTGOMERY HOUSE

1506 Seventh Street

[Illustration: LELAND S. MONTGOMERY HOUSE]

Although the architect and builder of this stately mansion are unknown,

it was probably constructed in the 1850's. A delightful rendering in

water color of the house as it appeared in 1865 is in the notarial

archives of Orleans Parish.

This charming painting shows the house without the library with bedroom

above which was added to the south side of the house in 1890. Details

such as the columns--Ionic on the lower gallery, Corinthian above--and

the curved flagstone walk from the entrance on Seventh street are

clearly shown. This rendering indicates that the present large

drawing-room was, at that time, a double parlor, perhaps separated by an

arch. The former servant's ell, extending back from the dining room, was

so deteriorated that when Mr. and Mrs. Leland S. Montgomery purchased

the house in 1961, they demolished that wing and had the present

kitchen, breakfast room and playroom added in keeping with the style of

the original house. The Montgomerys also had the wooden front porch

floor replaced with one of flagstones that came from the front walk.

Interestingly, the original owners of the house were named Montgomery,

but no relation to the present owners. The leaded glass of the front

door is etched with an "M", placed there circa 1912 by the third owners

of the house, whose name was Morgan.

Many interior embellishments of the house are original to the structure.

In the living room the brass and bronze gas chandeliers, now

electrified, are original as are the French cornices over the windows.

BILLUPS P. PERCY HOUSE

1236 First Street

[Illustration: BILLUPS P. PERCY HOUSE]

Majestically situated on a large corner lot abounding in typical

Southern shrubs and towering magnolia trees the Percy house is a fine

example of the Greek Revival style. All the components of a classic

Garden District mansion are here--double galleries, fluted Corinthian

columns, iron grillwork, and a deep but simple cornice above the top

porch.

A characteristic floor plan, as indicated from the arrangement of

windows and the door in the façade, was to have all major rooms on the

south side (the preferred exposure) of a long hall. The present owners

of the home, Mr. and Mrs. Billups P. Percy have modified this

arrangement by the addition of a library on the north side of the house.

One of the oldest structures in the Garden District, the Percy house was

erected in 1847 by John W. Gayle for his young bride. It was passed to

its present owners through several ownerships, including the Alfred Le

Blance family who resided here for fifty years.

In the interior of the house are to be noted such familiar antebellum

hallmarks as black marble mantels, plaster ceiling rosettes and crystal

chandeliers. In addition to the English, French and Italian antiques in

the house, an item of special interest is an oil portrait of the late

William Alexander Percy, Mississippi poet, author of the

autobiographical "Lanterns on the Levee" and the adoptive father of

Billups Percy.

ALBERT J. RUHLMAN HOUSE

2336 St. Charles Avenue

[Illustration: ALBERT J. RUHLMAN HOUSE]

This early Louisiana cottage, believed to date from the 1840's, looks

today much as it did when the little railroad on Nayades Street brought

wealthy business men from their offices downtown out to their palatial

Garden District homes.

The façade of the house is symmetrically lovely, distinguished by the

wooden railing in a diamond-shaped design, so seldom found today.

Typical of the best features of homes of this period are the wide center

hall, high ceilings, double parlors, cypress woodwork with hand-hammered

door knobs, heart pine floors and handsome window glass. Window and door

frames are in the so-called keyhole design.

The present owners of the house, Mr. and Mrs. Albert J. Ruhlman have

furnished it with pieces contemporary with the era of its construction.

Particularly noteworthy is the collection of furniture by Prudent

Mallard, a native of France who worked in New Orleans from 1840-79. The

Mallard sideboard in the dining room is of peg and hole construction, no

nails of any kind having been used. Also the work of Mallard are two

bedroom sets, one with a half tester, the other with full tester. Among

the other interesting Mallard furniture are two chairs and a prie dieu

which were once possessions of the master cabinetmaker himself.

JOSEPH V. SCHLOSSER HOUSE

1240 Sixth Street

[Illustration: JOSEPH V. SCHLOSSER HOUSE]

After undergoing varied and not always felicitous usages during its long

history, this handsome double galleried frame house is once again what

it was originally, a fine private dwelling.

Estimated by Koch and Wilson, architects for the restoration, to have

been built between 1866 and 1868, the house for many years was the Music

School of the original Sophie Newcomb High School and College. The

school's main campus was in the square directly across the street, as

described earlier in this book. When Newcomb relocated, the property was

acquired by the Baptist Bible Institute, which divided the huge rooms of

the dwelling into six apartments, all with individual baths and

kitchens.

After Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Schlosser purchased the house in 1953, many

months of planning preceded the restoration. In addition to removing the

apartment arrangements, the Schlossers had the house completely

rock-lathed, replastered, repainted, replumbed, re-wired and insulated.

From 11 to 15 coats of paint were removed from the original woodwork.

The entrance door and the stair railing are solid mahogany. The pair of

black and gold Austrian marble mantels in the living room and library

came from Uncle Sam plantation. This sugar plantation, owned by Pierre

Auguste Samuel Fagot, had been one of the most magnificent in Louisiana.

In the dining room the marble mantel came from a house, now destroyed,

designed by the celebrated architect Henry Howard.

The Schlosser's have furnished their home with antiques and a notable

collection of paintings by Ellsworth and William Woodward. William

Woodward, a native of New Hampshire, was the first professor of Art and

Architecture at Tulane and his brother Ellsworth founded the Art School

of Newcomb College.