Plantations & Historic Homes of New Orleans celebrates the grand homes and plantations of the Big Easy that largely escaped the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina and survive as testament to this city’s rich and colorful history.

            Since the 1700s, a blend of peoples—Native American, French, Creole, Spanish, Caribbean, and West African—has called New Orleans home. As a result, the architectural styles showcased in the city’s homes are as diverse as the population that’s lived here over the years. The Spanish-influenced garden courtyards and cast-iron balconies in the French Quarter are a stark contrast to the massive Greek revival brick columns and Victorian turrets found in homes in the Garden District and Uptown. The opulent parlors of an Old South plantation home are offset by the sparsely furnished servant’s quarters nearby.

            Inside these pages, many of New Orleans’ most-storied homes are profiled—from the Old Ursuline Convent and Madame John’s Legacy, survivors of the city’s devastating 1788 fire, to Longue Vue House and Gardens, an elaborate fountain-filled estate completed in 1943.

            With lavish photographs of exteriors and rooms of special interest, gardens and curiosities, and detailed information about New Orleans’ diverse architecture and history, this book is a perfect guide to some of the most fascinating homes in the United States’ most unique city.

Hurricane Katrina ravaged much of New Orleans in 2005, but thankfully the city’s most treasured historic homes survived. Plantations & Historic Homes of New Orleans is a poignant tribute of these storied mansions, whose architectural beauty brings a unique flair to the Big Easy’s most famous neighborhoods.

From the French Quarter and Garden District to Uptown, Marigny, and Bayou St. John, many of New Orleans’ grandest old homes and nearby plantations are featured in this book, showcasing the massive brick columns, intricate cast-iron balconies, wide verandas, sumptuous parlors, and humble servants quarters that give this area its charm. Open these pages and you’ll travel to Destrehan, the oldest plantation house in the Mississippi Valley, originally built of hand-hewn bald cypress timber using bousillage entre’pateaux, mud (clay, river sand, and Spanish moss) between post; the homes artist Edgar Degas and author William Faulkner lived in during their New Orleans’ stays; and the 1850 House located in the Lower Pontalba building on Jackson Square. Learn about the building’s namesake, a baroness with a tumultuous family life who managed to escape murder and was also responsible for building the American embassy in Paris. With lavish photographs of exteriors and rooms of special interest, gardens and curiosities, and detailed information about New Orleans’ diverse architecture and history, this book is both a perfect guide for visitors and natives alike and an enchanting visual tour of one of the greatest cities in the United States.

Jan Arrigo is a New Orleans-area based writer and fine art photographer. Her writing about art

has been published in the Encyclopedia of Sculpture and The American Art book. She is a

member of the  American Society of Journalists and Authors and the New Orleans Photo

Alliance.  Laura McElroy is an Atlanta-based freelance photographer whose travel photography has been published in a wide array of magazines, such as Travel Holiday and Y’all, in regional and state travel guides, on web-based travel sites, and in regional cookbooks. She also volunteers her time as a photographer for Atlanta Pet Rescue and Adoption to capture portraits of the wonderful dogs waiting to be adopted for use on the organization’s website and for fundraising. Jan and Laura have collaborated on

two other books for Voyageur Press, Cemeteries of New Orleans and New Orleans.  

Preface: Building History

Introduction

Part One: Town

The French Quarter

Old Ursuline Convent

Madame John’s Legacy

Beauregard-Keyes House

Hermann-Grima House

1850 House and Lower Pontalbas

Gallier House

Bayou St. John, Esplanade Ridge, and Beyond

Pitot House Museum and Gardens

Edgar Degas House

Longue Vue House and Gardens

“American” New Orleans and Uptown and Beyond

Simon Hernsheim House/Columns Hotel

Part Two: Country

River Road

Destrehan Plantation

Laura Plantation

Downriver: The Deep Delta

Woodland Plantation and Spirits Hall

Part Three: Historic Town and Country House Hunting Guide

Glossary

Selected Bibliography