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- See Even More Iconic Homes In New Orleans Garden District
A mansion tour in New Orleans' Garden District is far more convenient than in many other cities. It is compact and readily walking, unlike other cities, rather than requiring a long bus ride or a long drive in a rental car. The historic New Orleans district is also highly accessible via the Saint Charles streetcar, which runs every 15 minutes.
A stroll around the neighborhood allows one to stop and admire the fine examples of traditional New Orleans architecture that features different Greek and Italian-style houses. So here are some of the famous homes in New Orleans’ Garden District (which are counted as some of the top things to see in New Orleans) and visitors should visit here. A couple of days is enough to see much of the best New Orleans has to discover (although a three-day itinerary of New Orleans is even better).
UPDATE: 2023/01/07 14:12 EST BY AARON SPRAY
See Even More Iconic Homes In New Orleans Garden District
New Orleans is a very historic city that started out as French (and Cajun). Today it has some of the most stunning historic buildings in its Garden District. This article was further expanded to include 15 must-see historical structures and homes in New Orleans. Next time in the city, see the quaint and charming side of the Deep South city.
UPDATE: 2022/11/12 17:12 EST BY AARON SPRAY
More Iconic New Orleans Garden District Homes To See.
The Garden District of New Orleans is one of the best places to explore the charm of the South through its old architecture. This article was updated to include more iconic homes in the Garden District and a gothic cemetery - the permanent 'home' of thousands of the city's citizens.
15 Payne-Strachan House
On First Street in the Garden District of New Orleans, Louisiana, the Payne-Strachan House can be found. This Greek Revival house design was built in 1849 for Judge Jacob Payne. This mansion is most famous for being the residence of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy and a friend of Payne's who died there. A plaque on the iron fence has been placed outdoors to commemorate the occasion. Aside from being one of the famous mansions in the Garden District, this is also one of the historic homes there due to the events that happened in the mansion. This mansion is located at 1134 First Street in the New Orleans Garden District.
14 Brevard House
An outstanding example of the Garden District's large, narrow, and long, two-story houses constructed in the affluent decade preceding the Civil War is The Brevard House. The three-story, approximately 9,000-square-foot home was built in the 1850s in the Greek Revival style, with five bedrooms and six full baths. The dining room has murals, elegant millwork, and beveled mirrors, all from the same era. Other amenities include an enormous heated swimming pool, fish pond, and guest and staff houses. There are also five bedrooms, six full bathrooms, and two half-baths in this home.
13 Bradish Johnson House (McGehee School for Girls)
This Bradish Johnson house is now know as the Louise S. McGehee School, was created by New Orleans architect James Freret in 1872. Its imposing Corinthian columns, marble pantry, sweeping circular staircase, and cutting-edge elevator were sure to symbolize wealth and distinction before elevators became commonplace. It is also one of the city's rare residences with a basement. It has been a girls' private school since 1929. The cafeteria was formerly a stable, while the gym was formerly a renovated carriage house.
12 Walter Grinnan Robinson House
This Italian-style palace was built-in 1859 and designed by New Orleans' known architect Henry Howard. In fact, Walter Robinson, a cotton dealer from Virginia, commissioned the construction of this 10,516-square-foot mansion in 1859. It is a historic landmark as one of the city's earliest houses with indoor plumbing. Aside from that, The wraparound porches on both levels of this 2-story home, as well as its unusual, curved sides, are what distinguish this home from others in the neighborhood.
11 Joseph Carroll House
Many homes in New Orleans are stunning, but few compare to the one at 1315 First Street in terms of sheer luxury. This mansion in New Orleans is truly one of a kind, and the original owner still owns it. The Joseph Carroll House was built in 1869 for Joseph Carroll and it includes three floors, two octagonal wings, and more than 3,000 square feet of living space. Its Italianate style and exquisitely detailed cast-iron galleries have made it a sought-after destination. So those tourists that are interested in learning more about the home's past might join one of the several Garden District tours that include stops at the property.
10 Anne Rice House
Anne Rice, the undisputed empress of gothic literature, once lived in this opulent New Orleans mansion, which is now open to the public for the first time. As the author of the Vampire Chronicles saga, Rice is best known for her love of the old and the haunted, which is influenced by her childhood in New Orleans. When Rice returned to the Garden District of New Orleans in the late 1980s, she was still fascinated with her birthplace. She purchased several properties, including this glitzy Victorian Gothic mansion. With its pastel walls, 1880s stained glass, ornate moldings, and chandeliers aplenty, it doesn't seem out of the ordinary. It has been up and down for sale since Rice left in 2010.
9 George Washington Cable House
"Sieur George", a short story by novelist George Washington Cable, was published in 1874 and inspired the building of the house. The single-story building has a basement with a full-height ceiling and columns with an arcade. In fact, this house at 1313 8th Street, in the Garden District of New Orleans, was frequently visited by a famous writer and friend of Cable, Mark Twain. This house became one of the famous houses in the Garden District due to its history and known people that resided here.
8 Adams-Jones House
A merchant named John I. Adams purchased the piece of the Jacques Francois de Livaudais property that would become the Garden District in 1860 and had it built for him. The mansion, which stands boldly amid beautiful live oaks, was constructed for Adams in 1861. Adams purchased the land in 1860, made the house on it, and lived in it until he died in 1896. It was repaired in the 1960s by Mrs. Hamilton Polk Jones and designated as a historical landmark by the New Orleans Landmarks Commission in 1995, after passing through several hands over the next century.
7 Women's Opera Guild House
In 1858, architect William A. Freret combined elements of the Greek Revival style with those of the Queen Anne style. After the American Civil War, the owner, a wealthy businessman, was said to have lost his fortune and could not continue paying the property mortgage. He and his wife, a globe-trotting couple who lived their lives immersed in art and music, bought the home for $12,500 after Freret repurchased it at auction for $30,700 in 1867. The couple had passed away in 1965, and their inheritance was left in limbo with no apparent heir. She provided in her will that the opera house and its contents would be bequeathed to the Opera Women's Guild but that the 18th and 19th-century treasures would not be sold or removed from the opera house's possessions. A portion of the proceeds from rentals for weddings, dinners, filming, and luncheons go to the New Orleans Opera Association.
6 Briggs-Staub House
The Briggs-Staub House at 2605 Prytania Street, erected in 1849 for planter Cuthbert Bullitt, violated Garden District tradition with Gothic arched windows. Protestant Americans avoided gothic Revival architecture in New Orleans' Garden District because it reminded them of their Roman Catholic rivals. Despite Bulitt's refusal to pay for the house's construction, English insurance executive Charles Briggs finally purchased the estate. Briggs decided to hire Irish servants rather than keep African slaves in the place when many natives from Ireland were migrating to the area, and he erected the servant quarters to match. However, Gothic details can still be seen throughout the interior and outside of the building, making it more appropriate for entertaining.
5 Buckner Mansion
One of the most popular sites in the Garden District is Buckner Mansion which is a favorite of local tour guides and travel sites alike. It was also seen in seasons three and eight of the TV show, Fans of American Horror Story. It is located at 1410 Jackson Avenue at the corner of Coliseum Street.
It is a grand two-story structure with a basement. The historic home boasts a very much regal stone and cast-iron front gate complete with lanterns. True to the South, the Buckner Mansion has a wide wrap-around balcony and veranda with Greek Ionic and Corinthian columns.
4 Gothic Lafayette Cemetery No. 1
While strictly speaking they are not "homes" the tombs and mausoleums are still in a real sense of the word "houses of the dead." New Orleans is famously lying and has a very high water table, this has made it difficult to bury the deceased in the normal way. New Orleans has long had the tradition of "burying" the dead in cities of the dead or necropolises.
- Admission: Free
Of all the graveyards in New Orleans, the gothic (and perhaps creepy) Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 is perhaps the most fascinating to visit. The cemetery is full of vines and vegetation and has free admission. It is one of the oldest city-governed cemeteries in New Orleans and has almost 500 wall vaults and 1,100 family tombs. Take an Xplorit Virtual Tour and discover Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 online.
3 R.N. Girling's "English Apothecary"
The R.N. Girling's "English Apothecary" is located at 2726 Prytania Street and was an apothecary or "Druggist and Chemist" that was operated by Robert Nash Girling form the 1880s to the 1890s. After he died in 1894, the building continued to be operated as a pharmacy up until the 1950s. The building was restored in 1960 and is now one of the heritage buildings to have on one's list.
2 Claiborne Cottage
Also located on the historic Prytania Street is the heritage Claiborne Cottage building. It is a Greek Revival cottage with a center hall. It was built in 1857 by one John Vittie for the daughter of Louisiana. The cottage nearly met its end when there were plans in the 1920s to build a church in its place. Fortunately, it survived first as a grammar school, then as a high school, then as a convent, and then as a Provincial House of the Redemptorist Vice Provincialate 1953–1955. It then returned as a private residence.
1 Colonel Short's Villa
Over on 1448 Fourth Street is a stunning sprawling antebellum estate built in 1859 for Colonel Robert H. During the Civil War, Federal forces ceased the building when they occupied the city as it was the property of a rebel Confederate. For a brief period of time it was the executive mansion of the governor of Louisiana, and later it was returned to Colonel Short. Short who hailed from Kentucky. The sprawling estate features an ornate cornstalk wrought iron fence.