Above is the Sinclair house, built in the late 1850s, perhaps designed by James Gallier, Jr. or Henry Howard, two well-known architects of the period. In 1935, in the midst of the depression, the house sold for $500. Imagine. Inside, the house is furnished with French antiques of museum quality. To say that the interior decor is opulent is close to an understatement. I'd have no trouble imagining that I was inside Le Petit Trianon. I did not take pictures inside any of the houses, with one exception, because no one else was taking pictures.
The photo above is the exception, a photo of Carl Mack, who played Christmas music on his xylophone in the Sinclair house. After I took the first picture, Carl stopped playing and struck a pose for me. In each house, we were treated to a performance by live musicians. I promised Carl a plug, so if you would like him to perform at your party, you can inquire at Carl Mack Presents.
The Dickie Brennan home, built around 1884. Dickie is a member of the Brennan restaurant family of Brennan's Restaurant and Commander's Palace fame. Dickie owns The Palace Café, Dickie Brennans's Steak House, and Bourbon House Seafood & Oyster Bar. When Dickie opened his steak house restaurant, there was an intra-family feud about the Brennan name trademark that was decided in the US Supreme Court. Dickie was allowed to use his name in the steak house, which seems only fair.
The Toby-Westfeldt house was the oldest home on the tour and is the oldest house in the Garden District, dating to 1838.
On one wall in the house is a portrait of a man wearing a white linen suit. The outfit is soooo New Orleans. The linen suit and the blue and white striped seersucker suit were the summer uniforms of the businessmen in the olden days. In fact, even today, I see men in seersucker suits from time to time.
We visited six of the eight houses on the tour, before our feet gave out, and the houses began to run together in our heads. The tour is always enjoyable, but I don't believe we have ever visited all the houses. Last year, we missed only one.
If I could afford it, I'd like to have a house similar to the example pictured below. The home was not on the tour, but because I love the style, I took a picture. Many similar houses can be found throughout the Garden District and in other of the older parts of New Orleans. The description of the style of architecture of the house is below the picture.
Double-Gallery House
1820-1850. Found in the Lower Garden District, Garden District, Uptown, Esplanade Ridge. Two-story structure raised on low brick piers. Side-gabled or hipped roof. Structure set back from property line. Covered two-story galleries framed by columns supporting entablature. Asymmetrical arrangement of facade openings.
To learn more about the fabulous architecture found throughout New Orleans, visit the Preservation Resource Center at: www.prcno.org or book a trip to New Orleans and see this treasure trove filled with architectural gems.
From NewOrleansOnline.
Photo of the Toby-Westfeldt house from Tulane University Archives.
I loved the aura of genteel decay as I walked the bricks of the Garden District so many years ago. It makes me just want to sip my hurricane in the warm evening as I listen to open-air jazz and join in by toasting my own genteel human decay.
ReplyDeleteRick, although there are houses in an advanced state of decay still, we did not see that many during our walks on the tour, which gladdened my heart. Some folks still have the means and the drive to undertake the expensive renovations and upkeep of the old houses.
ReplyDeleteI'll have a hurricane with you - the drink - not the weather.
Such a wonderful walk through the Garden District! Wish I could have been there with you. I love that you had music too! Was it mostly jazz?
ReplyDeleteWhat fun! Thank you Grandmere! But, I do want to see the insides of these places.
ReplyDeleteAnd, I have a seer-sucker suit --skirt set. If I arrive and wear it on the tour and keep my mouth shut, do you think anyone might think I'm local?
Aren't you glad now that you had your eyes 'repaired'? Thanks for the vicarious tour, Mimi. 'Twas loverly.
ReplyDeleteCiss, we heard Christmas music or classical music. The musicians changed throughout the day, so it's possible that visitors at other times heard jazz.
ReplyDeleteMargaret, I believe you could be mistaken for local even without the seersucker suit - until you opened your mouth. Your accent would be a dead give-away.
Elizabeth, yes, except that, as of now, I am somewhat nearsighted. I believe that I will need glasses for distance vision, which is okay by me.
Unless I paid $5000 for the all-distance lens implants (which sometimes have the side-effect of seeing faint concentric circles) I would need correction for either near or far vision.
I see the doctor again tomorrow, and I hope that he will give me a prescription for distance vision. I'll feel more comfortable driving, although the doctor tells me that I could pass the eye test for a driver's license in one eye, which is all that is necessary.
Yes, Grandmère, the drink, not the weather! I was once in what they described as the "outer tail" of a hurricane in Tampa, Florida. I was young and completely alone on the top floor of my dorm during Spring Break, and I was terrified. If that's what the "outer tail" is like, I never want to be in a real one! Sadly, you folks know all too well what real ones are like. All I have to worry about occasionally in Reno is earthquakes.
ReplyDeleteRick, we fled to our farm north of Baton Rouge for Hurricane Gustav, and the hurricane followed us. A portion of the eye passed over us, and we thought the hurricane had passed, but then the wind returned with a fury that was worse than the earlier winds.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, the people and the houses came through safely, but we had loads of trees down. Here's the link to a post with a few pictures of our place of refuge after the clean-up was well under way.
I remember that post, Grandmère. It made me shudder. I was so glad you were out of the major path of the hurricane.
ReplyDeleteAll I did as a kid with nowhere to go was put a blanket over the window in case the glass broke in and huddled on my bed in the far corner for the night. I kept reminding myself that it was only "the outer tail" according to newscasts. Every time I hear about someone in a real hurricane, it just makes me sick to my stomach.
Rick, we were right in the path of Gustav, nearly a direct hit. It's frightening.
ReplyDeleteI am late to this but since we had talked about it, I wanted to have a look and must comment.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like it was lovely Mimi, thanks for sharing.
Sorry I have been absent, but you are ever in my heart.
Christmas joy! I will call you later.
...you are ever in my heart.
ReplyDeleteAs you are in mine, Fran.