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Italianate, Greek Revival, and the American
Townhouse
The Great Days of the Garden District
Michael Curry shows Rowan Mayfair the houses that surround hers...
Click the book above to read, available on Project Gutenberg
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Greek Revival in the Garden District
Architectural Styles In New Orleans
The Brevard-Rice house is usually described as Italianate, Greek Revival, in the style of the American
townhouse. The house is built in a long, comparatively narrow style, with galleries on the front and along one side of the
house. In many cities, they tend to be built like row houses, but in New Orleans, they stand on their own lots with their
own gardens.
New Orleans, like any other city, has several architectural styles that can be seen in the many historic homes still standing.
A while ago, I found these charts that really come in handy when trying to imagine what a house would look like from a written
description of it. The key vocabulary guides can help answer inevitable questions about a house's detail, usually, "It's
got a what?"
 House Styles of New
Orleans
 American Townhouse
 Key Vocabulary 1
 Key Vocabulary 2
Here are the websites these guides came from. There is so much more information on the
architecture of New Orleans on the websites linked here, so please check them out!
New Orleans Architecture Tours Guide to New Orleans Houses!
New Orleans Architectural Styles
Architectural style guide: Holiday Home Tour 2018
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Greek Revival in the Garden District
A New Orleans Filming Location
Click the Logo Above For the IMDb Listing
Hooked On Houses~The Buckner Mansion
The Buckner Mansion on Atlas Obscura
Before AMC's Mayfair Witches, Alexandra Daddario played Natacha Rambova in American Horror Story: Hotel.
Another season of American Horror Story was Coven. New Orleans is no stranger to film crews, and this season in the American
Horror Story series is no exception.
Used as Miss Robichaux’s Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies was the Buckner mansion. The mansion was built in 1856
for Henry Sullivan Buckner. It remained in the Buckner family until the mid 1920's, when it became Soule Business School,
which operated there until 1983. Now, it is privately owned and a filming location.
Fun factoid (depending on your perspective): According to Atlas Obscura, Henry Sullivan Buckner had his mansion built to outdo
the opulence of the home of a business rival, Frederick Stanton. Stanton Hall is in Natchez, Mississippi.
Stanton Hall, Natchez, MS Courtesy Expedia
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Greek Revival in the Garden District
A Tale of Two Plantations
What makes this interesting is that something similar has been said about two plantation mansions, Nottoway
and Belle Grove. Both were/are in White Castle, Louisiana. Nottoway Plantation's mansion was built by John Hampden Randolph,
who named the plantation for the county in Virginia he had been from. Belle Grove was built by John Andrews, also from Virginia.
There are at least two plantations in Virginia also named Belle Grove.
You see where this is headed?
Nottoway Resort~Nottoway Plantation
Apparently, Randolph and Andrews were rivals, and that meant they even wanted try to outdo
each other by the opulence of their plantation mansions. They even commissioned the same architect, Henry Howard.
The White Ballroom at Nottoway Plantation
Today, only Nottoway Plantation's mansion is still standing. As for Belle Grove...
Take a Look Here
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Greek Revival in the Garden District
Houses Similar to the Brevard-Rice
House
As you will see in the short video gallery, there are several houses built in the same basic style as
the Brevard-Rice house in New Orleans. They all have their own unique little differences, from the columns to the iron lace
New Orleans is famous for. Even the doors and windows are done in varying styles.
There are so many houses in New Orleans and in Louisiana that share architectural details while still maintaining a distinctive
style all their own. These are houses that can be considered historic places for a number of reasons.
Italianate Greek Revival
in Old New Orleans
You can read more about the houses featured here in the links below:
Collinwood House
The home where NFL football stars Eli & Peyton Manning grew up
1608 Governor Nicholls Street on Realtor.com
On YouTube-At Home In New Orleans With Jane Scott Hodges
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Greek Revival in the Garden District
The house that is across Chestnut Street from the Brevard-Rice house is the Carroll-Crawford house at
1315 First Street, built in 1869 for cotton merchant Joseph Carroll. The architect, Samuel Jamison, is also credited with
building the home below, the Morris Israel house...
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Greek Revival in the Garden District
The Neighbors at 1331 First Street
This house seems to be quite well known in its own right, and it really is the third door down (whoops!)
from the Brevard-Rice house. Well, across Chestnut Street and three doors down at 1331 First Street.
There is also a PDF document made available that shows images of the renovations that went on in the house. If ever there
was a chance to see a house like this one or the Brevard-Rice house under renovation, this would be it.
Each of these houses will also have interior details that are a little-or a lot-different from one another. Looking at the
images, its easy to see why Rowan and Michael would have wanted to continue to stay in a hotel room while this was going on!
The Morris-Israel House Gallery
Courtesy of The McEnery Company
 Second Floor Room
 Second Floor Hallway
 Room
 Study or Library
 Double Parlor
 Double Parlor
 Double Parlor
 Double Parlor
 Dining Room
 Dining Room
 Dining Room
 3D Model on Etsy
For more images of the Morris Israel House during renovation, see the image gallery on their
website at the link below:
The McEnery Company 1331 First Street Image Gallery
Morris israel house, New Orleans architectural art work on Etsy
Favorite Building Friday Morris Israel House
Exploring Nola Blog Morris Israel House
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Greek Revival in the Garden District
You can also see a slideshow of images of the Morris-Israel house during restoration on this
page in the Parlor:
Patterns in Chaos - The Restoration of First Street
The McEnery Company 1331 First
Street (PDF)
The Adobe Acrobat folder will open the PDF document by The McEnery Company that includes these
and other photos of the property at 1331 First Street, New Orleans
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Greek Revival in the Garden District
The House on First Street
Click the book to go to its listing on Amazon.com
1236 First Street, New Orleans, LA 70130 on Realtor.com
Believe it or not, I just learned of Julia Reed's passing in August 2020 in Newport, Rhode Island. I
understand she had cancer.
My extremely belated condolences to her family and friends.
I read Julia Reed's book, The House on First Street, several years ago. One thing I remember about it is that there were
multiple laugh-out-loud moments. Reed also described the state of things on First Street in New Orleans in the immediate
aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. I wish all of the region hit by this hurricane had been as lucky.
Julia Reed
I was going to add some more homes that are similar to the Brevard-Rice house in the gallery above, but
had a catching up moment. This has happened a lot, since, in 2020 and for a while afterwards, the pandemic definitely caught
most of my attention. Especially when my mother was diagnosed with cancer during the pandemic. I am deeply blessed and fortunate
that I still have her with me today.
However, not everyone is so fortunate. When I learned Julia Reed had passed, I decided that instead, I would add a section
about the First Street house she clearly loved renovating inside and out. I've wanted to do something like this for several
years, ever since I read her book.
What I'm going to start with here is a link to Reed's book on Amazon.com (click the book above), a picture of Reed's New Orleans
house, and two links (so far) to articles about the house and the garden. The articles I've linked here have several beautiful
photos of the house and the garden that I can easily sit and drool over for hours, I kid you not.
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Greek Revival in the Garden District
 The Terrace
 Entrance Hall
 The Studio Garden
 Rear Parlor
Please be sure to go back up to the video gallery of homes similar to the Brevard-Rice
house, where you will find additional links. One of the links will open an article about the house owned by Jane Scott Hodges.
The interview was conducted by Julia Reed.
House on First Street Images Jayne Design Studio New York
Tour Author Julia Reeds New Orleans Home - One Kings Lane
Author Julia Reeds Magnificent New Orleans Mansion
The Garden on First Street - Southern Living
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Greek Revival in the Garden District
Le Musée de f.p.c.
Images from Le Musée de f.p.c. and NOLA.com
Zillow thinks the house was built in 1850, but the historical sign on the fence says 1859. Whichever
year it was built, 2336 Esplanade Avenue is another New Orleans townhouse that features Greek Revival architectural details.
In fact, there are several that are quite similar to the Brevard Rice house. Which ones jump out the most?
The most obvious ones first. These houses all seem to feature the same ornate cornices over the front
galleries.
The columns vary in style, but this one has similar ionic columns along the front galleries of the house. The difference
is that the Brevard Rice house also has Doric and Corinthian columns in addition to the two Ionic columns fronting the first
floor gallery along the front.
Above is an image you can right-click to open in a new tab. It is a very large file.
When you look at the image up close, look carefully around the front door of the house. You will see the same basic pattern
of windows framing the door. And while the outer frame is very similar to the one at the Brevard Rice house, it does not
have the elaborate ornamentation that the Brevard Rice house's keyhole doorway has.
You can also see, running along the top above the front door and windows, the brick exterior construction.
And finally, recall that the massive sash windows on these houses also seem to function as doors. The front windows on this
house reflect this function...literally! Instead of lower sashes, these windows have in place of lower sashes double French
doors!
Like the Brevard Rice house, the cutaway doors are similar to the outer frame of the front door of the
house. They also have the same difference--they do not feature the ornamentation that is featured above the cutaway doors
in the Brevard Rice house.
These types of fireplaces seem to have been very popular in houses built during the period this house
was built in. Indeed, this type of fireplace is also found in the Brevard Rice house. The double parlor, in particular.
Above the mantle is a large portrait of a woman. This portrait is displayed in this house because the house, as stated in
the images above, is now Le Musée de f.p.c.--the Museum of the Free People of Color. Images of the museum's collection shows
many portraits of the Free People of Color, whose history the museum is dedicated to preserving.
I came across these images and Le Musée de f.p.c. when I was doing a little Merrick Mayfair-related research.
Merrick had shown David Talbot and Aaron Lightner old photographs she had of her ancestors, whose history she gave some details
about. Her line, she explained, was descended from Angelique Marybelle Mayfair and a white Mayfair who lived in the Garden
District and had actually been the nephew of Angelique Marybelle Mayfair. Yes, Oncle Julien.
Angelique Marybelle Mayfair was clearly not the Angelique Mayfair who had been born in Saint Domingue in 1725 and was the
great-grandmother of Oncle Julien, born in 1828. This ancestor of Merrick's, whose picture was the oldest in her collection,
was already a Free Person of Color despite her close relation to the white Mayfairs of the Garden District. The image of
her was described by Merrick, and it was this description that led me to take a look at anything I could find on photographs
of Free People of Color in that era of New Orleans history. That is how I came across Le Musée de f.p.c.
To learn more about Le Musée de f.p.c.:
Le Musée de f.p.c. Official Website
New Orleans Museum of Pre-Civil War Free People of Color NOLA.com
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Greek Revival in the Garden District
The Cornstalk Fence Mansion
Robert Short House--SAH Archipedia
The Cornstalk Fence House at 1448 Fourth Street, New Orleans, is also known
as "Colonel Short's Villa". The house got its Cornstalk Fence name from the detail of the fence that surrounds the property.
The house was built in 1859-60 for Colonel Robert Short, who hired architect Henry Howard to design the house. According
to the February 1, 2016 article in Architectural Digest linked below, federal forces confiscated the house in 1863, during
the Civil War. Before it was returned to Colonel Short in 1865, the house served as the executive mansion of the federal
governor.
The owners at the time of the article had purchased the house in 1994 for $100,000.00(?!). When I first saw this price, I
wondered if the article had forgotten a 0, but then, I recalled something else mentioned in The Witching Hour. Homes
in New Orleans, homes like this one, had been on the market in the late 1980's at about half of what they were worth, due
to the local economy being affected by an oil bust at the time. Although the owners had purchased this house in 1994, and
it's possible property values still felt the impact of this economic bust to some extent, $100,000.00 is still pretty...low.
An Iconic House in New Orleans--Architectural Digest
Colonel Short's Villa by Susan Rissi Tregoning
Click Image
for Susan Rissi Tregoning on Fine Art America
When the owners bought the house in 1994, they began a renovation and restoration
that lasted 10 years.
Eventually, they sold the property. The image of the parlor from the Architectural Digest article shows a lot of details
that are both popular in houses like this and possibly unique to this house.
Most Expensive Listing in New Orleans Is a $5 Million Garden District Gem
By 2021, Colonel Short's parlor looked like this (Photo courtesy NOLA.com).
The owner, Scott Rodger, is a manager and producer whose clients, according to NOLA.com, include Paul McCartney and Andrea
Bocelli. There is one interesting tidbit about the property this house sits on, though. The lot was split from Livaudais
Plantation in 1832.
Since the house now looks a lot different in terms of interior decorating than it did five years earlier, I've put a link
to the NOLA.com article published in 2021. It includes additional photos of the house. You know, the interior now looks
a bit like...something a vampire might love...
Historic cornstalk fence house in New Orleans gets a makeover-NOLA.com
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Greek Revival in the Garden District
The Gallier House
In AMC's Interview With the Vampire, the Gallier house in New Orleans was used as Lestat's
townhouse (Images from Immortal Universe). There will be more about the Gallier house on Lestat's Parlor, which you can go
to by clicking the image above.
To learn more about historic properties in New Orleans, you may visit The Historic New Orleans Collection website linked below:
The Historic New Orleans Collection
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