In Character~Season 2
Since this page, one of the newest in the Parlor, went up, many have visited it. I can certainly see why, though. The Soria-Creel
house is a beautiful house!
Since Season 1, I have periodically tried to find more information about the actual history of the Soria-Creel house. Homes
like this are not only historic; they are a part of the history of New Orleans and of the United States in general. There
isn't quite as much online about the house as there is the Brevard-Rice house. But what I have managed to find, I've tried
to make available by adding them to this page of the Parlor.
Below, the enormous images of the house from Season 1 filming by RisingCrescent on Instagram really show the details of the
house during filming. RisingCrescent has added some new images of the Soria-Creel house from filming Season 2. To see the
additional images by RisingCrescent on Instagram, click the image below:
Back to
The Scenery
In Character~Season 1
The image above can be opened to full size, 3024x4032. It is the Soria-Creel house made into the Mayfair house. I wanted to
provide the image at full size so you can get a closer look at details.
Back to
The Scenery
The House
The Soria Creel house on Prytania Street was built in or about 1875. It is mere blocks away from 1239 First Street.
This is the house that was used as the Mayfair house in Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches on AMC. If I understand correctly, it
was the exterior of the house, and its garden, that were used.
In the book series Lives of the Mayfair Witches, Anne Rice used her own home at 1239 First Street as the Mayfair Witches house.
Over the years, there has been confusion as to which of the homes in New Orleans Anne Rice once owned that were used in her
novels. This has been the case for years before the series was filmed.
To help sort out the confusion, and because it's a lot of fun to see these beautiful homes with so much history, I decided
to go into more detail on those properties. This is one of the reasons the house used as Mona Mayfair's house on Amelia Street
has a page on the site.
Now, I am devoting a page on this site to the Soria Creel house. Images are the easy part; I'm hoping to find more documentation
of its history, architectural details, and other details to help distinguish it from 1239 First Street. I hope to add more
information as I find it.
This page is no doubt going to remain in a constant state of construction, so please keep checking back!
Was 'Mayfair Witches' Filmed in Anne Rice's Hometown of New Orleans? Let's Investigate
Back to
The Scenery
Gallery Of the Soria-Creel House
As I begin to research the history of the Soria Creel house, I typically see photos of its interior taken in the present day.
The ones you will see in the slideshow gallery below come from an online article about the house on NOLA.com that is linked
below.
What I hope to find are photos of the house taken over time, very much like the historic photos of 1239 First Street. In addition
to that, it would be great to be able to find more historical records that can tell us more about this beautiful home.
NOLA - Kitchen Is the Heart of a Garden District House
In the first image, a larger version of the image of the home as it looks when it is NOT a filming location, I noticed something.
The siding is actually painted a pale lemon yellow. 1239 First Street was given a paint job with a similar color at one point
as well.
Looking at these images, things begin to jump out that we no doubt recognize from images of other houses like this one. One
is the use of mirrors in double parlors. The mirrors positioned between the front windows and between the windows on the opposite
end of the room have to be the most enormous "full length mirrors" I've ever seen. The mirrors over the fireplace mantles,
same! The double parlor, which is clearly the largest room in the entire house, was likely the room also used for entertaining.
So, like the ballroom at Nottoway Plantation, these mirrors no doubt came in handy for discreetly checking oneself for anything
out of place before someone else pointed it out.
Slideshow Gallery
1 / 6
2 / 6
3 / 6
4 / 6
5 / 6
6 / 6
You will notice that some of the pictures on the walls are blurred. This is something I do for purposes of privacy.
Back to
The Scenery
The Haunted Garden
Linked below is a December 2017 article about the history of the Soria Creel House on the Holiday Home Tour. Shown below the
link are a few images of the house's front door, gate and fence that are from this article.
Holiday Home Tour - 3102 Prytania Street
The Garden
 Detail Closeup
of the Front Gate
 House on the
Corner
 Detail Closeup
of the Fence
I'm trying out different ways of presenting images on the Parlor, which is why you see two different types of image galleries
above.
These are of the Soria Creel house as it appears when it's not playing the home of the Mayfair Witches.
Back to
The Scenery
Scaling the Garden District
One thing about these houses that completely astonishes me is their scale. In the image of the double parlor that gives a
closer, more direct view of the windows, we start to get a much better idea of their true size. Most of us are used to homes
where doors are doors, windows are windows, and only one of them is used for entering or leaving the room.
Like this:
If the windows are so big that one can lift the lower sash and walk right into a room as if the window were a door, then how
big are the doors? There are interior doors, but then, there is the front door.
Seeing Stella/Rowan (Alexandra Daddario) standing at the front door, we begin to get a better idea of the enormous scale of
these Garden District houses.
When reading The Witching Hour, one finds a description of the scale of the second floor of the Mayfair house (1239 First
Street). Ceilings are a little lower on the second floor than they are on the first floor. I understand interiors of the Mayfair
house for the AMC series were filmed on a soundstage, we can still get an idea of the scale of the second floor from it.
We can see this when Carlotta goes to knock on Deirdre's bedroom door:
*Parlor Note: I make some GIF images go in reverse as well because
one direction makes them too jumpy to really look at details in them. Other times, it can make for a nicer flow of animation.*
Just why were these houses built with ceilings soaring that high over everyone's heads? And what is the purpose of transom
windows above doors on the second floor? The answer is "air flow".
This is another reason why these older houses in New Orleans are so unique. Not only is the history and culture part of what
makes New Orleans stand out as unique among American cities, but so is its climate. In a time long before air conditioning
or even a nice swamp cooler, people needed a way to cool the air inside their houses. Since heat moves UP, the higher the
ceiling, the further away from the occupants the heat is.
Of course, there needs to be somewhere the heat can go besides being contained in the rooms. Transom windows on the second
floor serve that purpose. This might also explain why these houses had such massive sash windows that could be used to enter
and exit the house. Interior doors are still pretty enormous in scale, which you can get a good idea of here:
Back to
The Scenery
House Rule
This is a PRIVATE residence.
The Parlor understands this particular house is an historic property in an equally historic neighborhood. If your visit to
New Orleans includes a tour of the Garden District, please be respectful of property lines and the privacy of the home's occupants.
Thank you! ~The Parlor
Back to
The Scenery
|
