For today’s Favorite Building Friday, I would like to share with you another building that Hyacinth Laclotte worked on: the Pedesclaux-Lemonnier House. This lot was purchased in 1795 by Pierre Pedesclaux, a Notary for the Spanish Government. As a result of the recent fires (1788 and 1794), the lot was empty. He commissioned Barthélémy Lafon to build his home. Lafon was an architect who had designed some stunning homes that can still be seen in the French Quarter today: Bosque House (616 Chartres Street) and the Rillieux House (343 Royal Street). Construction began on this three story home, but Pedesclaux[…]

Favorite Building Friday! For this week’s Favorite Building Friday, I want to share the not only one of my favorite buildings, but it is also one of my favorite casual restaurants in the city: the Napoleon House. I had lunch at this spot earlier in the week, and it really reminded me of how much I love this building. The Napoleon House was built in 1814 for Nicholas Girod, mayor of New Orleans from 1812-1815. If you have been by this building, I know that you are thinking, that the sign over the door says 1797. Yes, it sure does,[…]

Happy Favorite Building Friday This week we head back downtown to the Central Business District to learn about the New Orleans Cotton Exchange. In the past I have come across pictures of the original building and wondered about it – it is really an amazing work of art, but where is it? What happened to it? Today I bring you all of my findings. In 1871, in order to compete with the newly formed New York Cotton Exchange, the New Orleans Cotton Exchange was created in an office at the corner of Carondelet and Gravier Streets in the Central Business[…]

Happy Favorite Building Friday! This week we head uptown to the Garden District to talk about the Morris Israel House, one of the best examples of Italianate architecture in the city. This house was designed in 1860 by Samuel Jamison. Mr. Jamison started his career as a craftsman working primarily in masonry and plaster. One of his more famous projects was the buildings of Factor’s Row in the Central Business District, known as the setting for Edgar Degas’ painting The Cotton Office in New Orleans. The Factor’s Row buildings were designed by Lewis Reynolds, and built by Samuel Jamison in[…]

Happy Favorite Building Friday! Today’s building is the Louisiana State Bank Building on Royal Street. I can guarantee that if you’ve spent any time in the French Quarter, you have walked right by this fabulous building, but you probably didn’t even notice it because your gaze would have fallen on the massive Beaux Arts Supreme Court across the street. That’s fine, the Louisiana State Bank isn’t mad at ya, but you might want to pay more attention next time! So let’s get down to it. The Louisiana State Bank was designed by Benjamin Henry Boneval Latrobe, known as the “Father[…]