Garden District
Architecture Walking Tour

The Grandest
Neighborhood in America

When Americans began arriving in New Orleans after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, it’s safe to say they didn’t exactly hit it off with the established Creole families of the French Quarter. So instead of squeezing in, they headed just upriver and started creating a neighborhood of their own.

What followed was a kind of architectural one-upmanship. Between 1838 and 1884, the Garden District filled in with homes in every style imaginable – Greek Revival, Italianate, Gothic Revival, Queen Anne – each one trying to outdo the last.

And the details? Just as bold. Take the famous Cornstalk Fence: an ornate cast-iron showpiece, reportedly the most expensive design in the catalog, shipped all the way from Philadelphia just to make a statement.

Our Garden District architecture tour is our most popular, and once you walk these streets with us, you’ll see why.

Three Styles - One Neighborhood

Hand-drawn illustration of a Greek Revival mansion in the New Orleans Garden District — The grand columned mansions that made the Garden District famous. We'll teach you to spot the telltale signs.

Hand-drawn illustration of a Second Empire mansion with Mansard roof in the New Orleans Garden District — Mansard roofs, arched dormers, and ornate iron cresting. The Parisian import that brought a touch of Napoleon III to the Garden District.

Hand-drawn illustration of a Queen Anne Victorian house in the New Orleans Garden District — Queen Anne turrets, Gothic pointed arches, and the eclectic styles that arrived after the Civil War.

" Those in the wealthy quarter are spacious; painted snow-white usually, and generally have wide verandas, or double-verandas, supported by ornamental columns. These mansions stand in the center of large grounds, and rise, garlanded with roses, out of the midst of swelling masses of shining green foliage and many-colored blossoms. No houses could well be in better harmony with their surroundings, or more pleasing to the eye, or more home-like and comfortable-looking. "

-Mark Twain

Life on the Mississippi

Why Walk With Us

Since 2014, we’ve been showing visitors how to read the buildings of New Orleans, from the French Quarter’s Creole cottages to the Garden District’s Greek Revival mansions to the Marigny’s shotgun houses. Our work has earned multiple TripAdvisor’s Certificate of Excellence awards along with recognition from ArchDaily and Southern Living. We’re proud partners of the Preservation Resource Center and the New Orleans Architecture Foundation. Every guide is an experienced local who calls these neighborhoods home.