The Garden District in New Orleans, Louisiana

In my last post--click here-- I showed some photos of the scenic and historic French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana, from a trip my husband and I took last January. We had visited New Orleans a few times before and always enjoyed the history, ambiance, food, and entertainment. On this trip, we wanted to spend some time exploring the area known as the Garden District, so we took a "Hop-On Hop-Off" City Tour Bus, which included a guided walking tour opportunity in the Garden District.

The bus traveled down Magazine Street where many shops, art galleries, and restaurants are located.

The walking tour guide first spoke to us before this old plantation mansion once owned by the Livaudais family, of French heritage, at one time this area was comprised of sugar beet plantations and was called the city of Lafayette. After the American Louisiana Purchase in 1803, when the land was purchased from the French, there was a dramatic growth in the city. The population of New Orleans doubled by 1810 and tripled by1830, to almost 50,000 full-time residents. Affluent people began erecting large homes on spacious lots between Magazine Street and Nayades--now called St. Charles Street--that was ideal for ornamental horticulture. People nicknamed the area "the garden district," and the name stuck. Nearly 20 years later, in 1852, Lafayette became part of New Orleans.

In the late 1800s, some of the large lots were subdivided as uptown New Orleans became more urban. This created a pattern of 19th-century mansions surrounded by “gingerbread” decorated late Victorian-style homes. That is the reason why the Garden District is now known for its architecture just as much as its natural scenery.

The Garden District may no longer have many opulent gardens, but it is known for its streets lined with large and magnificent old oak trees as well as some palm trees.

I was enthralled to see all the moss hanging from this tree.

Another thing that enthralled me was the assortment of vintage wrought iron fences that surrounded most of the properties...

...as well as in the construction of porches, awnings, and balconies made of wrought iron

This Greek Revival house, built in 1865, has an octagonal turret, added in the late 19th century. The last private owner, Nettie Seebold, willed the estate to the Women's Guild New Orleans Opera Association in 1955. Furnished with 18th- and 19th-century European and American pieces, the house underwent extensive renovations in 2008.

Founded in 1947, the Women’s Guild promotes and fosters an understanding of opera, cooperating with New Orleans Opera through active fundraising, opera advocacy, and custodial care of the Opera Guild Home.

This stately home was used as the location for the movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," starring Brad Pitt. Both exterior and interior locations were used in the movie.

This Victorian mansion surrounded on all sides by a very high privacy fence is the home of actress Sandra Bullock.  You can see some interior photos of the 6,615 square foot home in this Variety Magazine article.

This magnificent house is the home of the actor John Goodman. Our tour guide told us he has been seen often walking his dog in the neighborhood. 

This pretty Queen Anne style house made me smile as it had a mannequin dressed for the Christmas holiday on their front porch to greet visitors. the home was part of a home tour a few years ago and you can see some photos of the interior on this link. 

The Garden District also has one of the oldest community cemeteries in New Orleans- Lafayette Cemetery, dating back to 1833 

Later we were back on our Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour bus headed back to our hotel in the French Quarter and we saw an iconic streetcar traveling the other direction on St. Charles St. It's another convenient way to travel around the city, although they don't give you an informative tour narrative along the ride as the tour bus will. 

We learned from the tour that one of the largest Mardi Gras Parades is held along St Charles Street and it was fun to see this tree and building fence along the street covered with past parade Mardi Gras beads!

 

Mardi Gras celebration will be on February 16th this year, but the usual parades are canceled for this year. Instead, many people in New Orleans are decorating their front porches as if they were the floats that would have traveled down the street in the parade.  It's one way of keeping the celebration alive!  More about Mardi Gras in my next post. Meanwhile, stay healthy and happy.

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