New Orleans: A Tricentennial Celebration

Wednesday, October 31

• An early morning departure by coach from the Hotel Monteleone permits a full day of sightseeing at privately owned plantations on the River Road in route from New Orleans to Baton Rouge. We are accompanied throughout by architectural historian Eugene D. Cizek, PhD., former director of Tulane’s preservation studies program.
• Our first stop is Laura Plantation. With a core built in 1805, the house provides a perfect introduction to the traditional Creole-style house with a hipped roof, brick-between-post construction, a broad roof over the two-story gallery, and clapboards ornamented in the colorful palette of the subtropical antecedents that inspired such dwellings.
• We continue to Evergreen Plantation, built in 1790 but updated in the Greek Revival style in 1832. Still a working sugar cane plantation today, the site features 29 antebellum outbuildings, making it one of the most complete plantation complexes in the Gulf South. Of particular note are the 22 slave dwellings aligned with an allée of oak trees as well as the pigeonnier and overseer’s cottage.
• Following lunch at a highly regarded riverside restaurant, we progress to Perique in St. James Parish, named for a local tobacco grown in the 18th century. Owned by a landscape designer and garden historian, the raised-basement Creole house was built in the late 1830s and beautifully restored over the past decade, now showcasing a collection of Louisiana and French decorative and fine arts.
• Chêne Vert, French for Live Oak, dates to 1830 but represents the continuity of the Creole tradition after Louisiana achieved statehood in 1812. The current owners purchased the structure in ruinous condition and relocated it 80 miles southwest to its current location near Baton Rouge. Their interior designs follow a mid-19th-century inventory of the house’s contents, and they have cultivated a spectacular parterre based on historic garden plans.
• Our overnight accommodations, included in the registration fee, are at the Baton Rouge Capitol Center Hilton, an Art Deco icon built in 1927 and now on the National Register of Historic Places.

Thursday, November 1

• Crossing the Mississippi to Point Coupée Parish, we reach Maison Chenal, a quintessentially Creole home rescued by renowned devotees of architectural preservation and decorative arts research, who have brought multiple structures to the site to recreate the elements of an early-19th-century plantation. They also assembled one of the best collections of period furnishings and portraiture.
• We continue to Lejeune House, formerly the epicenter of a 500-acre indigo and tobacco plantation. The residence of a horticulturist and architect, Lejeune dates to the early 1800s but was later modified and expanded to its current scale and appearance. The formal ground floor rooms feature cypress-paneled walls and ceilings, an elegant backdrop to a collection blending diverse materials.
• South of Baton Rouge, Magnolia Mound represents the American influence on the Creole tradition. The raised foundation and hall-free floor plan are contrasted by neoclassical details on the interior woodwork and ornamentation. The furnishings and reproduction wallpapers and paint schemes illustrate the sophistication and trade routes that connected this region to international markets.
• Bidding adieu to Baton Rouge, we return to New Orleans and the Hotel Monteleone in time for the opening lecture and reception.

Registration is limited.

Sunday, November 4

12:00 – 7:00pm

• We depart on foot from the Williams Center for a leisurely lunch at the iconic French Quarter restaurant Arnaud’s, where we enjoy the exceptional fare accompanied by a Jazz trio.
• We set off with knowledgeable architectural historians to point out additional sites along the way. A pied-a-terre on St. Peters Street in the mid-Quarter combines historic charm and modern elegance on the parlor level of a c. 1836 townhouse. The project of a noted designer with deep roots in the decorative arts field, the interior showcases his timeless approach.
• A Creole cottage on St. Philip Street was built in 1805 by Jean-Louis Dolliole, a master builder and free person of color, and restored in the 1980s by devoted French Quarter preservationists. This deep structure features a high-pitched, hipped roof with the typical four-room Creole cottage floor plan and lime-washed exterior.
• Toward the eastern end of Bourbon Street, an antiques dealer welcomes the group to his classic New Orleans double shotgun cottage. The home’s traditional design belies the 1887 construction date. An early-19th-century kitchen wing is preserved in the rear, separated by a brick-paved work yard. Both structures are furnished with an extensive collection, including heirlooms representing the owner’s deep roots in Louisiana.
• Our afternoon exploration concludes with a reception at the Beauregard-Keyes House on Chartres Street. The home was built in 1826 and combines elements of a Creole cottage with Greek Revival features, including a pedimented façade. Saved from demolition in 1925, the building is undergoing a major structural restoration. The courtyard provides an ideal setting to celebrate the preservation of the Quarter and our splendid weekend in New Orleans.

Registration is limited.

Saturday, November 3

6:00pm

Mr. Harold and Dr. Peeper’s Garden District house was built in 1862 and is one of the early examples of a shotgun double camel-back style house in New Orleans. The term “camel back” refers to a style of the shotgun house which has a second floor starting from the middle of the house rather than all the way to the front. This was one of the most popular and prevalent styles in the city. The homes in this part of New Orleans are raised due to flooding and the heat of the summers. Following an extensive, multi-year renovation, the duplex was converted to a single dwelling. Their beautifully decorated home and delightful garden provide an idyllic location for the evening’s festivities.

Please join us for a wonderful evening of connoisseurship and conviviality as we toast our hosts’ hospitality and lend support to the Trust’s efforts to encourage the next generation of curators and academics through a growing series of grants, scholarships, and internships. In 2018, more than four dozen graduate students and young professionals will benefit from the Trust’s Emerging Scholars Program.

Registration is limited.