Madame John's Legacy
- Style
- French Colonial
- City
- New Orleans, LA
- Collection
- the french quarter
Completed in 1788, Madame John's Legacy is one of the oldest surviving houses in the French Quarter, built as a raised cottage in the French colonial style still standard in New Orleans at the time. Now owned by the Louisiana State Museum and open for free tours, it was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1970 for its architectural significance as a rare survivor of that era.
the building
Raised colonial construction. The house sits on a full-height brick basement with a wood-frame main level above it clad in wooden boards, the raised form that let French colonial New Orleans houses stay above flooding and damp ground.
Rear dependencies. Behind the main house, a courtyard holds a brick slave quarters, kitchen, and garconniere probably dating to the 1820s, outbuildings that fill in the working life of the property beyond the main residence.
A borrowed name. The house takes its name not from an original owner but from George Washington Cable's story "Tite Poulette," which describes a building that had previously stood on the same site.
the style
Madame John's Legacy was built in the French colonial style that was still the norm in New Orleans in 1788, before American, Greek Revival, and Italianate fashions took over the Quarter, making it a rare surviving example of the city's earliest domestic architecture.
More on French Colonialsignificance
Declared a National Historic Landmark in 1970 for its architectural significance, Madame John's Legacy is now owned by the Louisiana State Museum, which operates it as a free house museum.
nearby
- The Presbytere
- St. Louis Cathedral
- Pontalba Buildings
- The Cabildo
- Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop
- Old Ursuline Convent