Napoleon House
- Style
- French Colonial
- City
- New Orleans, LA
- Collection
- the french quarter
Built in 1794 and enlarged in 1814, the Napoleon House takes its name from a local legend that Nicholas Girod, the New Orleans mayor who owned it, intended it as a refuge for Napoleon Bonaparte after his exile — a plan abandoned when news of Napoleon's death reached the city in 1821. Declared a National Historic Landmark in 1970 as one of New Orleans' finest examples of French-influenced architecture, the building has operated as the Napoleon House restaurant since 1914.
the building
A mayor's residence. The house was the home of Nicholas Girod, mayor of New Orleans until his death in 1840, and stood as one of the city's finer private residences in the early 19th century before it later housed a grocery and then the restaurant.
Stuccoed brick with a cupola. The three-story building is brick, covered in stucco, topped by a dormered hip roof and cupola, with shallow, austerely styled ironwork balconies wrapping the second floor.
the style
The Napoleon House is considered one of New Orleans' finest examples of French-influenced architecture, its stuccoed brick construction, hip roof, and restrained ironwork balconies reflecting a Creole design vocabulary rather than the ornate cast-iron galleries that came later in the Quarter.
More on French Colonialsignificance
Declared a National Historic Landmark in 1970, the building's upper floors were later converted into apartments where some original interior decorative elements survive, while the ground floor has operated continuously as the Napoleon House restaurant since 1914.
nearby
- The Cabildo
- Louisiana State Bank Building
- St. Louis Cathedral
- Pontalba Buildings
- The Presbytere
- Madame John's Legacy