The Faubourg Marigny begins as you leave the French Quarter as you cross Esplanade Ave.  You have many historic homes dating back to the early 18 th century.  This double shotgun home with four bays is in great shape.   Its easy to see it has been restored.  A Hundred is a long time so things get added and subtracted from these old homes.  Tastes and styles would change over the years and from owner to owner. New Orleans loves to recycle their Historic homes.

    The brick and concrete porch was most likely added at a later date.  The Victorian ginger bread may have been added when that was in vogue.  The bright contrasting colors may have been this bright as the colors of the West Indies and early Haitian settler liked the tropical colors.

    Ormond Plantation  was completed shortly before 1790 and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. d’Trepagnier and their children. d’Trepagnier began growing indigo, and then sugar cane, and the Plantation began to prosper.  At the time Louisiana was under Spanish Rule.  It has been owned by a lot of different families over its 220 year history.

    The house is built in the “Louisiana Colonial” style for plantations, which is modeled after the great sugar plantations of the West Indies.  It is on the Mississippi River upriver from New Orleans in Destrehan in St. Charles Parish.  The levee did not exist  in those days so the Mississippi River was in the front yard.  The plantations were built on high ground and when the river did overflow the water went into the swamp which is behind the plantation.

        The Italianate three-bay Garden District cottage is a simple version of the larger double gallery  homes found in the immediate area.  There are eight very similiar cottages in a row built in 1868 for John Hall on a design from  Henry Howard in the 2300 block of Coliseum.  They are commonly reffered to as the  “seven sisters” for some mysterious reason.  Maybe it makes a much better story.  I will call them Hall’s Row until I hear a better story.  They are 8 homes built to sell but had no garages or parking…………..Wonder what they cost at the time?

     The cottages vary from Greek Revial to Italianate in their facade styles so as not to appear like a developement.  They were made to look like the larger homes in the area but were one story homes much smaller than their cousins.  See the double gallery Garden District home below.  Look how similiar they are, Like taking a story off…..

       An Uptown side hall cottage in New Orleans with 4 bays.  Its simple with very clean lines in a residential area near St. Charles Ave.   The area is very walkable.  You can walk to Maple Street and the St. Charles Ave courtyard.  Most likely built around 1900.   The tree grew much larger than the origional thought.  Great job with the plants and landscaping in the front yard.

      August was a month with plenty of Summer rain.  When August ended we had at least ten inches of rain in all New Orleans neighborhoods.  The humidity most likely never dipped below 80%.  The plants however loved the attention and the water.  They exploded with color and a reprieve from the cooking sun of July.  The variety of tropical plants really love our rich soil and warm weather.  Now for our second Spring……… 

        The Belles look great but their voices are even better.  The Victory Belles are at the World War II Museum in the New Orleans Warehouse District.  They put on a great show as well.  The Museum is now a world class facility in New Orleans.  You can keep up with what is going on by signing up for their news letter.  World War II Museum.  You may want to get involved after your visit…………….

     “The Museum is moving full speed ahead on our newest attraction, the United States Freedom Pavilion: Land, Sea & Air. This $35 million addition to the growing Museum campus will honor all of the service branches who served in the war and display the large artifacts that served our country on land, on sea and in the air, including a restored Boeing B-17 and immersive submarine experience representing the USS Tang.”

      “Opening in spring of 2012, the United States Freedom Pavilion was made possible by a generous donation from the Boeing Company and a Federal grant. During the war years, Boeing produced nearly 13,000 B-17s as part of the nation’s arsenal of democracy.”

     Audubon Park in the New Orleans Uptown area was purchsed as a park in 1871.  It was named after James A. Audubon who moved to New Orleans in 1821 who is best known for his nature paintings.  A Worlds Fair known as the World’s Cotton Centennial was held in 1884 in the park. 

     The 18 hole golf course was added in 1898.  The ring road that ran through the park was closed on the early 1980’s.  It is now a 1.7 mile walking, running and bike riding path.  In 2005 after Hurricane Katrina the park served as a camp for the La. National Guard and a makeshift helicopter port….Getting better with age! 

      Convention Center Blvd. in the Warehouse with the New Orleans Convention Center.  The Convention Center is in the New Orleans Warehouse District.  Many people tend to not know this fact.  The Center is a big reason the tourist industry performs well.  Without the Convention Center you would have have the hotels, jobs and restaurants that we do.  Someone did the right things years ago to make this a reality. 

     The thing that is missing is have a couple of high rise condo complexes with Mississippi River views.  This would be a natural if they could be built within a medium price range.  Just have to find the person with the vision to make it so.  The taxman would love the new taxes and the money that would flow into the local economy.  Wake Up……………………..I could sell them all.

        The New Orleans Warehouse District is home to many of the Cities art galleries.  Many of the galleries are in buildings that are condos and these are commercial spaces at ground level.  Most are easy in and easy out spaces.  The warehouse feel really is a great way to show of the art.  This art gallery is on Julia Street where the majority of  galleries are located.

      Hanging plants in the French Quarter do begin to get long as the Summer runs into August.  It is like there is a contest to see who can grow the longest hanging plants.  They do not grow like this without food and water so someone is taking care of them.  The Christmas lights are still up but then those can be converted into lights for Halloween, Mardi Gras, and other local festivals.  This is not uncommon.