One block at a time, this guidebook offers an expert’s perspective on the architectural diversity and details of New Orleans’ unique neighborhoods. A walk through the streets of the city takes one down brick sidewalks and past the ancient Creole cottages in the Vieux Carré, stately townhouses in the American Sector, Garden District center-halls, and ubiquitous shotguns. The walker passes along avenues lined with homes draped in the ornamentation typical of the Greek Revival, Italianate, and Craftsman styles, and through neighborhoods distinguished by milled brackets, arched-top windows, and clean, horizontal lines. New Orleans is a city of extraordinary variety and style, and this volume enables the casual tourist and lifelong resident alike the opportunity to walk down her blocks and appreciate the extraordinary architectural backdrop.
With authority and verve, architectural historian and popular columnist R. Stephanie Bruno guides each reader through the brightly colored and diverse streets of New Orleans as she explores step by step the architectural details of the houses and the individual choices their owners have made to change each one during the course of renovations. In each neighborhood, Bruno highlights variations in architectural details and identifies elements of each house, allowing readers to recognize different architectural styles and even decide what type of house they would most like to inhabit.
Organized geographically, each of the twenty-two chapters begins with a brief history of the neighborhood described. For each block included, characteristic landmarks, a description of the homes, and a conversational “anatomy of the block” portion, including anecdotes and renovation observations, give readers the sense of walking down the street. Colorful photo collages of the homes along with maps allowing easy identification of the areas complete this architectural tour of New Orleans.