Behind closed doors in New Orleans

My all-time favorite thing about living in New Orleans is the chance to go into some of the most historic homes in the city. From walking tours to parties and fundraisers, I’ve found myself in some pretty grandiose cribs in town.

Drue and I were invited by one of his former colleagues at Northrup Grumman to a Republican fundraiser at New Orleans real estate mogul Joseph Cannizarro’s modern neo-classical mansion in Old Metairie. For those of you unfamiliar, Cannizarro is “the man best known for bringing high-rises to the New Orleans skyline,” according to the New York Times and the founder of First Bank and Trust.

The home spans nearly the entire block on Northline Drive and had more religious art than NOMA. The aspect that I’d to that point never witness in a homestead was that it had a chapel, which could easily accommodate 20 or so, located right off the marble-laden foyer. His personal priest was present at the event as was honored guest Jenna Bush. Between Jenna, Drue and I, we were the youngest in attendance by several decades.

We spotted the house on an episode of Memphis Beat, filmed in New Orleans, although it did little justice to what Drue found was an obscene display of wealth and opulence. Another odd point was the fact that we couldn’t find a cocktail napkin in the entire place. When I served on the Louisiana Seafood Festival board, we’d hold our meetings in Cannizarro’s private board room in the First Bank and Trust headquarters at 900 Poydras.

I’ve been in quite a number of historic Garden District homes including that of Vogue and Newsweek writer and author of The House of First Street, Julia Reed. When I worked at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art for five months in 2006, she was chair of the board and hosted a party for the board and staff. I remember how completely foreign it seemed for someone to have enough china in the same pattern to serve, buffet style nearly 50 people. The other, even stranger thing, was the fact that several guests thought it appropriate to place their shrimp Creole stained china on whatever surface was available when they were done, including on a light colored and clearly custom sofa.

Recently I found myself in an Upper Pontalba Apartment overlooking the spot where Drue and I tied the knot on the Place d'Armes or Jackson Square. From the balcony of this nearly 2,000 sq. foot entertaining space, the view of the Cabildo and St. Louis Cathedral throw an old live oak tree is just magnificent. I fell in love with New Orleans all over again at this bird’s eye view. The apartment has 14-foot ceilings with beautiful crown modeling, a double parlor living space with a built-in bar and an additional sitting area.


During a 504ward Dine Around, I had the opportunity to attend a dinner with 14 other young professionals at the then new home of Matt Wisdom who owns Turbo Squid. He picked up the 8,000 sq. ft property on the corner of Prytania and Second for a song--$800,000. At the time, the only furniture in the place was a huge Duncan Phyfe dining room table that seated the whole lot and as the story went, the home belonged at one time to restaurant matriarch Ella Brennan, which turned out to be a fabrication from the real estate agent come to find out.  Nonetheless, it was stunning. Parcay floors throughout, which some say is passé, but I’ve also found totally cool, fabric and battened walls in the dining rooms, columns in the enormous living room area and a painted mural of crepe myrtles and birds in the homes foyer.

Here's a sneak peak at our place in the Irish Channel: In September of 2009, Drue and my dining room was featured in the Times-Picayune Inside Out, Saturday homes and gardens publication. My friend Maria Montoya wrote the piece, Far from passe, this dining room is a focal point, which given the amount of stuff we have in the dining rooms reads like a laundry list. Bars, photography, artwork, antiques, chairs from Dillard University days and even, the purple silk fabric the curtains are made from, which were found in the trash, got a shout out. We no longer have the dining room table pictured, and instead have returned the Duncan Phyfe round to its original spot. 

I could go on and on about the homes I’ve found myself in and if you’d like to hear more, I’ll be happy to write about them from time to time. If you have stories about what you've seen behind closed doors, we'd love to hear them.