Historic Buildings of the French Quarter Hardcover - 2002

From the rear cover

New Orleans' French Quarter comprises the most interesting sixty-six square blocks in America. Every year millions of visitors and natives alike flock to this historic city center, drawn in part by the charm of its cast-iron balconies and the beauty of its verdant courtyards. The French Quarter's unusual architecture is an important part of its unique flavor.

Historic Buildings of the French Quarter demonstrates how that neighborhood's distinctive structural styles reflect New Orleans' tumultuous history. The city's successive occupation by French, Spanish, and American governments resulted in a layered mixture of building methods. Two devastating fires and the influx of immigrants from the nearby Caribbean also influenced the local architecture.

Like Lloyd Vogt's earlier book, the best-selling New Orleans Houses: A House-Watcher's Guide, this is an easy-to-use reference presented in a decorative format. Over 100 line drawings reveal the many clues to the city's history hidden in its buildings. Historic Buildings of the French Quarter also includes portraits of particularly significant structures, some of which are open to the public.

From the jacket flap

In his first book, New Orleans Houses: A House-Watcher's Guide, Lloyd Vogt demonstrated how architectural details provide clues to a house's history and to the time it was built. Now Historic Buildings of the French Quarter explores the unusual and picturesque buildings of New Orleans' French Quarter.

One of the oldest officially designated historic districts in the United States, the French Quarter, or Vieux Carr�1/2, provides a rich hunting ground for observers looking for architectural relics of the city's varied past. Evidence of the formal building and garden designs brought by the first French colonists distinguish the Ursuline Convent, which is the oldest surviving structure in the Mississippi Valley. Another early landmark, Madame John's Legacy, a circa-1788 house that features strong French-colonial influences, is also discussed. Traces of Spain's rule still exist in the structures and courtyards of many French Quarter homes.

One hundred twenty-five original line drawings depict all types of structures, from crude colonial cabins to ornate early-twentieth-century shotgun homes. The text includes expanded histories of dozens of individual buildings that are particularly important, including St. Louis Cathedral, the Beauregard-Keyes House, and the Banque de la Louisiane (now Brennan's Restaurant). Historic Buildings of the French Quarter concludes with a helpful bibliography and a glossary of architectural terms.

Lloyd Vogt was one of Pelican's most popular and successful authors. His New Orleans Houses: A House-Watcher's Guide, now in its fifth printing, is the standard reference guide to building styles in the Crescent City. He also wrote a companion book for children, A Young Person's Guide to New Orleans Houses.

Vogt received his architecture degree from Louisiana State University. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including a traveling grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and a scholarship to study at the Fontainebleu School of Music, Art, and Architecture in France.