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5 BACK OF THE QUARTER: SPOOKY STROLL

BOUNDARIES: Esplanade Ave., Chartres St., Dumaine St., Dauphine St.

DISTANCE: 1.73 miles

PARKING: Limited street parking

PUBLIC TRANSIT: RTA Bus #5 (Marigny-Bywater), Riverfront Streetcar

The French Quarter isn’t all about Bourbon Street. In fact, the lower part of the Quarter, between Esplanade Avenue and St. Ann Street, is a mostly residential neighborhood where homes range from restored Creole cottages to French Colonial town houses sporting exquisite wrought-iron balconies. It’s relatively quiet, but no less fascinating or historic than its more popular counterpart upriver.

Many of the homes in the Lower French Quarter have been converted to museums, giving visitors an up-close view of 18th- and 19th-century lifestyles; among the more notable examples are the Beauregard-Keyes House and the Gallier House. Some of the city’s allegedly haunted houses—like the legendary LaLaurie House—can be found here as well. Even the hotels and inns, such as the Soniat House and the Cornstalk Hotel, have historic significance.

Of course, no New Orleans neighborhood is complete without a culinary component, and two of the best are Irene’s Cuisine and Café Amelie, not to mention Verti Marte for po’boys. For libations, Harry’s Corner and Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop are among the classics.

 Begin at the Old US Mint (Esplanade Avenue at North Peters Street), one of several museums that make up the Louisiana State Museum system. Built in 1835, the Greek Revival building served as a mint for both the Union and the Confederacy. Today, it’s home to exhibits on New Orleans jazz, Newcomb pottery, and the Mississippi River, as well as a jazz-performance series called Music at the Mint.

 Walk two blocks to Chartres Street and turn left. At 1133 Chartres is the Soniat House, built in the 1820s by Joseph Soniat Dufossat, a French sugar-plantation owner. Now a boutique hotel, the property consists of three town houses with 31 guest rooms furnished and decorated with French and English antiques. It has won many accolades, among them being named one of the top 20 hotels in the world by Fodor’s.

 Continue down Chartres. At the end of the block is the Beauregard-Keyes House, a raised center-hall house built in 1826 by architect François Correjolles for auctioneer Joseph LeCarpentier. The house had a number of notable residents over the years, including 19th-century chess master Paul Morphy and Confederate general P. G. T. Beauregard, who rented it from 1866 to 1868 after the Civil War. Novelist Frances Parkinson Keyes, who wrote such historical fiction as Madame Castel’s Lodger and Blue Camellia, lived here from 1945 until her death in 1970. Keyes, with the help of architect Sam Wilson, restored the house and established the Keyes Foundation, which maintains it to this day. The house reflects the years that Beauregard lived there and features furniture and art owned by the general and his family, along with Keyes’s writing studio and her extensive collections of dolls and porcelain.Across the street is the Old Ursuline Convent, the oldest building in the Mississippi Valley, having been designed and constructed over an eight-year period from 1745 to 1753. The building has served several purposes over the centuries, from convent and school to archbishop’s residence and central office of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. It is now the home of the Catholic Cultural Heritage Center.

 Continue down Chartres to St. Philip Street. At the corner to your right is Irene’s Cuisine, a French Quarter institution with a great menu of Creole-Italian fare like soft-shell-crab linguini and seafood cioppino. Irene’s is so good, and so much fun, that patrons don’t seem to mind the inevitable long wait for a table, even with reservations—time flies when you’re spending it drinking wine at the cozy little piano bar. In the next block, at the corner of Chartres and Dumaine, is Harry’s Corner, treasured by those looking for a French Quarter bar experience away from the craziness of Bourbon Street.

 Walk one more block to Dumaine Street and turn right. At 632 Dumaine is Madame John’s Legacy, a complex of 18th-century Louisiana Creole buildings that escaped the Great New Orleans Fire of 1794. Designed in the French West Indies style, it encompasses three buildings: the main house, which is open to the public; the kitchen; and the two-story gentlemen’s guest quarters.

 Walk to the end of the block and turn right on Royal Street. At 900, 906, and 910 Royal are the Miltenberger Houses, a row of three town houses built in the 1830s by Marie Miltenberger, a widow whose husband, Dr. Christian Miltenberger, had been renowned for his work with yellow fever patients. The houses, with their cast-iron galleries and floor-to-ceiling windows, are among the most photographed in the Quarter. Next door, at 912 Royal, is Café Amelie, a French restaurant with what Times-Picayune restaurant critic Brett Anderson calls “one of the city’s most romantic outdoor settings.”Across the street at 915 Royal St. is the Cornstalk Hotel, famous for its cast-iron fence depicting ears of corn intertwined with morning glories. The hotel was built as a residence for Judge François Xavier Martin, chief justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court, who lived there from 1816 to 1826. Dr. Joseph Secondo Biamenti bought the mansion in 1834, converted it to a hotel, and added its famous fence. Prominent guests include Bill and Hillary Clinton, Elvis Presley, and Harriet Beecher Stowe, who used nearby slave quarters as her inspiration for Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

 Walk two blocks to 1132 Royal St., the residence of noted architect James Gallier and his family during the mid-19th century. The Gallier House, which is open to the public, tells the story of those who lived and worked on the property. In addition to the home itself, the tour ($12 adults, $10 seniors and kids) includes the gardens, carriageway, and restored slave quarters. The house is especially fun to visit in December, when it’s embellished in holiday dress.

 Just down the block, at 1140 Royal St., is the LaLaurie House—also known simply as “The Haunted House”—which, along with its evil owner, was featured in the FX series American Horror Story: Coven. Madame Delphine LaLaurie, a wealthy socialite, bought the Creole mansion in 1831, and incredible stories of wild parties and servant abuse soon followed. When a fire broke out in 1834, neighbors broke in through a locked door and found seven slaves chained and starving. As outraged citizens protested outside, a carriage sped into the crowd and away from the premises; in the carriage were Madame LaLaurie and her family, who escaped to Paris, never to return. Legend has it that the spirits of the slaves still inhabit the mansion, making it a favorite stop on haunted-history tours.

 Turn left on Governor Nicholls Street. At the corner of Governor Nicholls and Royal is the Verti Marte, a beloved French Quarter institution known for its All That Jazz po’boy (sautéed shrimp, turkey, ham, mushrooms, Swiss and American cheeses, and a special “Wow Sauce”). The place is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, making it wildly popular with locals.

 Walk one block to Bourbon Street and turn left. Walk two blocks to Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop (941 Bourbon St.), a tavern that was built between 1722 and 1732 and is considered one of the oldest structures used as a bar in the United States. According to Lafitte’s website, the property is believed to have been used by pirates Jean and Pierre Lafitte as a New Orleans base for their smuggling operation.

 Walk two blocks to 739 Bourbon St., home of Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo. Named for the city’s most famous voodoo queen, this fun souvenir shop sells everything from tribal masks and statues to voodoo dolls and spell kits. And if you want to have your palm read or your fortune told, you’re at the right place.

 Head right on St. Ann Street (left if you’re leaving the House of Voodoo), walk one block to Dauphine Street, then turn right and take Dauphine five blocks to Esplanade Avenue. At the corner of St. Ann and Dauphine, on your left, you’ll pass Good Friends, one of the city’s most popular gay bars. Farther up Dauphine, you’ll also pass Cabrini Playground on your right, between Governor Nicholls and Barracks Streets. Yes, there is an actual playground in the French Quarter (along with two schools), because families with young children really do live here.

 Turn right on Esplanade Avenue. As you round the corner, don’t be surprised to see a crowd of people standing in front of 838 Esplanade—this is Port of Call, which, even with the proliferation of burger restaurants across town, is considered one of the city’s best.

 Walk five blocks back to your starting point at the Old US Mint.

POINTS OF INTEREST

Old US Mint crt.state.la.us, 400 Esplanade Ave., 504-568-2022

Soniat House soniathouse.com, 1133 Chartres St., 504-522-0570

Beauregard-Keyes House bkhouse.org, 1113 Chartres St., 504-523-7257

Old Ursuline Convent oldursulineconvent.org, 1100 Chartres St., 504-529-3040

Irene’s Cuisine 539 St. Philip St., 504-529-8811

Harry’s Corner 900 Chartres St., 504-524-1107

Madame John’s Legacy crt.state.la.us/louisiana-state-museum, 632 Dumaine St., 504-568-6968

Miltenberger Houses 900, 906, and 910 Royal St.

Café Amelie cafeamelie.com, 912 Royal St., 504-412-8965

Cornstalk Hotel cornstalkhotel.com, 915 Royal St., 504-523-1515

Gallier House hgghh.org, 1132 Royal St., 504-525-5661

LaLaurie House 1140 Royal St.

Verti Marte 1201 Royal St., 504-525-4767

Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop lafittesblacksmithshop.com, 941 Bourbon St., 504-593-9761

Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo voodooneworleans.com, 739 Bourbon St., 504-581-3751

Good Friends Bar goodfriendsbar.com, 740 Dauphine St., 504-566-7191

Cabrini Playground Dauphine Street between Governor Nicholls and Barracks Streets

Port of Call portofcallnola.com, 838 Esplanade Ave., 504-523-0120

ROUTE SUMMARY

1 Begin on Esplanade Avenue at North Peters Street.

2 Walk two blocks to Chartres Street.

3 Turn left and walk five blocks to Dumaine Street.

4 Turn right and walk one block to Royal Street.

5 Turn right and walk three blocks to Governor Nicholls Street.

6 Turn left and walk one block to Bourbon Street.

7 Turn left and walk four blocks to St. Ann Street.

8 Turn right and walk one block to Dauphine Street.

9 Turn right and walk five blocks to Esplanade Avenue.

10 Turn right and walk five blocks to North Peters Street.

Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop is believed to be the oldest structure used as a bar in the United States.