Southern Comfort: The Garden District of New Orleans, 1800-1900

By S. Frederick Starr and Frederick Starr

Book Overview

This pioneering study of the opulent Garden District of New Orleans is a fascinating and entertaining account of how immigrant merchants and craftsmen from throughout the United States and abroad combined efforts to create one of America's first and most elegant suburbs, a lavish and enduring symbol of southern comfort in the Victorian era. Southern Comfortis the first study of New Orleans to relate economic and social movements to the architectural face of the city, unveiling the process by which a predominantly Yankee suburb became a profoundly southern community Using New Orleans' unique notarial archive - a detailed written record of issues relating to real estate and architecture there - Starr skillfully creates an active interchange with the people who built the District. Starr introduces the architects, builders, craftsmen, servants, and retainers and recounts the colorful details of their lives. He provides a highly readable portrait of the intertwined careers of two gifted architects who worked in the Garden District - Henry Howard and Lewis Reynolds - the former among the shrewdest practitioners of the architecture of flattery. And his portrayal of the career and clientage of Thomas Sully presents a series of important discoveries. Southern Comfort shows how Anglo Saxon newcomers to the Crescent City capitalized on the boom of "King Cotton' and the possibilities posed by improved urban transportation to create a semirural village within the teeming Mississippi River metropolis. The text includes evocative photographs by Robert Brantley, as well as documentary illustrations from the rich archives of the Historic New Orleans Collection that are published here for the first time. S. Frederick Starr is President of Oberlin College. From 1982 to 1984 he was Scholar in Residence at The Historic New Orleans Collection, and he is the author of New Orleans Unmasqued. He has also written numerous books in the field of Soviet affairs and on topics ranging from art and architecture to jazz.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0262192837
• ISBN13: 9780262192835
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: Mit Pr
• Length: 308 Pages
• Weight: 3.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.6" x 1.0" x 2.8"

Customer Reviews

GARDEN DISTRICT

This is a wonderful book on one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in the country. It is a fascinating study of this singular district, the history is extremely interesting and the images are vivid. Visiting the Garden District is like going back in time, it is so well cared for and the residents are very protective of its history. As people mull over the future of New Orleans and wonder what makes this old city so special, and why its worth saving, they need to take a trip down to the Creasent City and walk the streets of the Garden District and see what real beauty is.

The Big Easy in a big and easy historical way

This book is twice as expensive in New Orleans bookstores. Photos of historical people and places in the Big Easy. This was a nice follow up of my visit to New Orleans, but I'd recommend this for a pre-visit read.

Great Pictures

When I went to New Orleans, I only had time for a quick driving tour. This book allowed me to see what I missed, and learn more about the architecuaral styles that surround the area. The book has great info on the styles, and tells how they came to be and why. The iron work in the area is to be experienced! The charm of the homes in the Garden District are brilliantly displayed in this book.

beautiful photography

this republishing of the late 1980's version is a delicious remake made better by the new color photographs. Brantley and Brantley have out done themselves with this edition.