Pitot House
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Pitot House | |
Location | 1440 Moss St., New Orleans, Louisiana |
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Coordinates | 29°58′54″N 90°5′21″W / 29.98167°N 90.08917°W |
Area | 0.2 acres (0.081 ha) |
Architectural style | Colonial |
NRHP reference No. | 71000360[1] |
Added to NRHP | September 28, 1971 |
The Pitot House is a historic landmark in New Orleans, Louisiana, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/95/PitotHouseBayouStJohn.jpg/300px-PitotHouseBayouStJohn.jpg)
The Pitot House is an 18th-century Creole colonial country home located at 1440 Moss Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Pitot House is currently owned by the Louisiana Landmark Society, which uses the building as its headquarters. The house is situated on Bayou St. John and was moved several blocks from its original site in order to prevent its demolition.
History
The Pitot House was initially constructed in 1799 by Don Bartólome Bosque as a country retreat along
NOTE: The 1790 in architecture article states that the house was finished in 1790 and was built by Don Santiago Lorreins.
It is also believed that during the ownership of Madame Rillieux (1805–1810), Edgar Degas' great-grandmother, the ground floor was enclosed with masonry walls of soft brick. Rillieux was also responsible for adding the southern gallery and several outbuildings, which are no longer extant.
The house is named for
Other notable owners of the house include Felix Ducayet and
House
The home is within yards of the site of the "bayou bridge" which Governor Claiborne ordered the military "to permit no Negroes to pass or repass the same" caused white families living upriver in January 1811 to stream into New Orleans along Metairie Road. That road was the "highland" road which crossed the bridge at Bayou St. John, providing access to the traditional "back of town" entrance along Bayou Road into the city.
The house was saved from destruction by the Louisiana Landmarks Society in 1964 and restored to its original splendor, showing the double-pitched hipped roof, and the plaster-covered brick-between-post (
The style of the Pitot House is
The Pitot House was also designed to withstand floods and was able to survive the floods of Hurricane Katrina due to brick floors on the bottom level of the house which would have originally been caulked with a dry mix of sand and lime, allowing flood waters to drain through. The gallery, back loggia, and sleeping porch were used for outdoor entertaining, dining, and sleeping; they were fitted with shutters to provide relief from the intense Louisiana sun.
Garden
The garden at the Pitot House grows plants traditional to the time period when the Pitot House was built. These plants include indigenous flowers, citrus trees, perennials, bulbs, antique roses,
A native plants garden showcases Louisiana wildflowers and shrubs along the perimeter of the parterre. Next to the house is a 10,000-square-foot (930 m2) yard, where parties and events are held.
See also
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ Rowland, Dunbar, Official Letter Books of Gov. W.C.C.Claiborne, vol. V, p. 93
- ^ Eaton, Fernin, https://www.academia.edu/2245615/Slave_Uprisings--The_Cottage_Industry, paper presented to the Gulf South History and Humanities Conference, October 20, 2011, Pensacola, FL
- ^ See, e.g., Eaton, Fernin, (7 November 2011). 1811 Slave Uprising; Governor on Trial: Claiborne in His Own Words, A salon publique, Pitot House, New Orleans. https://www.academia.edu/1910804/Gov._Claiborne_in_his_own_words--a_salon_publique_at_Pitot_House_Bayou_St._John Retrieved 06/18/2013
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Pitot House museum and gardens - Louisiana Landmark Society
- Pitot House museum at New Orleans Museums: address, map, hours, etc.
- Pitot House - Historic American Building Surveys 13 measured drawings and floor plans
- Frommer's Review
- HGTV Restoration Information