Peek Inside One Of New Orlean's Most Iconic Homes

Built by architects William and Geoffrey Platt in 1942 for philanthropists Edgar and Edith Stern, Longue Vue is an iconic New Orleans estate that remains an important part of the city's heritage today as a house museum.
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

By Alyssa Bird for Architectural Digest.

2015-12-01-1448987550-9096940-longuevuehouse01.jpg
(photos: 2014 Tina Freeman)

Built by architects William and Geoffrey Platt in 1942 for philanthropists Edgar and Edith Stern, Longue Vue is an iconic New Orleans estate that remains an important part of the city's heritage today as a house museum. A new book out this month, Longue Vue House and Gardens: The Architecture, Interiors, and Gardens of New Orleans' Most Celebrated Estate (Skira Rizzoli, $65), explores the history of this magnificent Classical Revival mansion and eight-acre estate. Landscape architect Ellen Biddle Shipman, who spent over a decade designing the property's various gardens, is also responsible for the interior decoration. Stunning photographs of the interiors and gardens are supplemented with architectural and landscape drawings.

2015-12-01-1448987619-5932241-longuevuehouse02.jpg
(photos: 2014 Tina Freeman)

A view of the house and its Pan Garden.

2015-12-01-1448987655-296613-longuevuehouse03.jpg
(photos: 2014 Tina Freeman)

The dining room is sheathed in Chinese rice-paper wall coverings that once hung in Shipman's dining room at New York's Beekman Place apartment building. The plaster ceiling medallion is modeled after the camellia, Edgar's favorite flower.

2015-12-01-1448987688-6923744-longuevuehouse04.jpg
(photos: 2014 Tina Freeman)

In the drawing room, the millwork is based on the George Washington memorial mantel made by Robert Wellford circa 1800. On display are silver Loving Cups that were awarded to the Sterns by the New Orleans Times-Picayune for their civic endeavors, as well as a portrait of Edith's paternal grandmother, Augusta Hammerslough Rosenwald.

2015-12-01-1448987723-2336183-longuevuehouse05.jpg
(photos: 2014 Tina Freeman)

The upper hall features a block-printed wallpaper depicting an 1823 scene captured by artist Félix Sauvinet.

2015-12-01-1448987763-2315846-longuevuehouse06.jpg
(photos: 2014 Tina Freeman)

Edgar's study features 18th-century French paneling and collections of ceramic mantel ornaments, pastille burners, banks, and house-shaped nightlights. The crimson palette was inspired by Edgar's alma mater, Harvard.

2015-12-01-1448987797-3404130-longuevuehouse07.jpg
(photos: 2014 Tina Freeman)

The sinuous central staircase--constructed of steel and wood--is illuminated by a glass dome.

2015-12-01-1448987828-5947077-longuevuehouse08.jpg
(photos: 2014 Tina Freeman)

A view of the Spanish Court from the residence.

More from Architectural Digest:

Popular in the Community

Close

HuffPost Shopping’s Best Finds

MORE IN LIFE