Pitot House

Pitot House is an historic Creole colonial country house on Bayou St. John in New Orleans, Louisiana. Located at 1440 Moss Street, the property is recognized as a historic landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is operated by the Louisiana Landmark Society, which also uses the building as its headquarters. The house is generally dated to 1799, when it was built as a country retreat for Don Bartólome Bosque, a Spanish colonial official. Some historical references give an earlier completion date of 1790 and identify Don Santiago Lorreins as the builder, so the precise construction history remains uncertain. The original building is understood to have been a raised Louisiana cottage supported on brick pillars. During the early nineteenth century, the property was altered and expanded. Madame Rillieux, who owned the house from 1805 to 1810 and was an ancestor of the artist Edgar Degas, is associated with enclosing the ground floor in soft-brick masonry and adding a southern gallery and ancillary structures. The property takes its name from James Pitot, its fourth owner, who lived there from 1810 to 1819. Pitot, a French-born naturalized American, served as New Orleans's fourth mayor and is often described as the city's first mayor who was an American citizen. Other owners associated with the house include Felix Ducayet and Mother Cabrini, later recognized as the first named saint of the United States. The interiors contain early nineteenth-century American and Louisiana antiques, although most are not original to the building. A portrait of Pitot's daughter, Sophie Gabrielle, is identified as the only object in the collection known to have belonged to a former resident. Pitot House is important both for its architecture and for its location. Its construction reflects the regional briquette-entre-poteaux method, in which brick infill is placed between wooden structural posts and protected by plaster. The house has a double-pitched hipped roof, galleries on both levels, an exterior stair, and an ensuite arrangement without interior hallways. These features were suited to New Orleans's hot, humid climate: opposite doors encouraged air circulation, while broad galleries shaded the walls and provided breezeways. The lower level's brick flooring and drainage characteristics also helped the structure withstand flooding. The house stood near a bridge over Bayou St. John that was involved in the movement of white families toward New Orleans during the 1811 German Coast uprising. The site therefore intersects with the history of slavery, racial restrictions, and the political geography of early nineteenth-century Louisiana. In 1964, the Louisiana Landmarks Society intervened to save the building from demolition. The organization moved the house several blocks from its original location and restored it, preserving its architectural form and adapting it for interpretation and public use. The surrounding grounds include a period-inspired parterre garden with boxwood hedges, antique roses, camellias, citrus, herbs, vegetables, bulbs, perennials, and indigenous Louisiana plants. A native-plant garden borders the formal layout, and a large adjoining yard is used for gatherings and events. The property survived the flooding associated with Hurricane Katrina, in part because of design features that allowed water to drain through the lower level. Today, Pitot House functions primarily as a historic house museum, garden, preservation headquarters, and event venue rather than as a commercial consumer brand.

Pitot House is an eighteenth- or early nineteenth-century Louisiana Creole country house situated along Bayou St. John in New Orleans. The building is commonly dated to 1799 and associated with Don Bartólome Bosque, a Spanish colonial official who is said to have built it as a rural retreat. Another architectural reference gives a 1790 completion date and attributes the work to Don Santiago Lorreins. Because these accounts differ, the precise date and authorship should be treated cautiously. The earliest form of the structure is thought to have been a raised cottage resting on brick pillars. Its design responded to the climate and environmental conditions of southeastern Louisiana. Broad galleries, an exterior stair, opposing doors, and a layout without interior hallways helped promote ventilation and shade. The building's brick-between-post construction, known as briquette-entre-poteaux, used wooden posts for structural support, brick infill for insulation, and plaster as protection from moisture and decay. The house changed during the early nineteenth century. Madame Rillieux, who owned it from 1805 to 1810, is credited with enclosing the ground floor in soft-brick masonry and adding a southern gallery and other outbuildings. Rillieux was an ancestor of Edgar Degas. James Pitot became the fourth owner and lived in the house from 1810 to 1819. A French native who became a naturalized American citizen before arriving in New Orleans, Pitot later served as mayor of New Orleans from 1804 to 1805 and gave the property the name by which it is now known. Other historical owners connected with the property include Felix Ducayet and Mother Cabrini. The building's setting also connects it with major events in Louisiana history. It stood close to a bridge over Bayou St. John that was subject to racial restrictions during the period of the 1811 German Coast uprising. During that uprising, white residents from upriver areas moved toward New Orleans along routes that crossed the bayou. The site's interpretation therefore encompasses not only architecture and domestic life but also slavery, racial control, migration, and the development of New Orleans's transportation routes. By the twentieth century, Pitot House faced demolition. The Louisiana Landmarks Society saved the property in 1964, moved the house several blocks from its original site, and restored it. The restoration aimed to recover the building's historic appearance, including its hipped roof, galleries, plastered brick-between-post walls, and other characteristic features. The society subsequently used the house as its headquarters and developed it as a historic house museum and cultural site. The grounds include a formal parterre garden designed to be viewed from the upper gallery. Its plantings draw on species and garden traditions associated with the period of the house, including antique roses, camellias, citrus, herbs, vegetables, bulbs, perennials, and indigenous flowers. A separate native-plant garden presents Louisiana wildflowers and shrubs. The property also contains a large yard used for events. Pitot House endured the flooding connected with Hurricane Katrina. Its lower-level brick floors and historic drainage design helped water pass through the structure, while the raised and gallery-based design reflected longstanding adaptations to local flood and heat conditions. In its present role, Pitot House is a preserved landmark, museum, garden, educational resource, and preservation organization headquarters rather than a conventional commercial brand.

• 2005

  Survival of Hurricane Katrina flooding

  [1]Pitot Houseen.wikipedia.org

  Pitot House survived flooding associated with Hurricane Katrina, aided by features of its historic construction.

• 1964

  Preservation intervention

  [1]Pitot Houseen.wikipedia.org

  The Louisiana Landmarks Society saved the house from demolition, moved it from its original location, and undertook restoration.

• 1810

  James Pitot ownership begins

  [1]Pitot Houseen.wikipedia.org

  James Pitot became the fourth owner and lived at the house until 1819, providing the name now used for the property.

• 1805

  Madame Rillieux ownership begins

  [1]Pitot Houseen.wikipedia.org

  Madame Rillieux acquired the property during the period in which the ground floor and southern gallery are believed to have been modified.

• 1799

  House commonly dated to construction

  [1]Pitot Houseen.wikipedia.org

  Pitot House is generally described as having been constructed as a country retreat for Don Bartólome Bosque. Some references instead give 1790 and a different builder.

A New Orleans heritage property positioned around the preservation and interpretation of Creole colonial architecture, early Louisiana domestic life, historic gardens, and the city's multicultural history.

• Historic house museum

  Pitot House Museum

  The preserved house presents Creole colonial architecture and early nineteenth-century Louisiana domestic furnishings. Its displays include American and Louisiana antiques, most of which are not original to the building, as well as a portrait of Sophie Gabrielle, the daughter of James Pitot and the only identified object in the collection owned by a former resident.

• Historic garden

  Pitot House Gardens

  The grounds include a formal parterre garden intended to be viewed from the upper gallery. Its historically themed plantings include boxwood, antique roses, camellias, citrus, herbs, vegetables, bulbs, perennials, and period-associated flowers, complemented by a native Louisiana plant garden.

1. 1Pitot Houseen.wikipedia.org