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The Perils of Over-Restoration

A rather good article I was reading in the Oxford American (via V&V) reminded me of a building I stumbled upon in the Historic American Buildings Survey, digitized at the Library of Congress. No. 403 Royal Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans was designed by one of the first master architects in America, Benjamin Latrobe, who also designed the Baltimore Basilica, the Mother Church of the United States. Resting at the corner of Royal and Conti streets, the building was constructed by the Louisiana State Bank (later subsumed into la Banque de la Louisiane) and features a domed banking hall in the center. After having outlived its usefulness under its original purpose, it became a private residence, with the central banking hall turned into a living room, before being turned into an events venue as it remains today.

The photographs at the top and above were taken in 1934 and the building exudes a rather charming dilapidation. It’s an honest building, and looks and feels its age. Fast forward to the present day (below) and the building has certainbly been over-restored. Not a lick of peeling paint, the whole building looks fresh and new and, in my mind, a tad artificial; all this despite being a fairly old structure.

What’s worse is that the old courtyard to the rear has been covered over with an exceptionally awkward roof so that it can be used for events in all weather. The interloping roof is a completely insensitive addition to an otherwise comely and graceful building. Indeed, without it, one imagines the building might make a fine private residence.

Historic preservation is hugely important in America, which has lost the majority of its built heritage. Yet proprietors of historic buildings need to learn that maintaining the structural integrity of a building need not mean that it must maintain the newly-built look. Indeed, much of the French Quarter suffers from this zeal in restoration, excepting most prominently Preservation Hall jazz hall.

Royal Street façade, 1934.

Conti Street façade, 1934.

Rear elevation, 1934.

Ground floor plan, 1934.

Upper floor plan, 1934.

Black and white photos and plans from the Library of Congress. Color photographs from INETours.com and from 403 Royal website.

Published at 9:45 am on Wednesday 24 May 2006. Categories: Architecture History Louisiana Tags: , , .
Comments

It looks like a Martha Stewart wedding cake.

— Mrs. Peperium 24 May 2006 1:57 pm

Interesting observations.
Sometimes, when one cleans an old coin too much, it diminishes its value.
Same with old buildings.

— Fleming 25 May 2006 3:47 pm

The problem with these sorts of restorations is they suck every ounce of character out of the structure.

— bobgirrl 14 Jun 2006 3:46 pm

Well, I’m a native of the city, now exiled and (oops) a bit late to this discussion. I hope no one minds if I add mes deux sous here.

I haven’t seen the Latrobe bldg. on Royal lately, but I suspect this structure only looked this “new” for about ten minutes after restoration when the photographer probably snapped this shot.

Believe me, thanks to the steamy coastal humidity, every building in N.O. acquires the mottled patina of antiquity in the blink of an eye.

Heck, even people do! Stand still anywhere in that town for more than five minutes & you’ll start growing rust on your toes & moss behind your ears. ;-)

— leilani 11 Nov 2012 4:11 pm
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