The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1869-08-14
Building i'm New Orleans.

Building in our city is almost exclu
sively confned to the district known as
up town, so much so that no builder
ever seems to think that a house is to
be built in any other portion. The
rust of inactivity seems to have inter-
fered sadly with the progress outward
or downwaua, of Improvement in the
Second and Third District. Railways
are projected, and railways are built,
but come toea stand stills on account OF
streets that will not open, of lands whose
proprietors bar their barriers against
the advances of civilization.
The new houses that have been built
the past season, or that are TO be this,
thspreseE season, within the Second
and Third districts, if We accept Canal,
street can be counted upon the fingers,
while upon our main streets leading up
ward, between Calliope street and the
upper line of Jefferson, and between St
Charles and Magnolia, the signs of
marked improvement are visible every
where.
The majority of houses are of wood.
Lumber is in demand, yet the prices are
by no cans high. The prevailing style
in these wooden houses consists in front
gallery, on which the front windows and
doors both open, and the kitchen apart
ments dividedby galler9runaing length
Rise-two rooms above and two rooms
below in the main building, two rooms
above and two rooms below in the back
bull ling, the staircase between. The
number of houses built in this style are
almost without number. They are seen
of ali heights under one hundsed feet,
and of all widths between fifty aud twen-
ty feet. The tenant of one of these
houses can readily make himself at
home in andaher, and, indeed, it some
times seems as if there were but one
builder in New Orleans. whose constant
desire it is to build houses of this des-
cription. Now he builds them in row
of ten then they are double; again he
locates them back from the street; then
1r1ey are seen flush with the sidewalks.
lie takes notion to put a bali in, and
occasionally cuts side windows, but all
are of the same style, and indeed it is
not too much to say that nne-tenths OF
the two-story frame houses occupied by
tenants are of this description, and
really look as it they were built by the
same man, who will insist on travelling
within his pet circuit and none other.
What is called the cottage house is
another prevalent style in the city. The
chief Characteristic Of these frame hous-
es is the breadth. There are the same
tour rooms in the main building, but
all are on the floor, with hall to devide
them. There are the indentcal tour
rooms in the back building, but all are
ON the floor and front on piazza. There
is the same front gallery, but only one
story in height, and imagination gives
REIN to display of architecture. Doric,
Ionic Or Corinthian models, III the pi ars.
An eccentric old gentleman, who de-
sired to live in the same old house. sim
ply raised " his cottage house and
built another underneath, handsomely
closing up the divisions and making it
into double two story and attic. Even
here the old gentleman would cling to
the prevailing order Of things. Indeed,
it seemed as if we also had builder
who is bent on building cottage houses.
uere he is pleased to construct one with
a hall dividing it in two, while there he
builds it with no hall at all, but gal
lery that serves the same purpose, and
runs what the sailor would term fore and
aft, So LITTLE variety is there in frame
houses in this city, SO little Of that &C.
centricity which is to be so plainly seen
in the features of other cities, that one
may get up, as indeed dealers in house
rents have got up, classification into
four OF FIVE heads: which will include all
of the recent built houses which one
meets. There is no play for eccentrlcty.
except in the old brick houses in the up
per part of the Third Ward, where the
smoke of manufactures constantly grimes
in the old plantation houses of the an
eient faubourgs, several of which are
remaining to show how solid were hous-
es in those days in the tile covered
cottages down town, instead of giving
us variety. modern Improvements have,
like history, repeated themselves. Were
the city to be divided out into districts
according to its style Of houses, we should
not have much trouble.
The tenement houses are few. These
kind of buildings where as in New York
a hundred families sometimes herd as
cattle in pens. are not to be seen except
in few out of the way places. They
are so few that they can be counted
upon the fingers of the hand.
The improvements going on, and the
mansions of beautiful and chaste design
that have lately risen, are so numerous
as to require further notice.-M O..
Times. ~- e-~ -.0 ~-.