Booty: Laffite's House

New Orleans is alive with legends of past glory. Embelishing the truth is an old Creole talent, so why not spice things up with a few extra – if patently untrue – details? These stories are just one of the many charms of La Nouvelle Orleans. In that vein, and speaking of the Laffite brothers as we were yesterday, here is another interesting point of legend vs. reality.


Of all the places that claim a Laffite connection, from those of ancient origin (Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop) to those that have jumped on the bandwagon more recently (“Jean Lafitte’s” Old Absinthe House) only one, it seems, has a legitimate, historical claim. That is the three story Creole town house located at 1003 Bourbon Street and now known as Lafitte Guest House.

The building is mentioned briefly in the 1936 publication Walking Tours of Old New Orleans by Stanley Clisby Arthur. He states that the current building (pictured above) was built by P. J. Gleisses in 1849; a “comparatively recent construction”, Arthur notes. It is now split up into 14 elegantly furnished guest rooms and, according to Lonely Planet, will run you from $190 per night including breakfast. Find more information at the Guest House website.

Given that the house itself was built in the mid-19th century, it seems a Laffite association would be tenuous at best, but in fact looks can be deceiving. According to endnote number 37 to Chapter 14 of William C. Davis’ The Pirates Laffite, the lot has an impeccable bond to both of the brothers. From the book:

… where today stands the Lafitte Guest House at 1003 Bourbon Street, Laffite residence is confirmed by Marie [Louise} Villard’s August 16, 1816 purchase. The association of the Laffites with her and the property, even if one does not assume that Pierre bought it for her in their placage arrangement, is confirmed three years later after she sold and then repurchased it in 1819, paying in part with a promissory note guaranteed by Jean Laffite…

As Davis notes Marie Louise “Louison”, a quadroon in a placage living arrangement with Pierre Laffite and mother of seven of his children, had a sibling, Catherine “Catiche” Villard. Catherine lived with her sister – possibly at this location – when she gave birth to Jean Laffite’s son Jean Pierre in 1816. None of the other so-called “Lafitte” locations have anywhere near that kind of authentic pedigree.

As a curious aside the Guest House is said to be haunted by a little girl who died of yellow fever there some time in the late 19th century. The girl is known to locals as “Marie”.

The hotel was put up for sale in 2009 and I could not find any information about whether or not it has a new owner as yet. If anyone knows anything more, please leave a comment s’il vous plait.

On a final tenuously related note, today marks the anniversary of the birth of Saint Jeanne d’Arc, the Maid of Orleans. May she smile on the New as well as the original.

Header: Modern photo of Lafitte Guest House via their website

Booty: Tripping On Bourbon

About a year ago I did a post about the famous New Orleans bar and ancient landmark Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop. The misspelled and misnamed Creole cottage is no less of a must-see for owning a bogus legend. The Laffite brothers may never have even set foot in the place and they certainly did not operate any kind of business out of the building. But NOLA likes to mix her metaphors and remake herself continuously. It’s all part of being a past-her-prime courtesan, you have to imagine.

All that said, it’s time to talk about another place in New Orleans that at some point in the 20th century claimed the Laffite mythology as its own: The Old Absinthe House. It’s one thing for a proprietor of a bar to hang out a sign that includes Laffite’s name – all be it misspelled (again):That's his privilege as the owner. Plus it draws in the tourists; after all this is Rue Bourbon. It is quite another thing for “experts” on the Discovery Channel, with PhDs after their names no less, to tell their viewers that the gimmick may be a fact of history.

I had not experienced “American Treasures” on Discovery so I was thrilled to be on vacation this week and be able to sit down to their New Orleans episode last Tuesday night. The show now follows the most consistent show on Discovery since “Mythbusters”, “Dirty Jobs” with Mike Rowe, so it’s clear that Discovery is trying to give it a boost with the classic coattail routine. “American Treasures” is hosted by two archaeology professors who travel the country examining various artifacts. In New Orleans, a trumpet which allegedly once belonged to Louis Armstrong and the origin of the famous absinthe fountains at The Old Absinthe House were under the microscope. See clips here.

When Dr. Kirk French and Dr. Jason de Leon pulled up in front of the OAH, French in voiceover talks about the legendary Green Fairy that once inhabited the place and how Jean Laffite and Andrew Jackson “got wasted” on absinthe here while they “plotted their victory at the Battle of New Orleans”. Interestingly, there is no “… but that’s just a legend” added to that little gem of information. While I am no “doctor” nor yet an expert on absinthe, I am capable of research and so, Brethren, allow me to elaborate.

According to Stanley Clisby Arthur’s Walking Tours of Old New Orleans (first published in 1936) the building at 238 Bourbon Street which is now the OAH was originally built by a pair of Spanish merchants in 1806. They dealt in “… imported foodstuffs, wines and other goods” from their native Spain. The merchants, who were related by marriage, willed the business to their children but it was ultimately taken up by one of their wives’ nephews in the 1820s. The property, which was also a home, became a shoe shop in 1838 while the proprietors continued to run an epicerie, or grocery, across the street at 301 Bourbon. In 1861 the place, still run by the original owners’ extended family, was made into a coffee shop. After the Civil War, in 1870, pure luck saw the hiring of a famous bartender, Cayetano Ferrer, who brought his secret recipe for absinthe frappe with him and by 1874 the place was called the “Absinthe Room” around town. The fountains featured on “American Treasures” came over from France to dispense cold water for the frappes and they, like the morphed name Old Absinthe House, stayed even after absinthe was outlawed in the early 20th century.

The place is now listed in city guides like Frommer’s and Lonely Planet as “Jean Lafitte’s Old Absinthe House” but there is no reasonable connection between Triple P’s favorite racketeer and the old Juncadella mansion. Even “American Treasures” tripped on their own spurious claims when the absinthe expert being interviewed for the show pointed out that absinthe did not come to NOLA until the 1830s. In fact, it did not become widely popular in the city – which was really its only place of widespread use in the U.S. – until the 1870s. No matter how you slice it, Jean Laffite would have been incapable of “getting wasted” on absinthe, either at the OAH or anywhere else in the New Orleans he called home.

While the doctor’s off-handed comment may have seemed jocular, I think a bit more caution should be taken by “media experts” in all things historical. There are enough misunderstandings and misrepresentations about the Laffites and the Baratarians as it is. Unless, of course, you’re planning on opening up a bar on Bourbon; then the gloves – and possibly at some point other pieces of clothing – are definitely off.

Pictured: 1950s postcard featuring The Old Absinthe House via Card Cow and the OAH sign today