817-819 Chartres St.

The "Gironde" departed the 1st October, 1724. List of passengers embarked for Louisiana on the "Flute", the "Gironde"...:

The Sieur de la Chaise...[t]he Sieurs de Lassus, the elder - surveyor; de Lassus, the younger - surveyor...Father Mathias, Capuchin.

Commission of Surveyor in Louisiana for the Sieur de Lassus, 2000 livres per year, also to instruct young people in surveying.

Commission of Surveyor in Louisiana for the Sieur de Lassus, the younger, at 600 livres per year.

"The Srs. Delasus [Lassus] arrived at New Orleans the 10 of February, and we will put them to work on the return of M. de Pauger, according to your orders."

Letter of de Pauger: "The Srs. De La Sus [Lassus], brothers, have arrived here in the design of being absolutely independent of my orders, though employed on the fortifications list, and though the elder one, who appears to have submissiveness and merit, has not attempted to convince himself of it, I have, however, made him understand the impossibility of exercising his functions judiciously without the dependence."

Letter of de Pauger: "[I have] no one here to make me fair copies of my original drawings, the Srs. Lassus, surveyors, refusing to be under my orders, besides being very little capable of executing them, having here only the Sieur Devin...who has, however, only 800 livres of salary in comparison to what you have in store for the said Srs. De La Sus, to whom you have given 3000 livres, who can only send you drawings more properly resembling pretty pictures than to be counted on for their exactness, and which they could have easily corrected if they had been willing to follow my instructions, but they had been led astray by ignorant persons who despise engineers."

De Lassus asks promotion after death of de Pauger. Complains of Broutin.

Lassus asks Council to make defalters pay him his fees for copies of surveys.

Delachaise to Directors: "We have discussed Sieur Lassus. He is due to return by first vessel going to France."

Estate inventory

Of Angelica Monsanto, formerly widow of George Urquhart & late wife of Dr. Robert Dow - in house of Dr. Dow in Conde Street between St. Ann and Dumaine Streets.

A lot of ground situated in Conde Street between St. Ann and Dumaine sts. Measuring sixty feet in front by one hundred and eighty feet in depth, whereon stands a brick house composed of three rooms, two closets, a gallery also, a brick kitchen [and] other outbuildings...$14,000.

Lassus de Marsilly.

Other transactions: La. Hist. Qtly. 3/426; 3/434; 4/515; 7/697; 7/486; 7/496; 7/499; 7/500-502; 7/504-505; 7/507-508; 7/512-514; 7/522; 5/249; 5/397; 5/403; 6/293; 6/491; 6/501; 6/671-672; 6/681.

Mason holds procuration of Sr. Lassus de Marsilly, resident of the Cap at San. Domingo. Dated December 29, 1744.

817-819, 823 Chartres Street

Erected: c. 1835
Architect: unknown
Builder: unknown

These two handsome, three-story brick buildings were erected by Dr. Felix Formento sometime between 1829, when he purchased the property, and 1839, when a syndic of his creditors forced their sale. A study of their use leads to the conclusion that they were probably erected around 1835.

The buildings seem to have been reasonably well owned, and no radical changes have been made to them. Though they were undoubtedly built about the same time, they are not identical. 817-819 appears to be broader than 823, but it is actually a little narrower. Four windows have been cut across the front facade of 817-819, while 823 has only three. This busier fenestration creates the illusion.

Both have undoubtedly suffered changes on the ground floor, though it is unlikely there was ever similarity here. 817-819 is all arches on the first floor. There is a great arched entranceway sized to be a porte-cochere. Under this spring two smaller arches, one opening into an alleyway that leads to the rear of the courtyard, the other accommodating a front door. Steps lead up to a little vestibule in which the door is centered. Whether converting the porte-cochere into two entrances this way was an afterthought before the building was finished, or a later conversion it is difficult to say today.

An old photograph shows that there were shop windows on the ground floor not too long ago. Today this first floor is an apartment, and the windows have been adapted to domestic use. Outlining each of the three is a brick arch into which fan transoms have been fitted. Underneath the windows are broad wooden panels. The windows themselves have been fitted with modern casement sashes.

823 probably has retained more of its original nature on the ground floor, but here, too, changes have undoubtedly occurred. These openings are all square-headed---two extended shop windows with a door between them, and a vast carriage entrance closed by three-sectioned paneled doors. The brick piers between these openings have been trimmed with moldings to look like granite columns.

Tall, double-hung windows with louvred shutters open onto a simple wrought iron gallery at the second story level. This extends over the sidewalk today, but originally it was probably a shallow gallery. Each of the French doors on the third floor leads onto an individual gallery of the same design as below. The simple wooden cornice, shown in an old photograph, has been removed. Two excellent dormers ornament the steeply pitched roof.

The adjacent building at 817-819 has a cast iron gallery at the second and third floor level, both extending over the whole sidewalk. The good wooden cornice is still in place here and adds immeasurably to the design. Two dormers are cut into the roof, which is similar to that of its neighbor.

This property is the deepest in the square, and the great depth has been used for some colorful things in its day. A series of newspaper notes from the Louisiana Courier of 1832 and 1833 identifies this property as the Union Hotel. On July 27, 1832 [p.3, c.7] it says, "UNION HOTEL AND COFFEE HOUSE. The subscribers have the honor to inform their friends and the public that this establishment was opened on Monday last, July 23rd. They have spared nothing that would render agreeable an establishment of this kind. An ordinary is served every day at 3 o'clock, ice cream, sorbets (sic), and Roman punch will be prepared on Thursdays and Sundays, as well as chocolates, broths, and coffee at convenient hours. The situation of the house is convenient to men of business. The Spanish language is spoken here, Conde Street, opposite Madison."

Five months later, in the same year, the Union Hotel expanded its entertainment and the Courier advertises for December 18, "TO THE PUBLIC, and particularly to the Amateurs of Cock Fighting. The public are respectfully informed that on Sunday next, the 23rd inst. will be opened the CIRCUS, situated in the rear of the Union Hotel, Conde Street, opposite Madison Street where will be cock fighting every evening either with becks [sic], with spurs, or with knives. The object of the proprietor being to oblige those who patroni[z]e this sport, he will always keep a number of spirited cocks which may be had by any gentleman who may require them, for a reasonable consid-eration...the regular fights will be open on Thursday and Sunday evenings, but the Circus will always be open from 7 o'clock in the morning, until 4 in the evening, when it will be closed to accommodate Mr. Brown, who proposes to give lessons in Equestrian exercise.

ENTRANCE
To the whole house: 25 cents
Parquette: 50 cents
Gallery: 25 cents
On the ground: gratis."

Business must not have fared so well, for on March 13, 1833 this notice appears in the Courier, "By F. Dutillet. Will be sold on Wednesday, 29th inst. in the house formerly occupied by the firm of Fuentes and Co., in Conde Street, opposite Madison Street, the following property for cash, belonging to said firm of Fuentes and Co., insolvent, the moveables, plated ware, ornaments, provisions, etc., all the said articles forming the stock of the Union Hotel. The moveables of Union Coffee House, such as billiard tables, counters, tables, etc. Also all liquor drinks in store, etc., forming the stock of said Union Coffee House; 30 fighting cocks from Havana, a lease of the house occupied by said firm, which may be known by applying to L. Caire, Notary Public, and in case...said lease is not sold, it will be proceeded immediately to the sale of a circus and accessories in the yard of the said Union Hotel, and in case of sale, the materials of said circus shall be removed within ten days after the day of sale conformably to a condition of said lease."

It is difficult to believe that the two present buildings were ever the Union Hotel. They seem to be typical Creole dwellings of the kind designed to have businesses on the ground floor and rather elegant living quarters above. At the rear of each building is an arcaded loggia from which a spiral stairway makes its way up to enclosed galleries on the upper floors. These galleries are lighted by great arched windows with stunning fan transoms, rising one floor above the other. Each house has an extensive kitchen and service wing built at an angle to the house and running deep into the courtyard.

All of this bespeaks a domestic establishment rather than a hotel and coffee house with circuses, cockfights, and undoubtedly carousing in the courtyard. It is possible that Dr. Formento purchased the Union Hotel from the Urquhart-Dow heirs, or he may have converted the building he bought from them into the Union Hotel after 1829. At any rate, it seems reasonable to assume that after the failure of Fuentes and Co., Dr. Formento might have razed the old structure and begun over again by building these two im-pressive dwellings.

The lot itself was granted in 1722 to Vige, a Canadian, then re-granted soon afterwards to Sieur Lassus de Marsilly, royal engin¬eer and surveyor for the Company of the Indies. By 1731 it belonged to Sieur Henry, a well-known early notary for the colony. This had become the property of Luis Ransom, a Captain in the Military Grenadiers, by 1775. In 1784 the front portion of this vast lot was purchased by Don Roberto Dow, and it contained at that time "a main house and two small ones." Four years later Mme. Urquhart-Dow purchased the strip in the rear measuring 30T by 601 F.M., and this lot assumed the depth it retains to this day. In 1829 the Urquhart-Dow heirs sold this property to Dr. Formento. The two present buildings, after Dr. Formento lost them, went separate ways.

823 Chartres was purchased by Mme. Valerie Duplessis, who kept it nearly forty years. Three other owners acquired it; then in 1903 the building passed to the Giacomino family. The past sixty years it has remained in their possession, and has long been the home of their daughter, Mrs. John G. Finney. This building has been well restored and is pleasantly maintained today. There is a small wooden addition to the rear and a vast shed used as a parking facility in the depth of the lot; both are expendable.

817-819, on the other hand, has been involved in many transactions and has been turned over sixteen times since Dr. Formento lost it. In 1876 the ground floor was evidently an apothecary shop, for the Sanborn map of that date cites "drugs" at this spot, and indicates a row of syrup kettles in the rear. Undoubtedly, it has served many purposes; an old photograph shows a barber pole decorating one of the shops. Happily today it has been converted into dwellings. This building is presently in trust for Miss Susan Penick Jones. It has been adapted to contemporary living and is very well maintained.