Photo by David Spielman.
The circa-1880s Dugan House on St. Philip Street in New Orleans’s Garden District.
Each year, over 5 million visitors stroll through one of the nation's most charming and historic neighborhoods, the New Orleans Garden District, marveling at stunning 1830s architecture from behind wrought-iron gates, but never seeing what lies beyond the sidewalk.
Now, the New Orleans Garden District Association offers an inside look at the extraordinary interiors and authentic histories of this vibrant neighborhood in its newly released coffee-table style book, New Orleans Garden District: Profiles in Preservation.
Showcasing over one hundred homes, the collection contains professional photos and historical narratives tracing the district’s architectural evolution, culture, and people–curated by a team of dedicated historians, writers, and photographers over the course of seven years.
“It's a history book,” said Andrea Bland, president of the Garden District Association (GDA) board and Chairman of the Profiles in Preservation Committee. “It's about the people, too, and the time. Everyone on their walking tour gets a glimpse of the outside … this book gives you a peek inside.”
Founded in 1939, the GDA has been dedicated to maintaining the historical and cultural integrity of the seventy-eight-block district, with its 951 properties–one of the largest concentrations of historical homes in the country.
Photo by David Spielman.
The circa-1850s Camors Waters House on Chestnut Street in the New Orleans Garden District.
In its eightieth year of existence (2019), the GDA launched the Profiles in Preservation program, granting subscribers with eligible properties a personalized book documenting their specific home’s history with archival and modern photos, a bronze plaque installed on their property, and inclusion in the larger collection in the works, New Orleans Garden District: Profiles in Preservation, which was officially released in December 2025.
Select properties in the district that were given National Historic Landmark status were then chosen by the Profiles in Preservation board, who invited their owners to become subscribers. As word spread, additional eligible homeowners volunteered for subscription.
“I really felt that the Garden District was so special and it was not authentically understood." —Andrea Bland
“I really felt that the Garden District was so special and it was not authentically understood," said Bland, who owns the historic Gasquet Bland House in the neighborhood. Serving as chairman and as a major sponsor of the project, she had observed plaque programs in other cities, and believed the Garden District could do better. “We had the support of our neighborhood. People trust the organization,” she said. “I don’t know if other communities could replicate what we did.”
Historian and archivist Sally Reeves was brought on to condense each home’s detailed history into a 450-word entry for the coffee-table compilation of all the participating homes. Photographer David G. Spielman came on to capture portraits of each. To bring it all together, New Orleans history teacher Howard Hunter wrote a comprehensive introduction and historian Hillary Irvine provided an essay about homes replaced by apartment buildings along St. Charles Avenue.
Photo by David Spielman
The Abraham Kahn House on Seventh Street, built circa 1900 in the New Orleans Garden District.
Each home included, and its story, emphasizes the district’s historical evolution and the individuals responsible for its existence today. “One thing that is really interesting are the roles of women and free people of color. I think they are overlooked completely in the story of development in New Orleans,” Bland said. “The city developed so many prominent women. We would have never had the Garden District if not for Madame Livaudais and Madame Panisse...subdividing big tracts of land.”
The attention to detail and research for each home was extensive. “We went down to the granular level, down to the notarial archives, where you look at the transactions of parcels before there was ever a structure there, back to the 1830s and 1840s,” Bland said. The documentation and historical photos unearthed in the research for Profiles in Preservation will be housed in the Historic New Orleans Collection.
The book is more than just a visual-historic record, but also a collaborative effort and living tribute to preserving New Orleans’s rich history and the people who shaped it. “This was a whole team. We had a strong committee of passionate people that were engaged and committed,” said Bland. “It's a long line of passionate people that have protected this neighborhood.”
New Orleans Garden District: Profiles In Preservation is available for purchase at gardendistrictassociation.com and at the David Spielman Photography Gallery.
