7 Bamboo Road, New Orleans, LA 70124
Website, tickets, social feeds here.
- Much more than a grand monument to inherited wealth, Longue Vue House and Gardens teaches lessons about New Orleans social history, architecture, philanthropy, and beauty.
- Distant from the French Quarter and most other cultural destinations, it is nonetheless worth the effort to visit, both for its builders’ histories and to experience an idyllic respite from the city surrounding the estate.
The history
Introduced by a mutual friend, Edgar Stern and Edith Sulzberger met cute in New York City in 1919. Edgar was the son of prosperous New Orleans cotton merchant Maurice Stern, attending Harvard. Edith was the daughter of Julius Rosenwald, an executive and part-owner of the Chicago-based Sears Roebuck & Co. It was a blind date gone sideways; Edgar’s intended date was a woman staying with Edith. One of Edgar and Edith’s dating spots during their seven-month courtship was a Hudson River inn called Longue Vue, site of their engagement. They were married on a rail car passing through Indiana to circumvent divorce laws of the era (she had recently ended a marriage with Germon Sulzberger). The couple honeymooned in England and then returned to Edgar’s New Orleans.
Their legacies are vast, chiefly a dedication to philanthropy from the 1930s onward with the formation of the Stern Family Foundation. They were instrumental in the creation of Pontchartrain Park, a middle-class subdivision for Black homeowners, the HBCU Dillard University, and much more. Edith championed education, the arts, and voter registration efforts for African Americans.
The two homes they built on what was then the outskirts of New Orleans are another of those legacies. The first was completed in the early 1920s and later relocated on their property to be nearer their second house, to be known as Longue Vue II, the product of architects William and Geoffrey Platt. Bridging the work on both houses was the involvement of Ellen Biddle Shipman, a pioneering female landscape architect. In fact, Longue Vue I was moved (hauled by a team of donkeys!) to better frame Shipman’s outdoor design artistry.
Following Edgar’s death in 1959, Edith gradually transitioned her home into a gathering place for garden clubs, cultural events, and political activism. Its transition into a grand and thriving house museum concluded with its opening to the public in 1980 (she resided, for a time during this period, in a suite in the Pontchartrain Hotel). The estate is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Landmark.
Overview
All of this history is generously told in the home on guided house tours. Self-guided access to the gardens is a separate ticket. Specialty tours led by curators go behind the scenes to further explore the property’s story, including Shipman’s work.
The interior is remarkably preserved, as if the Sterns and their three accomplished children had just departed. It’s a big, beautiful mansion. The real magic is in exploring the relationship between the house and its gardens, which are destination attractions in themselves. Longue Vue rightfully celebrates Shipman, a master of her craft. Also Edith’s talent for collecting modern art.
If your museumgoing visit to New Orleans allows, this is definitely a must-see place, both for its builders’ histories and as an idyllic respite from the city surrounding it. Far from the French Quarter, it is not easily accessible by public transit. The nearest streetcar route is about a mile walk, so impractical for all but the most hardy souls. Make the effort to see it, however you get there. Much more than a monument to inherited wealth, it’s full of lessons about New Orleans social history, architecture, philanthropy, and beauty.
Public programs
Longue Vue hosts many activities, some related to the gardens, some to its history. There are regular musical performances, wellness classes, family days. Its popular summer-long program of camps for kids generally operates at capacity every year. Seminars, symposia, workshops, and speakers are also offered throughout the year.
Website
An elegant, visually engaging wonder. Sections detail the Sterns’ history and legacies, plus all the usual visitation details. There is a seasonal guide to the blooms you’ll see in the gardens.
Lunch and drinks
Open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Edith and Edgar’s Garden Cafe offers a menu of specialty coffee drinks, teas, sweet treats, and a few plant-based lunch items, including avocado toast, an empanada, and grilled cheese. Beer, wine, and cocktails are also available, with some inside seating and an outdoor patio.
Parking
There is free on-site parking, so a combo trip to Longue Vue and/or the New Orleans Museum of Art and/or Metairie Cemetery, where Edgar and Edith permanently reside, would make for a splendid car-borne day.
Extra thing
The TV set in the library plays vintage WDSU footage. Why that’s cool: With his dad’s help, Stern son Edgar Jr. founded the current NBC affiliate as the city’s first TV station in 1948, which operated for many years in the 520 Royal Street location now occupied by the Historic New Orleans Collection. As well, Edgar Jr. was involved in the development of the Royal Orleans Hotel (which neighbored the station) and the nearby Royal Sonesta Hotel. More about him here.