RealEstate New Orleans

RealEstate New Orleans A look at the local real estate industry and its history.

One of the Crown Jewels of St. Charles Avenue.Photograph by David Nola.
06/17/2026

One of the Crown Jewels of St. Charles Avenue.
Photograph by David Nola.

If you’re really from New OrleansYou’ve spent time at the corner K&BKnown for dad’s beer and vodkaAnd the soda counter f...
06/15/2026

If you’re really from New Orleans
You’ve spent time at the corner K&B
Known for dad’s beer and vodka
And the soda counter for you and me

Started in 1905 as Katz & Besthoff
It’s where everyone came to get well
In addition to filling our prescriptions
Their ice cream was the best, we’re here to tell

Gustav Katz and Sidney Besthoff
Opened their first pharmacy on Canal
They were very successful working together
And became each other’s best pal

Soon they opened more locations
With K&B purple being the color of choice
They complimented each other’s acumen
Eventually, becoming a single voice

Dozens and dozens of locations were opened
They served New Orleanians all over town
The locals bought everything from gum to school supplies
With no one ever leaving wearing a frown

It’s where we bought our art supplies
It’s where our moms bought hairspray, too
It’s where our dads bought the Times-Picayune
And Dr. Tichenor’s and Elmer’s Glue

They were best known for their ice cream
The Creole cream cheese flavor, for sure
No one ever left without at least one gallon
Whenever they finally left each store

K&B finally closed in 1997
They sold out to the Rite Aid chain
Eventually, the chain went out of business
And the empty stores are all that remain

Now, all we have are the memories
The K&B purple and ice cream are no more
But the Besthoff art collection lives on forever
At the New Orleans Museum of Art, for sure

© 2023 Jeffrey Pipes Guice — in New Orleans, LA.

This early 20th-century two-bay cottage in the Audubon section of Uptown New Orleans is valued for tax purposes at $860,...
06/12/2026

This early 20th-century two-bay cottage in the Audubon section of Uptown New Orleans is valued for tax purposes at $860,000 and sold in early 2022 for $1,000,000.


Photograph and text by David J. L’Hoste.

When da chips are downAnd we’re feeling blueWe all come togetherIt’s just what Who Dats do!Whether it’s a hurricaneOr da...
06/12/2026

When da chips are down
And we’re feeling blue
We all come together
It’s just what Who Dats do!

Whether it’s a hurricane
Or da blues gets too hardy
We put our imaginations to work
And create da Yardi Gras party

Yardi Gras, Yardi Gras
We love our Yardi Gras!
YARDI GRAS!

When the floats can’t ride
The flambeau torches won’t light
When the bands can’t march
And da mayor gets stage fright

When da coconuts stop flying
Da P***y Footers stop kissin
Dats when New Orleans comes together
Cuz da Mardi Gras we won’t be missin

Yardi Gras, Yardi Gras
We love our Yardi Gras!
YARDI GRAS!

When da king stops his toastin
And da beads stop da flyin
Da Who Dats start getting cranky
Da king cake babies start to cryin

New Orleans comes together
The Who Dat family, one and all
We don’t let nothing stop our party
We all answer the Yardi Gras call

Yardi Gras, Yardi Gras
We love our Yardi Gras!
YARDI GRAS!
💜💛💚

© 2025 Jeffrey Pipes Guice

The shotgun house is one of Louisiana's great architectural gifts to the world — a design so elegantly suited to its env...
06/12/2026

The shotgun house is one of Louisiana's great architectural gifts to the world — a design so elegantly suited to its environment that it has never needed to be improved upon. Long and narrow, one room wide and several rooms deep, with doors aligned front to back so a shotgun blast could theoretically pass straight through without hitting a wall — hence the name, or so the story goes. Built to catch the river breeze. Built for a narrow urban lot. Built by and for the working people of New Orleans, the free people of color, the immigrants and the laborers and the families who made Tremé and the Seventh Ward and the Ninth Ward what they are.

The shotgun house form almost certainly traces its origins to West African and Haitian architectural traditions brought to New Orleans through the Afro-Caribbean diaspora — making it, like so much of what is extraordinary about this city, a piece of living architecture that carries the memory of the people who built New Orleans from the ground up. The Creole cottage, the camelback, the double shotgun — every variation on the form tells a slightly different story about who lived there and what they needed from their home. Walk the side streets of Tremé or the Bywater or the Lower Garden District and you are walking through a living museum of two centuries of working-class Louisiana life.

The Creole townhouse is the architectural soul of the French Quarter — and every detail tells a story of the city’s past...
06/11/2026

The Creole townhouse is the architectural soul of the French Quarter — and every detail tells a story of the city’s past.

The Creole townhouse is perhaps the most iconic building style in the French Quarter, the elegant structures that give the neighborhood its unmistakable look. Built largely after the great fires of the late 1700s, these multi-story homes replaced the earlier French colonial buildings and reflect a blend of Spanish, French, and Caribbean design. Their hallmarks include stucco exteriors, arched openings, interior courtyards, and of course the famous wrought- and cast-iron galleries.

Those iron balconies are more than decoration. They provide shade from the intense Louisiana sun and shelter from sudden downpours, while the hidden courtyards within offer private, cool retreats from the bustle of the street. Each townhouse is a piece of living history, lovingly preserved, carrying the stories of the generations of merchants, families, and characters who have called the Quarter home over the centuries.

The French Quarter is pretty in pink right now! 💖Photograph by David Nola
06/11/2026

The French Quarter is pretty in pink right now! 💖
Photograph by David Nola

Photograph by NolaVal
06/10/2026

Photograph by NolaVal

Center hall cottage in Carrollton likely dating from the 1890s. The town of Carrollton developed following the the acqui...
06/10/2026

Center hall cottage in Carrollton likely dating from the 1890s. The town of Carrollton developed following the the acquisition of McCarty plantation by real estate developers in 1831. It thrived because of the New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad, which ran steam-driven railcars to and from New Orleans about six miles down river. Carrollton was part of Jefferson Parish and, in fact, was the parish seat from 1852 until 1874, when it was annexed by New Orleans.

Photograph and text by David J. L’Hoste

Some of these Louisiana live oaks were standing for centuries before the mansions were ever built — silent witnesses to ...
06/10/2026

Some of these Louisiana live oaks were standing for centuries before the mansions were ever built — silent witnesses to it all.

The grand oak-lined avenues of Louisiana are among the most striking and hauntingly beautiful sights in the South. These majestic live oaks, draped in Spanish moss, can live for hundreds of years — many are estimated to be three or four centuries old, predating the historic homes they now frame. Planted in long, symmetrical rows, they were designed to create a dramatic approach to the great houses of the river region.

But these landscapes carry a heavy and complicated history. The wealth behind these mansions was built on the labor of enslaved people, and today many of these sites serve as important places of education and remembrance, ensuring that the full, true story is told. The beauty of the oaks and the weight of the past exist side by side, making these places powerful to visit and important to understand.

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Prytania Street
New Orleans, LA
70115

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