Briggs­-Staub House, New Orleans

The Briggs-Staub House on Prytania Street is a piece of Garden District property that seems to have politely declined the neighborhood dress code. Built in 1849 for planter Cuthbert Bullitt and designed by architect James Gallier Jr., this house stepped away from the usual Greek Revival look favored by the district’s Protestant American elite and went for something much moodier: Gothic Revival, complete with pointed arched windows.

That may sound harmless today, but in mid-19th-century New Orleans, architecture could carry social baggage. Gothic Revival reminded many Protestant newcomers of Roman Catholic churches—and therefore of the Creole world they were busy trying not to resemble. So, while other mansions were showing off columns and classical balance, this one arrived with chapel-like windows and a slightly rebellious streak.

The drama did not stop with the design. When the house was finished, Bullitt reportedly refused to pay the bill, supposedly after losing heavily at gambling. The property eventually passed to Charles Briggs, an English insurance executive, whose name stayed attached to the house. Briggs lived here during a period of Irish immigration to New Orleans, and instead of relying on enslaved labor, he hired Irish servants. For them, he built a matching servants’ quarters that were unusually spacious by the standards of the time.

Inside, the house is not purely Gothic in layout. It was arranged more practically, with rooms suited to entertaining guests—because even a brooding Gothic mansion still had to host properly. Still, the pointed arches and decorative details remain the main event, giving the Briggs-Staub House its distinctive personality. In a neighborhood famous for polished Southern grandeur, this house stands out as the one that looked at the rulebook, raised an eyebrow, and ordered something with spires...