When someone mentions NOLA’s French Quarter, most of us think of Bourbon Street, Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest and just basic debauchery. But for many, it’s simply home sweet home. And while the homes themselves are understated and charming from the outside, oftentimes we as the general public don’t know what hides behind the beautiful wrought iron gates. Some homes have beautifully designed and cultivated secret gardens. These hidden gardens were recently put on display during the annual Patio Planters of the Vieux Carre Secret Gardens Tour on October 14, 2018.

The Tour Begins

Vieux Carre translates to “Old Square” and refers to the oldest section of the city of New Orleans. And old it is! We visited properties built in the 1820’s! We set out to walk off our Cafe DuMond delicacies and within a few blocks came upon property #6, the first for us on the tour. The Beauregard-Keyes House is a museum and can be viewed normally by purchasing tickets. To be honest, I’m not a fan of these types of homes on home tours. I really want to be able to see historic properties that are currently lived in….it’s just a personal preference. The gardens were Garden beautiful and artfully manicured, but we were really craving to for a peek at private hideaways. So, we channeled our inner millennial and snapped a few artistic shots, and quickly moved onto the next property. The next home on the tour was on Chartres Street, and was a bit underwhelming. The courtyard on display was sparsely appointed and didn’t have a ton of charm. Moving on…..

The next home on the tour was our favorite – a truly cool hideaway featuring a small natural-looking swimming pool, a mermaid fountain, a shaded seating area with an overhead fan and an outdoor fireplace. Just outside the main home’s back door was an outdoor grill area. We could totally picture ourselves there sipping hurricanes at an outdoor cookout! These homeowners truly took advantage of their small space and used it to carve out their very own paradise. For the tour, the space was decorated as a “haunted courtyard” complete with witches, creepy crawly’s and even a skeleton dog. Excited by the last property, we made our way to the last garden on the tour. Despite the “cool” conditions we were met with upon arriving in NOLA two days prior, conditions during the tour got pretty warm. We found relief ducking into the crown jewel of the last property, the rare side carriageway. This classic creole cottage was built by a doctor in the 1840’s, and therefore required a carriageway to keep his transportation nearby to attend to his patients. I loved that all of the owners of this property (since the 1840’s!) all left this original carriageway intact. It was definitely something to see and was a great cherry on top to end the tour.

Over all Thoughts

The Patio Planters of the Vieux Carre Secret Gardens Tour is a self-guided walking tour that spanned a two-day weekend. The event information indicated that different properties would be featured on each day, however we elected to only partake in day two due to our other NOLA vacation activities (see list below). We found the tour to be well-organized, the ticket pickup was simple, the homes on the tour were well-marked with green Patio Planters flags and the map was simple to follow Volunteers and property owners were abundant at each property and available to answer questions. We didn’t find crowds to be an issue at all, and completed the tour of all six properties within an hour and 45 minutes.

While I would have much preferred to have been able to also experience the inside of these beautiful homes, it was made clear in advance that this tour would only feature gardens. I guess we’ll have to come back to NOLA for the Patio Planters of the Vieux Carre’s Holiday Home Tour on December 16, 2018! 

H4HT’s Disclaimer

Word’s and a few snapshots cannot properly convey the beauty of these properties. The main purpose of this blog is simply to share our overall opinion of the home tour in terms of planning, content and overall experience. We highly recommend you experience them for yourself! Visit our Home Tour database to find a home tour in your area, or in an area in which you will be traveling to! Happy touring!

Our Other NOLA Activities

We made great use of our time in NOLA! In addition to the Secret Gardens Tour, and beignets at Cafe DuMonde, we also visited the following establishments:

• We used VRBO to rent an adorable shotgun home in Algier’s Point
• Warmed up with hot chocolate and biscuits with andouille sausage gravy at Biscuits & Buns on Banks
• Took a tour of St. Charles Street on the St. Charles Streetcar
• Had a drink with locals at the Old Point Bar
• Did some nighttime shopping at the Frenchman Art Market
• Experienced Redfish for dinner at Oceana Grill
• Sipped on Hurricanes at Pat O’Brien’s
• Had the best bacon of my life, and a champagne cocktail with fresh a lavender sugar cube at Sylvain
• Strolled through the unique shops on Magazine Street
• Saw the beautiful mansions in the lush Garden District on a 2 hour walking tour (won’t provide link as I would not recommend the tour we went on)
• Got our shrimp etouffee fill at K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen
• Took in some Sunday Football at Walk-On’s Bistreux & Bar