The Hermann–Grima House is a historic house museum in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The meticulously restored home reflects 19th century New Orleans. It is a Federal-style mansion with courtyard garden, built in 1831. It has the only extant horse stable and 1830s open-hearth kitchen in the French Quarter.
The house has been restored to its original splendor through archaeological studies and careful review of the building contract and inventories. The house is recognized as one of the earliest examples of American architecture in the French Quarter. The restoration accurately depicts the gracious lifestyle of a prosperous Creole family. Approximately one-half of the collection can be sourced to original families.
The Christian Woman's Exchange (now The Woman's Exchange), a local non-profit organization, purchased the property in the 1920s and ran it as a boarding house for single women until 1975. It was restored and reopened as a museum in 1975, and The Woman's Exchange still owns and operates the building today. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1974.
Architecture
William Brand designed and built the house in the Federal or Georgian style. This was not a commonly-used style in early 19th-century New Orleans. It features a symmetrical facade, an ornate doorway, and a wide central hall, but it is not purely Federal.
Brand took the basic form of a Federal-style house and added several cabinets, balconies, and galleries. The balconies and galleries are more typical of French Louisiana style architecture and were an adaptation necessary because of the warm climate. The slave quarters were built in the characteristic New Orleans style. There are no interior hallways; the balconies connect the rooms.
Furniture styles
There are four major styles of furniture in The Hermann–Grima House. Because the home was a private residence from approximately 1831 to 1924 there are several furniture styles that are appropriate to the museum's interpretation of the history of the house. The majority of the collection is generally classified as American Empire and early Victorian with many nice examples of more specific styles under both classifications.
American/Late Empire
American Empire style furniture was heavily influenced by the Neo-classical style of French Empire style furniture with comparatively straight lines and motifs evoking Greece and Rome. The difference in the American Empire Style can be found in the characteristic heavier feel than French Empire. The style was very fashionable between 1830 and 1850 and was still completely acceptable as solid and conservative well after that time. The Hermann–Grima House collection houses a substantial amount of furniture classified under this style.
Restoration
Restoration style is a sub-classification of the Empire Style. The reference is to the restoration of Louis XVIII to the throne of France after the defeat of Napoleon. It is also influenced by the French Empire style. It resembles Greek and Roman models, but the lines show more pronounced curve. This style was interpreted by United States cabinetmakers such as Francois Seignouret. Example of this style can be seen throughout the Hermann–Grima House, most notably in the dining room.
Interior
Pillar and scroll
This early Victorian style heavily influenced American cabinetmakers such as Joseph Meeks. Meeks has a furniture outlet in New Orleans on Chartres Street, but his main office was in New York. The characteristics of this style are also based on Greek and Roman models but reflect simple construction and flat one-dimensional surfaces with pillars and scrolls supporting the pieces. They are machine-made or partially machine-made. There are several fine examples of this style of furniture in the Hermann–Grima House collection.
Rococo Revival
The Rococo Revival style became fashionable from roughly 1845 to 1860. Classicism gave way to Romanticism and a fascination with the past became the basis for an entire range of "Revival Styles". The most popular was the French Revival Style that recalled the days of Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour - the Rococo Revival style. The style was popularized in the United States by cabinetmakers such as Henry Belter and Prudent Mallard. The furniture emphasizes C-scrolls and S-scrolls with a light, feminine feel. Decorative carvings of fruit, flower and shell motifs were popular. The Hermann–Grima House has a beautiful Rococo Revival bedroom set and many other fine examples of this style of furniture.