 he massive building you see on the other side of Royal Street taking up the entire block, is the: - Louisiana State Supreme Court Building. An entire block of old Creole homes and businesses was demolished in order to build this huge structure in 1908. This was before preservationists and historians pushed through ordinances and requirements that today regulate alterations to any structure in this historic district. When the monumental white marble and terra cotta Beaux Arts building was first built in 1908-10, it was called the New Orleans Court Building.
Designed by Frederick W. Brown, A. Ten Eyck Brown, and P. Thornton Marya, the intrusive structure costed the city and state $1,090,000 to build. The four-story T-shaped building is set upon a concrete foundation with a superstructure of reinforced concrete. The first and second stories are faced with Georgia marble, and the upper stories with white terra cotta. Later after the courts were relocated to Loyola Avenue, it became the home of the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries, complete with its own museum of local wildlife; work started in 1992 to transform it into the new home of the State Supreme Court. At this point on the walking tour, you can make a side trip to see perhaps the most famous restaurant in the world:
 Antoine's
is located by making a left turn on St Louis Street and walkin about halfway up the block, on the right side. You will see the large painted sign on the side of the building first, then the beautiful iron lacework galleries. Owned by the same family for over 150 years, the restaurant was begun by Antoine Alciatore in a former residence in 1868, and was added to until it encompassed 15 distinctively different dining rooms. Oysters Rockefeller was invented here, and the restaurant has served notables such as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Count von Bismarck, and Cecil B. DeMille. Returning to Royal Street, take a left and stop in front of number 520:- Brulatour Court was designed by Henry S. Latrobe and was built in 1816 as the home of Francois Seignoret,
a furniture maker and wine importer from Bordeaux. Wine importer Pierre Brulatour bought the house in 1870 for his business and residence, and lived there for 17 years. After a long period of neglect from 1887 till 1918 the house was purchased and restored by William Ratcliffe Irby. It is today the home of the local television affiliate WDSU, but the lovely courtyard with its green-painted wooden gallery supported by turned wood columns and twisting staircase is open for viewing during business hours. The Across the street is the:
 Historic New Orleans Collection, housed in the former Merieult House, at 533 Royal. Built in 1792 by Jean Francois Merieult on the site of the barracks and workshops of the Company of the Indies,
it is one of the few buildings that survived the great fire of 1794 that destroyed over 200 buildings in the Quarter. It was bought in 1938 by General Kemper Williams and restored under the direction of architect Richard Koch. General Williams, whose extensive collection of historic documents, paintings, books, and photographs was turned into the Historic New Orleans Collection in 1966, lived in a residence around the corner from his museum house. Today a foundation preserves and adds to the collection, which consists of five historic buildings linked by a flagstone-paved courtyard at their center, is open to the public. When you get to the corner of Toulouse, make a left turn and keep going until you get to number 720, on the left side. This is the:- Tennessee Williams House.
The famous playwright lived in this rooming house from 1938 to 1939, where he used the flavor and ambience of the Quarter as inspiration for his play, Vieux Carre'. Across the street at 727 is the:
- Maison deVille, built about 1780 by Jean Baptiste Sarpy, and now a hotel. The
 Hotel Maison de Ville was established in 1961, and maintains one of the most lush and picturesque courtyards in the Quarter. The slave quarters in the rear may be among the oldest buildings in the French Quarter. A bistro at 733 Toulouse is also run by the hotel, and the Audubon Cottages around the corner on Dauphine Street are used for additional accomodations. Further up on the right side corner of Toulouse and Bourbon is: - Langevine's Shop at 600 Bourbon.
This little cottage is typical of the single-story residence that was common in the Quarter in the 18th century. Built for Amedee Langevine, the house, even for its diminutive size, still had full slave quarters attached to it. It has been the home of the Original Papa Joe's Restaurant for years. It's now time for the mandatory stroll down:
- Bourbon Street, with its gaudy lights, signs, and sounds. Music seems to ooze from every door and window, and alcohol reigns supreme on the wildest street in America. Whether you like this kind of thing or not, you can't say that you've truly sampled New Orleans unless you've seen this amazing show. Make your way past all the tacky t-shirt shops, strip clubs, and baudy nightspots for about 3 blocks until you come to Bienville Street.
On the opposite corner to your left is the:
 Original Old Absinthe House, 238 Bourbon. Not to be confused with the recently-closed Old Absinthe House Bar a couple of blocks down Bourbon, this is the real deal. Built in 1806 by two Spaniards, and converted into a bar in 1890, this is where patrons met over a glass of absinthe, the licorice-flavored drink that was outlawed in 1905 for its detrimental effects on the brain. Some of the patrons included famous personages like Oscar Wilde, Walt Whitman, Sarah Bernhardt, Andrew Jackson, and allegedly the Lafitte brothers, who in 1815 supposedly met with Jackson to plan the defense of New Orleans.
It was a speakeasy during prohibition, and today still functions as a bar, where you can enjoy anisette flavored drinks instead.
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