 ext door to Preservation Hall is another New Orleans institution: - Pat O'Brien's, or as it was originally called, Maison de Flechier, opened in 1933, and has ever since continued to serve thousands of locals and tourists alike with drinks like the highly popular Hurricane. Don Francisco Collel, a captain in the Spanish Regiment, built this handsome home with its beautiful courtyard, in 1792. Etienne de Flechier bought it in 1806, and at one time it was even the site of popular plays staged by Louis Tabary. Finally, next door to Pat O'Brien's is the:
Alciatore House, 714 St Peter. A boarding house run by the future proprietor of Antoine's restaurant, Antoine Alciatore, it was built in 1829 by a prominent physician, Dr Yves LeMonnier. It was also known as the Lacoul House. Make a left turn when you arrive at Royal Street. The previously mentioned: - LaBranche Houses are on the opposite corner. There are actually 11 houses scattered along these two streets, but you will recognize the most familiar one, the corner house at Dumaine and Royal, by its beautiful lacework galleries of wrought iron designed with oak leaves and acorns. This particular house is probably the best-known and most photographed house in the French Quarter, and usually has flowers and hanging planters strewn on its galleries.
All of the LaBranche buildings were originally built between 1835 and 1840 as plain brick Greek revival 3-story buildings for the widow of wealthy sugar planter Jean Baptiste LaBranche. The galleries were mostly added later in the 1850s, enhancing the look and character of this quintessential French Quarter beauty. Continue walking until you get to Orleans, directly behind the cathedral once again. Turn left on Orleans and walk about a half-block to the Bourbon Orleans Hotel, at 717 Orleans, on the right. The original building was known as the:
 Salle d'Orleans, or otherwise known as the Quadroon Ballroom, a huge ballroom built in 1817 by theatre entrepreneur John Davis.
At first, "society" balls were held here, but when they moved to the bigger St Louis Hotel, the ballroom became the home to the Quadroon balls, where well-heeled Creole gentlemen could form romantic trysts with Quadroon ladies, or those of mixed race. These balls ended during the Civil War, and in 1881 the building became the convent of an order of black nuns. The Bourbon Orleans Hotel was built next door in 1964, and the old ballroom was assimilated into the new structure. You can still glimpse the lavish ballroom today by entering the hotel. Continue until you get to the corner of Orleans and Dauphine. To your left is the: Spring Fiesta Historic Townhouse. The house was built around 1840 as a single-story residence, the second story having been added in 1850.
It has been restored to its former elegance of the 1800s, and is open for tours by the Spring Fiesta Association. Make a left on Bourbon, then a right on Dumaine Street. On the right side of the street, 724 Dumaine, is the: New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum. Another uniquely typical New Orleans museum that is located in a non-historic building, the Voodoo Museum is mostly for visitors who aren't familiar with the art and practice of voodoo. It is claimed to be the only private museum devoted exclusively to voodoo in the country. On the left at 707 Dumaine is a little house called the:- Parapet House. Built in 1800 for a Spanish soldier, Don Joachim de la Torre, it is the only surviving structure of its type
on this block still in compliance with the "flat roof rule" enacted after the great fire of 1794. The high parapet allowed the family to sit out on the roof on cool evenings. Keep walking past the intersection of Dumaine and Royal until you get to 632 Dumaine. This is the house known as:
 Madame John's Legacy. One of the two oldest structures in the Mississippi River Valley, the raised French colonial building is typical of the larger houses of the French Quarter before the fire of 1788. Controversy surrounds the house over whether it was simply repaired after the fire or completely rebuilt, and who the builders were themselves. It was either built in 1726 by a sea captain named Jean Pascal, or built in 1788,
immediately folowing the fire, by Spanish Captain Don Manuel Lanzos.the house was once the home of famous Barataria smuggler Rene' Beluche. It is of the raised cottage plantation style, with a lower floor of brick and an upper of wood, and different from most buildings in the Quarter. Thick brick walls enclose the lower "basement", while a gallery with slender wooden colonettes supporting a hipped and dormered roof is placed above this. The name of the building is derived from a short story by George Washington Cable, about a beautiful Quadroon, or a person of mixed race, named Zalli. As the story goes, her dying white lover John willed the home to her as his "legacy".
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