 he Garden District, named for the many gardens that its homes possess, is one of the most famous residential areas in the country, thanks to its many well-preserved mansions, most of which were built in the 1800s by wealthy planters and businessmen. The area was formerly part of the Livaudais plantation, which was sold to a group of real estate developers in 1825. It later became a part of the city of Lafayette, incorporated in 1833. The city annexed Lafayette in 1852, but by then there were already many grand homes there. Start your tour of the Garden District
by hopping on the St Charles Avenue Streetcar from wherever you are, and getting off at the Washington Avenue stop. From there walk toward the river for one block and you will hit Prytania Street. Make a left here. On your left is:  The Rink. Built in 1884 as the Crescent City Skating Rink, it was once the South's first roller-skating rink. It was later used as a livery stable, a mortuary, a grocery store, and a gas station. Today it is a mini-shopping mall, with a small collection of specialty shops like PJ's Coffee House and the Garden District Bookshop,
a good starting point for your tour of the Garden District. Here you can purchase any guidebooks or coffee table books on the beautiful houses of this historic neighborhood, or for that matter, any part of New Orleans. The bookstore is novelist Anne Rice's favorite, and she often holds book signings here; in addition there are always signed editions of her novels for purchase. Continue to walk up Prytania Street and, at the corner of Prytania and Fourth Streets, cross Prytania at the near corner. On the other side is the:- Short-Favrot House, also known as Colonel Short's Villa, standing behind a lovely cornstalk fence, similar to the one in front of the Cornstalk Hotel in the French Quarter.
Both examples were designed and fabricated by the same company, the New Orleans branch of the Philadelphia foundry Wood & Perot. The house itself was designed by architect Henry Howard for Kentucky Colonel Robert Short, a commission merchant, and built in 1859. It was designed in the Italianate style, but mimics many aspects of the typical French Quarter townhouse. Inside, the appointments are totally in the Greek revival, while 20th-century additions include the staircase, dining room loggia, and curvrd bay window. Recross Prytania and continue into the next block until you arrive at number 2621, the:
- Villere-Carr House. The eclectic mansion was built around 1870, and features a number of Greek revival elements,
such as a squared Greek-key doorway and squared window frames. Next door to the Villere-Carr House is the:
- Briggs-Staub House. The Garden District's only example of the Gothic-revival style, it was designed by James Gallier Sr for Charles Briggs, and built in 1849. It is said that this style never caught on in the "American" Garden District because it reminded the mostly Protestant area residents of their Catholic Creole antagonists living on the other side of Canal Street. There is a miniature replica of the main house standing next to it that once served to house Briggs' servants, who were free men of color. It was used later as a guesthouse. On the opposite corner across Third Street is the:
- Lonsdale-McStea-Rice House,
at 2521 Prytania. The towering, five-bay, center-hall, Italianate mansion was designed in 1856 by Henry Howard for New York-born Henry T. Lonsdale, who made two fortunes, the first in the gunnysack market, and the second as a coffee broker. he lost the second fortune in the post-Civil War turmoil of Reconstruction. The house was then acquired by the Redemptorist Fathers, who established a chapel there, then purchased in 1996 by novelist Anne Rice, who owns several other properties in the area. Cross Prytania Street once again. On the corner at 2520 Prytania is the:
- Gilmore-Ewin House. Built in 1853, it is an excellent example of the early use of the Italianate style. The house was designed by Isaac Thayer,
who originally planned a small two-story brick home with back buildings for $9,500. The six-room mansion was later enlarged to an eight-room house in 1892 by subsequent owners. The present owners have restored the house to its 1853 appearance.
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