Emergency Stabilization of Interior Environmental Conditions HURRICANE KATRINA EMERGENCY GRANT

FAIN: PC-50023-06

Longue Vue House and Gardens (New Orleans, LA 70124-1007)
Lydia Schmalz (Project Director: February 2006 to April 2008)

Longue Vue House and Gardens in New Orleans is an eight-acre city estate, recently named a National Historic Landmark, designed for the Edgar B. Stern family by William and Geoffrey Platt and Ellen Biddle Shipman. The site includes eight significant buildings, five garden structures, and fourteen historic gardens. A collection of over 4000 pieces of European, Asian, and American decorative and fine arts that span three centuries and reflect the taste of elite Americans in the first half of the twentieth century are exhibited in the Classical Revival mansion. The historic house museum also maintains an extensive archives of more than 200 drawings and 300 boxes of photographs, correspondence and papers related to the history and design of the estate, the family and their civic and philanthropic activities. The main house was flooded in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina causing damage to some collections and destroying the mechanical systems that provided environmental controls for the collections and structure. The museum's staff took immediate action to drain the basement of water and install generators to run temporary air, dehumidifying, and monitoring systems. They consulted with preservation experts and have begun the process to re-design new environmental controls.