A charming courtyard with brick flooring features a traditional black lamppost in the center. Surrounding the area are lush green plants, and behind is a two-story building with ornate wrought-iron balconies and tall windows.

718 Toulouse Street

Williams Residence

Italianate townhouse, built ca. 1889

718 Toulouse Street

Williams Residence

Italianate townhouse, built ca. 1889

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718 Toulouse Street: Williams Residence

This property is a keystone of the 533 Royal Street site, with access to three surrounding courtyards. It was used as a private residence and furnished apartments before being purchased and subsequently renovated by Kemper and Leila Williams. It remains in its 1940s condition as HNOC’s historic house museum.

A cozy, elegant library room with wooden bookshelves filled with books, a wooden desk with a green lamp, decorative ship models, and framed paintings on the walls. Two white chairs and a floral sofa flank a small glass-top table.

Kemper Williams’s study

Timeline

1797: The lot is the site of Merieult’s stables and slave pens.

1850s: Theodore Moreau builds a warehouse on the site.

1889: Jean-Baptiste Trapolin purchases the front half of 718 Toulouse, rejoining the front and back halves of the lot. Trapolin builds an Italianate townhouse that abuts his Royal Street property. This private home sits back from Toulouse Street with a yard in front, an unusual feature in the French Quarter. The Trapolins may have lived in some parts of the house at some point, but as early as 1894 the property was advertised as “Furnished Rooms, with or without board.”

1921: The property is purchased by Louise Brana, famous French cook of the Café de L’Entre Act at the French Opera House. Madame Brana’s home becomes a center of French expat society in the French Quarter.

Exterior of the Café de L’Entre Act, ca. 1905. HNOC, 1981.261.9

1938: Kemper and Leila Williams purchase the property along with the Merieult House at 533 Royal Street. While the Williamses make renovation plans for their French Quarter properties, they allow the city to use the first floor for the WPA Art Gallery, with two apartments on the second floor.

1945: Leila and architect Richard Koch renovate the house to turn it into a comfortable mid-century home.

1964: The Williamses moved to the Garden District but maintain the furnishings of their French Quarter residence, with the goal of “preserving the way of life in the Quarter in bygone days.”

Drawing room of the Williams Residence, 1945, photo by Richard Koch. HNOC, 1982.74.7

1966 and 1971: Leila and Kemper Williams die, respectively, establishing the Historic New Orleans Collection through their wills.

1974: The Williams Residence opens for guided tours as a historic house museum.

Williams Residence courtyard, ca. 1970, ink-with-wash drawing by Vincent Zenone. HNOC, 1974.1.1

Exterior of the Café de L’Entre Act, ca. 1905. HNOC, 1981.261.9

Drawing room of the Williams Residence, 1945, photo by Richard Koch. HNOC, 1982.74.7

Williams Residence courtyard, ca. 1970, ink-with-wash drawing by Vincent Zenone. HNOC, 1974.1.1

Visit

Williams Residence

Currently closed for repairs, the historic townhouse offers a window into the day-to-day life of HNOC’s founders in midcentury New Orleans.

View View

A spacious, elegant bedroom with pale yellow walls features a classic fireplace, a large bed, a chaise lounge, and multiple windows draped with lace curtains, allowing soft light to illuminate the room. Vintage furniture and decor complete the setting.

Research Tools

Collins C. Diboll Vieux Carré Digital Survey

Visit the Database Visit the Database

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