New Orleans - Official Visitors Guide 2008 - (Page 21) continued from page 19 Beyond the Quarter are residences like the 18th-century Pitot House, the Garden District’s Van Benthuysen-Elms Mansion and Longue Vue House and Gardens at the parish line. Southern Living has called Longue Vue “one of the country’s finest city estates,” the intricate gardens of which were created by Ellen Biddle Shipman, “dean of American women landscape architects.” Shotgun Living For all of the grandeur of the homes along St. Charles Avenue and the Old World charm of the French Quarter’s courtyards and townhouses, New Orleans’ most distinctive architectural symbol may very well be the unassuming “shotgun” house. They’re the long, narrow houses you see with rooms all lined up in a row. The design is thought to be an evolution of the African “long house” style brought to Louisiana via Haiti (the name is thought to come from the West African word shogon, or “God’s house”). By the late 19th century, the breezy shotgun floor plan was used for nearly all but the grandest homes. Lining up row upon row of these narrow houses led to the creation of dense neighborhoods, the very places where many aspects of New Orleans’ unique character have been cultivated. V i s i t O u r W e b s i t e a t W W W. n e W O r l e a n s i n f O. c O m http://www.neworleansinfo.com
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