A Country Home's Journey

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Standing on the banks of Bayou St. John is the Pitot House, a rare survivor of old New Orleans. Built in 1799, it's the only example of a Creole Colonial-style country home still open to the public.

If you step inside, you'll see the original architectural fingerprints of the era: brick floors and exposed wood beam ceilings on the ground floor, and carved wood mantels upstairs. But the house has a surprising secret: it's not actually in its original spot. To save it from demolition, the entire structure was moved in 1964.

That move actually uncovered original decorative elements that were hidden for years, allowing historians to restore the home to its former West Indies-style glory.

Updated June 2026