Anne Rice, New York Times Book Review
"Southern Comfort is a multifaceted study of the Garden District from its inception in the early 1800s until the end of the 19th century....The book is a valuable contribution to Southern history and to the history of both American architecture and American cities.... Southern Comfort is a landmark piece of scholarship on the area."


Antiques Journal
Author of the respected history, New Orleans Unmasked, S. Frederick Starr is a well-known authority on the history and culture of New Orleans. Southern Comfort: The Garden District of New Orleans is equally well-known for the popularity and critical acclaim of its first edition quickly sold out-a testament to the book's scholarship and the enduring popularity of and interests in the historic Garden District of New Orleans. As much a cultural history as it is an architectural one, Southern Comfort tells much of its story through the histories of the architects, homeowners, developers, and laborers who shaped this extraordinary neighborhood. Author and historian Starr brings readers back not only to the historical origins of the city but also into the home themselves. Chapters discuss such founding magnates as James Robb, the lives of the most significantly influential city planners and architects, and the way of life in an antebellum society for both the wealthy master and mistress as well as slave, servant, and retainer.


Book Description
The Garden District epitomizes the beauty and mystery of New Orleans; the stately residences and gardens of this historic area are known worldwide for their graciousness and ease. The financial prosperity of nineteenth-century New Orleans, a center of commerce and culture, enabled wealthy newcomers with similar values and tastes to construct a neighborhood of opulent homes, creating a suburb with a unified style. This neighborhood--the Garden District--was situated along one of the first street railway lines in the country, and became one of the earliest commuter suburbs. It remains an enduring achievement of architectural and residential planning. Southern Comfort details the magnificent architecture and planning of the Garden District. Through the histories of the developers, owners, architects, laborers, and craftspeople who shaped this district, the book creates a picture of a uniquely cosmopolitan city in the American South. This title, first published in 1989 and long unavailable, has been carefully updated by the author. It includes 90 new color photographs, showing the brightly painted facades for which this neighborhood is famous, domestic interiors that have never been published, and restoration efforts that have occurred in the past decade. S. Frederick Starr is the founding chair of the Central Asia Institute at the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. He has served as the president of Oberlin College and the vice president of Tulane University.

SYNOPSIS

The Garden District of New Orleans is known for its graciousness and ease. This book, filled with color photographs, details the architecture and life of the area. Also included is information on the homes in the city, the planners of this area, and early visitors, such as Mark Twain.

FROM THE CRITICS

Booknews

This edition features lavish color photographs and interior shots to jazz up the b&w ones demonstrating why the stately ante- and post-bellum mansions with their formally landscaped grounds have made this 1830s New Orleans planned urban district as tourist- and study-worthy as the raucous Latin Quarter. The house of neo-Gothic writer Anne Rice lurks from the back cover. Originally published by MIT Press, 1989. 10x10". Distributed by Chronicle Books. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Antiques Journal