A historic Marigny house at 1515 Pauger St. is getting the restoration treatment for its future life as a spot for the Southern Food and Beverage Museum's visiting culinary scholars and chefs to call home while they're in town, Gambit reports. The Creole cottage was built sometime between 1820 and 1835, according to the New Orleans Architecture: The Creole Faubourgs book, and was the former home of Rosette Rochon, a grocer, butcher, all-around businesswoman, and "one of the first investors in the Faubourg Marigny." So, how did SoFAB end up with the property? It was a donation (aww!) from Don Richmond, who reportedly bought the dwelling in 1977 for $55,000 and lived there a couple years before moving away. When Richmond returned to New Orleans the Rochon home was apparently in quite a state of disrepair so in 1995 he ended up buying it from a sheriff's auction for $36,000, and paying off $19,000 in liens against the house. SoFAB's executive director, Liz Williams, says "Unlike so many of the houses in the area, it's never been modernized or updated in a major way" and while many of the original details are long gone, it still has some of the old-school shutters, door handles, and original moldings.
SoFAB moved out of their previous space in the Riverwalk to make room for the Outlet Collection, and the new digs at the former Drydades Market at 1504 Oretha Castle Haley in Central City are just a few months from opening (the ribbon cutting is September 29). The 30,000-square-foot building will be home to the Museum of the American Cocktail, the Leah Chase Louisiana Gallery, and the Gallery of the States, with the SoFAB Culinary Library and Archive down the street at 1609 OCH.
· Southern Food and Beverage Museum to restore Marigny house for visiting culinary scholars and chefs [Gambit]
· Southern Food and Beverage Museum [official site]
· The Musèe Rosette Rochon Cottage [frenchcreoles.com]
· Musèe Rosette Rochon [rosetterochon.com]