While some of New Orleans’s most popular architectural styles include Creole cottages and the shotguns, we can’t forget about the center hall.
Dating as early as the mid-19th century, the center hall is “a vernacular building type that is common throughout the American South and the Caribbean,” according to the Historic District Landmarks Commission. In its most traditional sense, a center hall has a wooden exterior, a wide porch, and a facade with a center door and four windows (two on each side of its door). These homes also have a low-sloping roofs with a central dormer.
Typically a cottage, you’ll find variants of the center hall—often raised, and sometimes more than 1.5 stories tall. It’s also common to see these homes with heavy Victorian or Greek Revival influences.
The actual design of the center hall can vary: They typically run down the center of the home, separating two rooms (one on each side). The halls are usually two rooms in length and often span from the front to the rear of the home.
In honor of this gorgeous architectural style, here’s a map of some of the best center halls you can buy in the city.
Note: These amazing homes are ordered from West to East.
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