Sammuel Zemurray Home In New Orleans

by Michael Hoard

Title

Sammuel Zemurray Home In New Orleans

Artist

Michael Hoard

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

The house was built in 1908 by cotton broker and lumberman William T. Jay, according to plans devised by New Orleans architects Albert Wogan and Victor Toledano. Though the majestic house cost less than $40,000 to construct, no expense was spared in making it a showplace of the Southern Colonial Revival style. Its massive Corinthian columns and wraparound verandas helped establish the then recently created Audubon Place as the city's premiere residential park.

The home's red-brick exterior was originally unpainted and contrasted dramatically with the brilliant white columns and terraces. Jay made certain that the interior was equally remarkable, installing mahogany and other exotic wood paneling in the rooms and complex plaster relief work on the ceilings. Indoor space was so vast that children of a future resident once played football in an upstairs hallway.

Less than 10 years after building the house, Jay sold it to fruit and produce importer Samuel Zemurray, a Russian immigrant born Schmuel Zmurri who would come to rule a commercial empire. The Zemurrays and their children moved into the house in 1917 and immediately began a renovation, working with noted New Orleans architect Edward Sporl.

The Zemurrays carved a handsome ballroom from the third-floor attic, illuminated with dormers. The ballroom featured a pipe organ made by the vaunted Aeolian Company and benefited from an elevator and dumb waiter installed during the renovation. On the second floor, a state-of-the art steam bath was installed in a large space facing St. Charles Avenue.

Marjorie Cowen sits in the couple's bedroom, in the family quarters on the second and third floors.
Over the next 50 years, the Zemurrays entertained frequently and played host to many celebrated people in their home, including their niece, writer Lillian Hellman. By the time Samuel Zemurray died in 1961, he and his wife, Sara, had already decided to donate the house to Tulane University to serve as its president's home. The donation was finalized in 1965, and Tulane President Herbert Longenecker and his family moved there in 1967, establishing the Tulane era in the historic home.

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December 4th, 2018

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