In 2012 the American Planning Association designated Jackson Square as a one of America’s Great Public Spaces. At the time, the city was just beginning to be a sensual destination for European aristocrats—and like her native city, Almonester soon gained a reputation for dark charm and even darker secrets. Any biography of Micaela Almonester is bound to be incomplete. The bottom floors are shops… As such, she attracted the attention of the Pontalbas, her aristocratic French cousins. Vella succeeds by paying close attention to the worlds she lived in, the social milieu, and the personalities around her. With her properties she built rows of historical homes known as the Pontalba Buildings in Jackson Square. T win block-long, red brick structures, generally referred to as the Upper and Lower Pontalba Buildings, face Jackson Square, lining St. Peter and St. Ann Streets. The Square was to resemble the Palais Royal in Paris. Square design, features. There is no other woman in New Orleans history that has made such a large impact on the design of the city, than Micaela Almonester Pontalba. When the complex was finished in 1851, it contributed to revitalizing the center of the city. Micaela Leonarda Antonia Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba painted in 1927 from a early 19th century portrait miniature This is first of a post on the 1850 house museum located in the Pontalba buildings on Jackson square in the heart of New Orleans French Quarter. The baroness, born Micaela Almonester, was the daughter of a Spanish immigrant who had made it in the rough-and-tumble commercial world of New Orleans; at 15, she was the sole heir to a considerable fortune. Almonester was a wealthy Spaniard who was a Notary and real estate mogul. This tricentennial exhibition organized by the Louisiana State Museum and guest curator Randolph Delehanty, Ph.D. tells the city-defining story of Don Andrés Almonester and his formidable daughter, Micaela, the Baroness de Pontalba. Jackson Square looking toward St. Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter (Photo: Rebecca Todd) One of the people we have to thank for this large outdoor garden in front of St. Louis Cathedral, as well as the two apartment buildings on either side of the square, is Micaela Leonarda Antonia Almonester, Baroness Pontalba. 190116206, ; Maintained by Terrie Tag (contributor 46497759) Unknown. Sculptor Clark Mills's statue of Battle of New Orleans hero and future president Andrew Jackson, for whom the square was named in 1815, erected in 1856; Iron fences, walkways, benches, and Parisian-style landscaping remain intact from original design by Baroness Micaela Almonester-Pontalba in 1851 Jackson Square was designed after the famous 17th-century Place des Vosges in Paris, France, by the architect and landscape architect Louis … To harmonize with her plans, the city added the mansard roofs to the Cabildo and Presbytere. On April 26, 1798, when she was just 2 ½ years old, her Spanish father died, leaving her as his sole heir to a considerable fortune. The Baroness Micaela Almonester de Pontalba (1795–1874) shaped one of the most iconic sites in the city of New Orleans—Jackson Square. 1795 Micaela was born. Micaela was responsible for the design and construction of the famous Pontalba Buildings in Jackson Square, in the heart of the French Quarter. The 1850 House Museum is the only Pontalba apartment open to the public. The Upper and Lower Pontalba Buildings, which line the St. Ann and St. Peter Street sides of Jackson Square, were built in 1850 by the Baroness Micaela Almonester de Pontalba, daughter of Don Andres Almonester y Roxas, the Spanish colonial landowner associated with the neighboring Cabildo, St. Louis Cathedral, and Presbytere. The following as been added or edited . Originally designed as row houses, during the Great Depression the … In 1855, she built the Hôtel de Pontalba in Paris, where she lived until her death in 1874. In 1855, she had built the Hôtel de Pontalba in Paris, where she lived until her death in 1874. Constructed between 1849 and 1851, each building features sixteen elegant townhouses on the upper floors and separate commercial spaces on the ground floors. ( THNOC, 1974.25.27.358 ) The baroness spent her early adulthood in France after marrying a French aristocrat, an arranged union marked by tumult that included her father-in-law shooting her four times at close range and then killing himself. Her efforts helped transform a muddy parade ground to the beautiful, vibrant square visitors see today. She was responsible for the design and construction of the famous Pontalba Buildings in Jackson Square, in the heart of the French Quarter. Timeline for Micaela Almonester de Pontalba. Jackson Square can be credited to two individuals: the Baroness, for her namesake … Imagine living in one of America’s first apartment buildings during its heyday. It shows how a father’s philanthropy and a daughter’s determination created the urban heart and the architectural look of Old New Orleans. In 1855, she built the Hôtel de Pontalba in Paris, where she lived until her death in 1874. She inherited the land at the age of three from her father, who was considered to be the richest man in town. This tricentennial exhibition organized by the Louisiana State Museum and guest curator Randolph Delehanty, Ph.D. tells the city-defining story of Don Andrés Almonester and his formidable daughter, Micaela, the Baroness de Pontalba. Her life was worthy of an operatic plot, and eventually became one: Pontalba: a Louisiana Legacy, composed by Thea Musgrave. Jackson Square is a historic park in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana.It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960, for its central role in the city's history, and as the site where in 1803 Louisiana was made United States territory pursuant to the Louisiana Purchase. Jackson Square, is a historic park in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. He commissioned the Jackson Square (then known as Place d’Armes) icons: St. Louis Cathedral, the Presbytere, and the Cabildo. His daughter, the Baroness de Pontalba, later designed and built the Pontalba buildings which flank Jackson Square. Open to the public Sunday December 2nd, 2018. the Louisiana Museum Foundation celebrates the closing tricentennial events at the Cabildo as the Louisiana State Museum features the 18th-century New Orleans philanthropist, Don Andrés Almonester and his daughter, Micaela Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba. They were commissioned in 1840 by Baroness Micaela Almonester Pontalba, a dynamic businesswoman and Creole aristocrat (look for her initials incorporated into the ironwork). It was a two-act opera loosely based on the life of Micaela Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba, a prominent figure in 19th-century New Orleans. Pontalba Buildings – Jackson Square, New Orleans (Although this article is about colonial Louisiana, you can’t talk women and architecture and not mention Micaela Almonester. In 1795, Micaela Almonester was born to Don Andres Almonester and his wife Louise in the hot, decadent heart of New Orleans, Louisiana. She is the subject of an opera, Pontalba: a Louisiana Legacy, which was composed by Thea Musgrave. Micaela Almonester is famous in New Orleans for conceiving the Pontalba Buildings, an architectural landmark on Jackson Square. When Almonester’s daughter, Micaela Almonester Pontalba, sought to add a façade to her father’s property in Jackson Square, it included an arcade over the sidewalk and a mansard roof. She was a person of note in her time, but not on par with Andrew Jackson, and therefore much of her life is a mystery. These buildings directly led to the rebirth of the city center in the Old Square as renovations of the Cabildo, St. Louis Cathedral, and Presbytère soon followed. Her life was worthy of an operatic plot, and eventually became one: Pontalba: a Louisiana Legacy, composed by Thea Musgrave. When visiting Jackson Square in the heart of the French Quarter, the beautiful Pontalba Apartments They are matching red-brick, four‑story buildings on two sides of Jackson Square, built in the late 1840s by the bullet-proof Baroness Micaela Almonester Pontalba. In the late 1840s, Baroness Micaela Almonester de Pontalba, a wealthy New Orleans businesswoman, and one of the most vibrant personalities of our cities history, designed and commissioned the construction of the beautifully elegant town houses in Jackson Square in the heart of the French Quarter, today known as the Pontalba Buildings. Micaëla Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba, led the construction of two massive buildings lining Jackson Square starting in 1849. Micaela was born on November 6, 1795 from the union of Andres’ Almonester y Rojas and Louise Denys de La Ronde. The largest role of course was that of Micaela Almonester who was very involved in the planning and execution of these now famous landmarks. They are the oldest continuously rented apartment buildings in North America. Micaela Almonester was born in New Orleans, but moved to Paris after marrying her cousin, Xavier Celestin de Pontalba, at the age of 15. You just can’t). Baroness Micaela Almonester de Pontalba (November 6, 1795 [1] - April 20, 1874) was a wealthy New Orleans businesswoman, and one of the most colorful personalities of that city's history. Built in 1851 by the Baroness Micaela Almonester de Pontalba, the elegant townhouses flanking Jackson Square are still in use as private apartments. Micaela was responsible for the design and construction of the famous Pontalba Buildings in Jackson Square, in the heart of the French Quarter. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960. Micaela was responsible for the design and construction of the famous Pontalba Buildings in Jackson Square, in the heart of the French Quarter. The Pontalba Buildings frame either side of Jackson Square, with matching red brick and impressive galleries that stretch more than a city block. The exhibition, The Baroness de Pontalba and the Rise of Jackson Square, to open at the Historic Cabildo (701 Chartres Street), will feature our baroness’s family treasures, publicly exhibited for the first time from the Pontalba’s ancestral château located about forty miles north of Paris.Ball guests will be the first to see Micaela’s official portrait from the Chateau. When Micaela was 2 and ½ years old, he died. 1798 Her father, Don Andres Almonster, dies leaving his now widowed wife with his life savings. An opera and many novels have been written about her dramatic life. It shows how a father’s philanthropy and a daughter’s determination created the urban heart and the architectural look of Old New Orleans. It was based on Christina Vella’s biography of Micaela, “Intimate Enemies: The Two Worlds of Baroness de Pontalba.” Having not known the backstory, I became further intrigued on the drive down for the weekend’s events. Micaela became the wealthiest heiress in New Orleans. Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com: accessed ), memorial page for Micaela Leonarda Antonia Almonester y Roxas Delfau de Pontalba (6 Nov 1795–20 Apr 1874), Find a Grave Memorial no.