Creole Townhouses and the Porte-cochère

by nolahistoryguy | Nov 20, 2025 | Antebellum New Orleans, Architecture, French Quarter, Plan Boks

The Porte-cochère is a common architectural feature in the French Quarter.

Porte-cochère homes

Plan book for a “store-house” on Royal Street, between Iberville and Canal Streets. From A Pattern Book of New Orleans Architecture:

Plan book 95, folio 26, New Orleans Notarial Archives, February 16, 1853, unsigned. Royal between Canal and Customhouse, backed by Bourbon Street. The lot size is about 36 feet by 159 feet. The estimated building date is 1830. The sign over the wide door on the left reads, “Sewell T. Taylor.” This porte-cochère storehouse features handsom, double-paneled, square-headed doors on the right, opening to an elliptical arched passageway.

Many townhouses in New Orleans feature a porte-cochère in lieu of a classic front door. Here’s Toledano’s description of the feature:

Two or three story building with a wide carriageway is especially suitable for the twenty-first century. It allows off-street parking and a courtyard or patio, with a rear entrance stairway to the living quarters above.

While it’s referred to as a carriageway, Creole townhouses didn’t usually store a carriage in the back. The more common use case was to back a carriage into the entrance, to provide cover for riders during inclement weather. Most Quarter residents didn’t stable horses at their homes, either. Horses occupy a lot of space. There were a number of buildings that served as stables. Your coachman dropped you off at home, then took the horse and carriage off to another location.

Additionally, residents of the townhouse accessed the building via the door on the left side. This door led to an alleyway connecting the sidewalk to the courtyard. Household staff, usually enslaved people at the time of this plan book, could come and go through this separate entrance.

Now a hotel

Alas, this “store-house” Ain’t There No More. This block of Royal now contains the Wyndham New Orleans – French Quarter Hotel. Many will remember this location from when it was a Holiday Inn.

Step back in time

Stepping through the Porte-cochère at Sylvain on Chartres Street. (Sylvain photo)

My favorite example of a porte-cochère is Sylvain Restaurant, located at 625 Chartres. We pass by Sylvain when I lead the Friends of the Cabildo French Quarter Walking Tour on an “up-river” walk. Since the building is a restaurant, it’s easy for visitors to walk through the carriageway to the courtyard (and the restaurant’s entrance). Close your eyes and imagine the master of the house coming into the porte-cochère on his horse, dismounting, and continuing into the courtyard. As we know, the courtyard was the center of family life in these New Orleans homes.