Julia Row
New Orleans, Orleans Parish, Louisiana
Marker Inscription
Julia Row. Thirteen identical residences erected 1832-33 for the New Orleans Building Company. James H. Dakin, Architect. Alexander T. Wood, Supervising Architect. Daniel T. Twogood, Builder. Many prominent families lived here and the second house from St. Charles Avenue was the childhood home of Henry Hobson Richardson (1838-1886), Boston architect famous for the Richardsonian Romanesque style. The building at 604 Julia Street was purchased in 1976 and restored by the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans. This plaque was given in memory of Stanton M. Frazar (1931-1987) by the Friends of The Cabildo, the Louisiana Landmarks Society, the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans, the St. Charles Avenue Association, and Save Our Cemeteries. Orleans Parish Landmarks Commission. 1988.
Erected by Orleans Parish Landmarks Commission
The Story
Julia Row is a terrace of thirteen identical townhouses erected in 1832–33 for the New Orleans Building Company, designed by architect James H. Dakin. The second house from St. Charles Avenue was the childhood home of Henry Hobson Richardson, who grew up to become the Boston architect famous for the Richardsonian Romanesque style; in 1976 the Preservation Resource Center restored 604 Julia Street.
Why it matters
A rare survival of elegant 1830s row housing, it nurtured one of America's most influential architects and helped spark New Orleans's historic-preservation movement.
The story behind this marker
AI contextThe era
Julia Row was built in 1832–33, in the Early Republic, when New Orleans was surging as one of the great commercial ports of the young United States. Cotton, sugar, and river trade were pouring wealth into the city, and a rising merchant class wanted fashionable, dignified housing to match.
The answer here was something then new to the American South: a terrace of thirteen identical townhouses, built as a single elegant unit rather than as scattered individual homes. It was a distinctly urbane, forward-looking idea — a row of matched façades presenting one unified front to the street.
That ambition speaks to the mood of the era. This was a confident, building, inventive age, and Julia Row was the kind of project that announced New Orleans as a serious, modern city.
People & events
The thirteen residences were erected for the New Orleans Building Company, with James H. Dakin as architect, Alexander T. Wood as supervising architect, and Daniel T. Twogood as builder. Many prominent families lived along the row in its heyday, making it one of the city's most desirable addresses.
One of those homes carries special weight. The second house from St. Charles Avenue was the childhood home of Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886), who grew up to become one of the most influential architects in American history — the Boston-based designer whose bold, heavy, rounded style became so distinctive it took his own name: Richardsonian Romanesque.
The row's later story is one of rescue. The building at 604 Julia Street was purchased in 1976 and restored by the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans. The commemorative plaque itself was given in memory of Stanton M. Frazar (1931–1987) by a coalition of preservation groups — the Friends of The Cabildo, the Louisiana Landmarks Society, the Preservation Resource Center, the St. Charles Avenue Association, and Save Our Cemeteries.
Its place in the American story
Julia Row matters twice over. As architecture, it is a rare surviving example of elegant 1830s row housing — a tangible piece of how a prosperous American city chose to build and live nearly two centuries ago.
Its second claim is national in the fullest sense: it nurtured Henry Hobson Richardson, who became one of America's most important architects. The style that carries his name shaped courthouses, libraries, churches, and train stations across the country, so a childhood spent on this New Orleans row connects to buildings Americans still admire far from Louisiana.
And the restoration of 604 Julia Street marks a third significance. It became a rallying point for New Orleans's preservation movement — an example of a city deciding that its own history was worth saving, an impulse that has protected historic places nationwide.
If you visit
Stand back on Julia Street and take in the whole terrace at once — that's the point of it. Thirteen matched houses were meant to read as a single grand composition, and seeing the rhythm of the repeated façades is the best way to understand what made the row special in the 1830s.
Then count in from St. Charles Avenue to the second house, and let the marker's fact land: a child who lived there grew up to reshape American architecture. It's a quiet doorway with an outsized legacy, and knowing the story changes how the whole block feels.
Julia Row sits in New Orleans's historic warehouse-and-arts district, an easy and rewarding stretch to explore on foot. As you walk, remember that these houses survive because people fought to keep them — the restored home at 604 Julia Street is proof of that effort. Admire the residences from the street, and enjoy tracing elegance, invention, and preservation along one remarkable block.
Written by AI to add context, grounded in the marker’s inscription and the historical record. The inscription above is the original, unaltered text.
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Related people
- · James H. Dakin
- · Henry Hobson Richardson
Themes & tags
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