The Brown Mansion remains one of the most historic and opulent homes built in the United States at the turn of the century. “The Cotton King” W.P. Brown famously cornered the Cotton Market at a time when cotton was the majority of the US GDP. Brown’s run increased the global price of cotton more than 500%, making him one of the wealthiest men in the world.
Brown’s wealth was so great that his deposit into the bank he founded was the largest bank in the South by a factor of 4. In the aftermath of his newfound wealth, he commissioned the 4 story 22,000 square foot stone mansion in the Romanesque Revival style of famous New Orleans Architect, Henry Hobson Richardson. Brown’s building of the home was the feature story of the New York Times in 1903, with Brown proclaiming that he promised his new bride that he would build her the grandest home on Saint Charles Avenue, a famous street known for grand mansions. The home is reported to have cost $250,000 at the time when the average home was $1,000.
The Mansion of the Cotton King comprises more than 22,000 square feet over four stories that rises to a height of more than 79 feet. Artisans throughout Europe were brought over to build the home. Planning began in 1900 and was completed in 1905. The Mansion was adorned with more than a dozen mantles imported from Europe and built with rare flame mahogany woodwork. A twenty-foot by nine-foot solid slab of marble was shipped from Carrera Italy to carve the solid marble staircase leading to the front of the home. Ceilings were dressed with intricate gold gilded plasterwork.
A red clay Ludowici tile roof rose to a height of more than 75 feet and was dressed with intricate copper gutters. Today the home, recently restored by its present owner, is filed with French and Italian antiques and tapestries, some over 500 years old, and many documented to have belonged to Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Napoleon Bonapart and Count and Countess Volpi di Misurata, the last Doge of Venice.
The home has been featured in more than a dozen Hollywood films with actors Anthony Hopkins, Russel Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Mark Wahlberg, Matthew McConaughey , Ryan Reynolds, Woody Harrelson, Will Ferrell spending time in the home. The Brown Mansion is currently owned by lawyer-entrepreneur John Houghtaling and his wife, former supermodel and Russian pop Star, Yulia Timonina Houghtaling.
I pass on a note of extreme gratitude for your incredible work in restoring the historic roof of the Brown Mansion. When hurricane Ida tore through New Orleans and tore apart the beautiful Ludowici ticked roof, I feared artisans skilled enough to recreate it no longer existed. The day after the storm filled my family with sorrow because there is a sense of great responsibility in preserving the history of the estate. You never own something like this. You are only the caretaker with a great responsibility to preserve it. That same day after the storm, not only had Precision arrived, but they had already completed research of the exact molds and tiles that were made for the home in 1904. Ludowici executives arrived days later, and to our great joy informed us that Ludowici still had the same molds used for the home and assured us that they would be restoring the home as it was, with the same craftsmanship that had endured over a century. The results of the process are stunning. Everyone at Precision and Ludowici treated the job with the care it deserved. Thanks to your companies, we now have the building fortified and beautified for the next two generations.
-Current Homeowner
