Hermann-Grima House
4.7(560)google
4.5(69)yelp
Historic Building
Overview
The Hermann–Grima House is a historic house museum in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. The meticulously restored home reflects 19th century New Orleans. It is a Federal-style mansion with courtyard garden, built in 1831.
Practical Info
Suggested Duration1.5-2.5 hours
Best TimeRecommended from October to April, Wednesday through Sunday mornings (10:00 AM - 12:30 PM). This 1831 Federal-style historic house museum museum offers an intact look at affluent Creole life. Morning light is excellent for touring the preserved outdoor brick kitchen. Winter weekends often feature open-hearth historical cooking demonstrations.
Getting ThereSituated at 820 St. Louis Street in the French Quarter. No on-site parking is available. The best public transit method is riding the Canal Street Streetcar to the Canal at Dauphine stop, walking northeast for 3 blocks past Bourbon Street, and making a left onto St. Louis Street; the grand historic mansion is a 5-minute walk total.
Travel Tips
- The fragile historical wooden staircases lack elevator mechanisms; jumping or hard stomping is barred, and touching antique wall textiles is a code violation.
- Closed Tuesdays; entry is limited to rigid, hour-bound guided tours with locked headcounts, meaning late arrivals forfeit non-refundable tickets instantly.
- The courtyard features the only operational 19th-century open-hearth kitchen; live wood-fire demos create thick smoke and extreme heat, requiring tight child oversight.
Reviews
Positive
- This 1831 Federal-style mansion is immaculately preserved; the building itself is stunning, housing a wealth of priceless, lavish Queen Anne antique furniture and original household artifacts.
- The guided tour is top-tier and thought-provoking; docents guide you through wealthy Creole merchants' lives while deeply digging into the tragic, heavy history of urban enslaved workers in the stables.
- The most unique feature is having the French Quarter's only intact, operational open-air brick summer kitchen, which hosts live, open-fire 19th-century cooking demonstrations in winter.
- Tucked inside a bustling district, it hides a highly peaceful courtyard filled with citrus flora; crowd density is low, offering a slow-paced encounter with pure Old Southern heritage.
Heads up
- The ticket price is a bit steep for a single historic house, and the interior tour strictly dictates the pace; you must follow the docent closely, with zero freedom to detach for solo photos.
- Due to strict official historic preservation, the house features no modern accessible elevators to retain its 1830s layout; wheelchair users or elderly guests cannot access the second-floor rooms.
- To shield ancient silk wallpapers and art from UV damage, photography or video recording is strictly banned inside the main house rooms, proving disappointing for social media sharing.
- The historic site provides no on-site parking; French Quarter curbside options are rare, and nearby private lots are highly expensive, making driving vehicles here exceptionally inconvenient.