Lighting a historic New Orleans Home

Converted gas newel post lighting — Gas lamps converted to electric on newel posts.

The illumination of homes has changed over the years. Candles and oil lamps were among the first devices to light our homes, followed by gas lamps, then electricity, which is currently in use today.

It is not uncommon during an inspection of a historic home in New Orleans to come across abandoned gas lines in an attic which once supplied gas to overhead or wall lighting. Occasionally I’ll find and abandoned gas wall bracket or valve on a wall where a gas wall fixture once resided. Rarely do I find older fixtures which have been converted to electricity and are still in use, but it does happen.

Converted gas bathroom lighting — Converted gas bathroom fixture

Once during an inspection of an early 1900’s home in New Orleans, most of the fixtures in place were original gas fixtures converted to electricity. The date of conversion is not known. The gas lamps on the newel posts of the stair well at the center of the room are the main focal point when entering the home.

Converted gas hall lighting — Converted gas hall fixture

Original converted gas lamps were found throughout the home, even in the closets. As a home inspector who performs inspections on many older New Orleans homes, it was impressive to see this many fixtures still in place and in good condition. Love looking at the historic lighting. It was like a step back in time. Inspecting historic homes is always interesting and rewarding.

Inspecting Historic New Orleans Homes

Inspecting historic homes in New Orleans has its challenges and rewards.

The home may be in a historic area and subject to restrictions or regulations on alterations or repairs. The Vieux Carré Commission is a good example of a historic district. This commission preserves, protects and maintains the architectural, historic character and zoning integrity of the French Quarter. It does this by regulating all repairs, alterations, and construction of any building element on the exterior whether visible from the street or not. Owners not in compliance are charged with violations of the infractions. A sample of the Vieux Carré Design Guidelines.

Historic or older homes may not be up to current code or compliance since the building was built before these codes existed. We will use the stairs of an 1860’s Creole Townhouse as an example. The stairs were typically enclosed and positioned between the rear service wing and the main house. The rise and run of these older stairs may not meet today’s standards for compliance but are still functional. You definitely would not tear them down to build new ones. Below are some of the items as examples that differ in older homes.

Structure – Many historic homes in New Orleans were built with solid masonry walls unlike the brick veneers you find on newer homes. What this means is the solid brick wall is actually structural where the brick veneer is just a cladding. The brick veneer can be removed and the structure will still be standing, while a solid brick wall is removed the structure collapses.

Electrical – It’s not uncommon to find electrical wiring from different eras in the home. At times I come across the old gas lines in the attic used for gas lamps that hung from ceilings, more on this in the plumbing section. Many times I’ll find older knob and tube wiring (pre-1940) alongside older grey cloth wiring (1940-1955), aluminum wiring (1960-1970) and even newer Romex. Sometimes the older wiring is active and may be connected to newer wiring.

Plumbing – As mentioned above, the older gas lines used for gas lamps are sometimes still in place but most have been abandoned or capped. Galvanized supply lines can still be found and in use. Cast iron waste lines in the crawl space can still be found.

While these are not the only items inspected during a home inspection, they offer examples of the things we find. Every now and then we come across something cool like a secret hiding place like the one pictured in this newel post. The home it was found in was a Creole Cottage and built around the late 1700’s to early 1800’s.

Historic New Orleans Lighting

While inspecting homes in New Orleans I get to see a vast variety of homes from historic to new. It is amazing the things we find in these older homes. Occasionally there may be several eras of lighting installed within the home.

The first picture is of a gas lamp found in a house we inspected. The fixture appears to be upside down based on the photo on the right. The photo on the right is a picture of a bathroom fixture. Continue reading Historic New Orleans Lighting