OLIVIER HOUSE HOTEL: A BRIEF HISTORY
The history of the Olivier House Hotel is a colorful tapestry woven with the threads of early French Creole New Orleans. The hotel is a collection of historic French Quarter homes and courtyards, dominated by the Olivier-Locoul house. Built in 1839 for Madame Marieanne Bienvenu Olivier de Vezin, the hotel retains the name of the family matriarch who built it.
From sketchbook of Jacques-Nicolas Bussière de Pouilly
Madame Olivier engaged the services of Monsieur Jacques Nicolas Bussiere de Pouilly, one of the most prominent architects of early New Orleans, to design her home. Among many of Monsieur de Pouilly’s notable architectural accomplishments was the final renovation of St Louis Cathedral in the mid 1800’s. He is largely responsible for its present look. Madame Olivier’s home was built in the Creole Greek Revival style, and remains one of the best preserved examples of this architectural style in the French Quarter today.
The ground floor remains much as it was in Madame Olivier’s day – with the entry hall, double parlor, and main courtyard. From the main courtyard, room 105 was the original kitchen of the house, which still has the large hearth where the family meals were prepared. The rooms to the back of the main courtyard were the livery, where the family’s horses and carriage were cared for. The rooms on the upper floor around the courtyard were the slave quarters, accessed by the staircase tucked away in the arched alcove (these stairs are no longer used).
The second floor contained the master bedroom, and a large ballroom, which was later divided into guest rooms. The upper floor was family bedrooms.
3 other smaller historic homes combine to make up the present day Olivier House Hotel, the oldest of which being a creole cottage which dates from 1812.
Both Madame Olivier’s maiden “Bienvenu” family and the Olivier family have deep roots which run back to the earliest colonial days of Louisiana. Mrs. Olivier’s husband, Nicholas Joseph Godfroi Olivier de Vezin, was a Revolutionary War veteran. His Grandfather was sent by King Louis XIV of France to the colony of Louisiana to establish the first network of roads and bridges.
The Olivier’s were the first of 3 lines of minor French Nobility who made their homes in this grand house.
Madame Olivier’s father owned and oversaw 3 plantations, and was very active in the early political life of the city.
Madame Olivier was the matriarch of a large portion of Creole New Orleans society. At the time of her death she was mother, grand-mere, or great-grand-mere to over 60 descendants.
After Madame. Olivier’s death, the house was purchased by Elizabeth Locoul, and remained in the Locoul family through 3 generations. The Locoul family also boasted a rich and colorful French-Creole history, operating a sugar plantation in St James parish (now known as Laura Plantation, which is open to visitors), along with other ventures, including importing wine from their ancestral homeland of Bordeaux, France.
Elizabeth’s daughter, Aimee maintained the house throughout her life, though she spent much of her adult life in Paris, Aimee died in New Olreans in 1889 and is also buried in the Locoul family crypt. Aimee married a French Count, Monsieur Ivan Charles de Lobel-Mahy.