Gallier House
Creole townhouse where an architect piped rooftop rainwater to one of the city's first indoor bathrooms.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Gallier House in New Orleans follows architect James Gallier Junior, who in 1859 turned his own Royal Street home into a private laboratory for indoor plumbing before risking the idea on a paying client. It traces the rooftop cistern, the courtyard tank below it, and the copper tub and porcelain toilet that made this one of the city's earliest flushing bathrooms, along with the odd choice Gallier made about a sink for his four daughters. You'll also hear about the men who worked the courtyard septic tank by night. Stand in that courtyard and picture the plumbing running beneath your feet.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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