The present owner George G. Westfeldt, Jr., was the fourth generation of his family to occupy the house. At present the house is the dwelling of the British Consul General, Mr. A. G. Maitland, and his family.
Thomas Toby had come to New Orleans the year following the disastrous Macarty crevasse. Doubtless he was mindful that this circumstance had ruined the Livaudais plantation’s sugar cane crop, and that flood might come again. Certainly a raised cottage, high water architecture if you will, was an excellent choice of style. His dwelling had the typical Louisiana arrangement of brick-piered basement at ground level with a wide flight of stairs leading to the principal floor above. Originally there were galleries only on the front and rear of the house, but through the years other galleries were added as well as a wing on the Philip Street side. Now the outside steps have been removed and the main entrance to the house is through the ground floor hall.
The lack of elaborate ornamentation in the house is a testament to its great age. The pine mantels in the summer living room downstairs and the simplicity of the woodwork are examples. Also notably chaste in design is the cornice of the upstairs drawing room. It has been estimated that one square foot of this molding would weigh 12 pounds. In this room and the dining room the Italian marble mantels are replacements made many years ago. Fireplaces remain in almost every room in the house and are sometimes used in the winter. As in so many houses in this neighborhood, the handmade glass window panes with their delightful irregularities are original.
Outside, the garden has been kept in a naturalistic planting to preserve the plantation atmosphere. The large live oak in the back is a member of the unique Live Oak Society and is listed as the Livaudais oak. The big Magnolia grandiflora trees, the much beloved Southern magnolia, were said to have been planted in the year the house was built. The four Italian sweet olive trees (Osmanthes fragrans) and the large crape myrtles (Lagerstroemia indica) in the front are very old also. The smaller crape myrtles form a collection of “friendship trees” which have been received as gifts from nearly every Southern state. There are many varieties of azaleas and camellias as well as a number of fruit and flowering trees. A beautiful effect is created in fall and winter by the colorful berries of the yaupon (Ilex vomitoria), the Southern holly, which reaches nearly to the roof on the First Street side.
Thomas Toby, native of Philadelphia, was wealthy commission merchant. He lost fortune financing Texas revolution. Portrait by Vaudechamp.
JOHN A. MMAHAT HOUSE
1239 First Street
Roses, their beauty captured in iron, embellish the grillwork of this palatial Garden District mansion. The interesting façade with double galleries is distinguished by the use of “columns in antae”, Corinthian and Ionic columns between the square pilasters at the corners.
The contract for construction of the building was signed on January 3, 1857. For $13,000, so modest by present day standards, the owner, Albert Hamilton Brevard, erected a mansion of many spacious rooms, ornamented in the best classic fashion, with all the carved wood in the house of solid mahogany.