Jean Lafitte Historic Resource Study (Chalmette Unit)

1. An informal report was also prepared by Roy E. Appleman, entitled, "Chalmette National Battlefield Site: Inspection Report and Recommendations," 1938, in park files; a second informal study was undertaken by Dawson A. Phelps, entitled, "The Beauregard House," enclosure to memorandum from Phelps to Superintendent, Chalmette National Historical Park, November 19, 1948.

2. Francis F. Wilshin, "The Rene Beauregard House." (Unpublished report dated December 31, 1952, in the library of the Chalmette Unit); Samuel Wilson, Jr., "Rene Beauregard House: Architectural Survey Report." (Unpublished report dated 1956 in the library of the Chalmette Unit).

3. One arpent is equal to 0.85 acres and one toise is equal to 2,1315 yards or 1.945 meters. See conveyance, Hilaire and Louis St. Amand to Alexander Baron, Act of Carlisle Pollock, Notary Public, April 10, 1832, Notarial Archives, St. Bernard Parish, translated from the French, in Notarial Archives, Parish of Orleans (NONA).

4. For a complete history of the land from the colonial period to 1817, see Wilson, "Rene Beauregard House," pp. 1-8. See also Wilson, The Battle of New Orleans: Plantation Houses on the Battlefield of New Orleans (New Orleans: The Battle of New Orleans, 150th Anniversary Committee of Louisiana, 1965), pp. 39-48.

5. This transaction is cited in Conveyance, Hilaire and Louis St. Amand to Alexander Baron, Act of Carlisle Pollock, April 10, 1832.

6. Ibid. The transfer of land from Baron to the widow Malus is cited in a later conveyance known as Donation, Annette Malus to Lucien Malus, Act of Lucien Hermann, Notary Public, September 29, 1848, bk. 48, fol. 221, NONA.

7. Louisiana Courier, March 27, 1832.

8. Donation, Annette Malus to Lucien Malus, Act of Lucien Hermann, September 29, 1848.

9. Credit Sale, Francois and Lucien Malus to Caroline Fabre, Widow of Michel Bernard Cantrelle, Act of Amadee Ducatel, Notary Public, April 11, 1856, Notarial Archives, St. Bernard Parish, translated from the French, in NONA.

10. Wilson, "Rene Beauregard House," pp. 11-12.

11. Credit Sale, Mrs. Caroline Fabre, Widow of Michel Bernard Cantrelle, to J. A. Fernandez y Lineros, Act of Amadee Ducatel, Notary Public, July 5, 1866, bk. 9, fol. 180, NONA; Notice of sale, unidentified newspaper, attached to conveyance, in ibid.

12. Wilshin, "The Rene Beauregard House," p. 36.

13. Act of Gustave Le Gardeur, Notary Public, February 27, 1873, NONA; Credit Sale, Mrs. Carmen Lesseps, wife of Jose Antonio Fernandez y Lineros, to Rene T. Beauregard, Act of James Fahey, Notary Public, June 1, 1880, bk. 14 fol. 230, Notarial Archives, Parish of St. Bernard.

14. New Orleans Daily Picayune, March 27, 1880.

15. Credit Sale of Mrs. Carmen Lesseps, June 6, 1880.

16. Book of Mortgages, Parish of St. Bernard, No. 11-B, p. 207; Act of E. A. Peyrous, Notary Public, September 24, 1888, Notarial Archives, Parish of St. Bernard.

17. Wilshin, "The Rene Beauregard House," p. 45.

18. Conveyance, Act of H. Generes Defour, Notary Public, November 28, 1904, bk. 20, fols. 451 and 452, NONA.

19. Act of Watts K. Leverich, Notary Public, March 14, 1949, bk. 52, fol. 459, NONA.

20. John P. Coleman, "Fine Old New Orleans Mansions: Stately Bueno-Retiro, Now in State of Decay," New Orleans Estate, September 1924; Clarence John Laughlin, Ghosts Along the Mississippi: An Essay In the Poetic Interpretation of Louisiana's Plantation Architecture (New York: Bonanza Books, 1961), Plate 55; Joseph Frazer Smith, White Pillars: Early Life and Architecture of the Lower Mississippi Valley Country (New York: W. Helburn, Inc., 1941), p. 204; Natalie Scott and William Philip Spratling, Old Plantation Houses in Louisiana (New York: Win. Helburn Co., 1927), p. 159; Italo William Ricciuti, New Orleans and Its Environs: The Domestic Architecture 1727-1870 (New York: W. Helburn, Inc., 1938), Plate 43.

21. Louisiana Courier, March 7, 1832; Conveyance, Hilaire and Louis St. Amand to Alexander Baron, Act of Carlisle Pollock, April 10, 1832.

22. "Topographical Map of New Orleans and Its Vicinity," by Charles F. Zimpel, dated March 1834 but copyrighted on September 4, 1833. Historic New Orleans Collection.

23. Phelps, "The Beauregard House," p. 11.

24. Donation, Annette Malus to Lucien Malus, Act of Lucien Hermann, September 29, 1848.

25. Wilson, Plantation Homes on the Battlefield of New Orleans, p. 26.

26. Henry C. Castellanos, New Orleans as It Was: Episodes of Louisiana Life, (New Orleans: Pelican Publishing Co., 1961), p. 178.

27. Laughlin, Ghosts Along the Mississippi, Plate 55.

28. New Orleans Daily Delta, 1855, cited in Wilson, "Rene Beauregard House," p. 12.

29. Wilson, "Rene Beauregard House," p. 13.

30. Notice of sale, unidentified newspaper attached to Credit Sale, Mrs. Carolina Fabre to J.A. Fernandez y Lineros, Act of Amadee Ducatel, July 5, 1866.

31. Wilson, "Rene Beauregard House," pp. 16, 22-23.

32. Ibid., pp. 16-17.

33. Photograph of the Beauregard House, ca. 1890, Cenas Collection, Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans; Wilson, "Rene Beauregard House," p. 17.

34. Ibid., following p. 19.

35. Wilson, "Rene Beuaregard House," p. 12.

36. Notice of sale, unidentified newspaper attached to Credit Sale, Mrs. Caroline Fabre to J. A. Fernandez y Lineros, Act of Amadee Ducatel, July 5, 1866.

37. Wilson, "Rene Beauregard House," p. 17.

38. Ibid.

39. Ibid., pp. 17-18; Wilson, Plantation Houses on the Battlefield of New Orleans, pp. 49-51.

40. Wilson, Plantation Houses on the Battlefield of New Orleans, pp. 49-51.

41. New Orleans Daily Picayune, March 27, 1880.

42. Architecturally, there is no connection between the Beauregard House and the palace of Buen Retiro; Fernandez y Lineros apparently named his house Buen Retiro for sentimental reasons. See George Kubler and Martin Soria, Arts and Architecture In Spain and Portugal and their American Dominions, 1500 to 1800 (Baltimore: Penguin Books, Inc., 1959), pp. 22-23; Yves Bottineau, Living Architecture: Iberian American Baroque (London: Macdonald & Co., 1971), p. 1969.

43. Wilson, "Rene Beauregard House," p. 18.

44. Baptismal Records, St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans, and letter, Mary D. Impastato to Dr. George Roffalovich, July, 1969, cited in Wilshin, "The Rene Beauregard House," pp. 36-37

45. Wilson, "Rene Beauregard House," p. 19.

46. Ibid., p. 18; Wilson, Plantation Houses on the Battlefield of New Orleans, p. 69. See also Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) drawings of 1934 for many of the details of this remodelling. Copies in the National Park Service Denver Service Center.

47. Wilson, "Rene Beauregard House," p. 19.

48. Credit Sale, Mrs. Carmen Lesseps to Rene T. Beauregard, Act of James Fahey, June 4, 1880. Eight years later the property was expanded to include Lot No. 1, adjoining Lot No. 2, bought from Octava Toca for $3,000. See Act of E.A. Peyrous, September 24, 1888, Notarial Archives, Parish of St. Bernard.

49. Wilson, "Rene Beauregard House," p. 19.

50. Louis Torres to Samuel Wilson, Jr., March 31, 1975; Wilson to Torres, April 11, 1975.

51. Conveyance, Act of H. Generes Dufour, November 28, 1904; Wilshin, "The Rene Beauregard House," p. 49.

52. While considerable interest was being generated toward the preservation of the Beauregard House during these years, several descriptions of the structure appeared in various publications some of which were as follows: Smith, White Pillars; Scott and Spratling, Old Plantation Houses in Louisiana; Laughlin, Ghosts Along the Mississippi.

53. Wilson, "Rene Beauregard House," p. 19; Act of Watts K. Leverish, March 14, 1949.

54. "Facts About Beauregard House (visitor center)," note card in park files.

55. Wilson, "Rene Beauregard House," p. 19.

56. Notice of sale, attached to conveyance, Credit Sale, Mrs. Caroline Fabre, July 5, 1866.

57. New Orleans Daily Picayune, March 27, 1880.

58. Wilson, "Rene Beauregard House," p. 45. For further details on the history and architecture of the Beauregard House, see Louis Torres and Curtis Lester, Historic Structure Report. Administrative, Historical, and Architectural Data and Historic Furnishings Study of the First Floor, Chalmette National Historical Park, Rene Beauregard House (Denver: National Park Service, 1978).