Organization Overview
Victoria Mansion is one of the most important historic house museums of its period in the nation. It was constructed to be the summer home of Ruggles Morse, a highly successful hotelier operating in antebellum New Orleans, and his wife, Olive. The building, designed by Henry Austin, is one of the greatest examples of American residential architecture from prior to the Civil War. The interiors by Gustave Herter are unmatched for their quality and completeness and also include the last surviving decoratively painted interiors by Italian immigrant artist Giuseppe Guidicini. As an example of the finest design created in America at the middle of the nineteenth century, the building and its interiors are without parallel and are therefore of national and even international importance.
The Mansion hosts visitors from all over the world who come to delight in the building as a work of art, to learn about the people who created and occupied it, and to see a living preservation laboratory, with conservators working in full view.