You would not think upon first mention that a famous former French Quarter brothel and the ever-popular New Orleans Po-Boy sandwich would have much in common. You wouldn’t think that… unless you are developer Bob O’Brien, who seems to have found a niche when it comes to restoring historic New Orleans buildings.
Late last year he restored 1026 Conti, the home of last madam, Norma Wallace. The exquisitely renovated French Quarter home is now a residence with seven high-end apartments. Now O’Brien can add another historic building to his resume: 1027 Touro Street, the former annex of Martin Bros. Poor Boy, the original creator of the now-famous New Orleans sandwich. There’s no doubt O’Brien excels in restoring New Orleans landmarks into a uniquely New Orleans living experiences.
“Restoring historic buildings has truly turned into a passion,” comments O’Brien as he points to a large pile of papers, architectural schematics and books that take up most of his desk. As O’Brien unfurls a roll of oversized paper showing the rendering of his latest conquest, he adds, “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the process of finding historic buildings and doing what I can to restore them. My goal with this Touro Street building was to keep as much of the history of the building that I could; I believe I have accomplished that.”
The circa 1937 two-story, Moorish-style building now serves a dual purpose. The first floor is O’Brien’s office and the history and era of the building is visible upon entering. The walls are adorned with old blue tile that had been painted over numerous times, but during the restoration were refurbished to their original sparkling color. A dumbwaiter, once used to bring supplies from an upstairs storage room, has been restored and is now used as a small bookshelf. New flooring has been laid, but O’Brien can easily point to a permanent outline in the floor of where a long service counter once stood where patrons would sit and eat or pick up a Po-Boy. Though not accepted today but a reality of the past, segregation is very much a part of this structure as a single window, which seems totally out of place on the northern side of the building, was restored but now remains permanently closed. At one time, that window was the counter for African American customers who would line up outside to place an order and pick up their food. Upstairs, which you access from an outside stairwell, originally started out as a large storage area and reception hall, but at some point O’Brien says it was turned into three apartments. During the renovation, he left the footprint of the second floor but did some incredible and detailed work to make the space stand out. The original beaded-board ceiling was salvaged and reused as a wainscot in the stairwell; hallway ceilings were sanded and left exposed. Wanting to add a little sentiment to the building, O’Brien hired artist Sean Powell to paint cartoons using the eccentric New Orleans characters Vic & Nat’ly on two of the walls. Powell then painted a large Po-Boy on another wall that also displays an old menu with pricing from the original Martin Bros Poor Boy shop.
When it comes to living at 1027 Touro, two of the three apartments are laid out in side-hall shotgun style, something that is not usually seen in second story living. As O’Brien explains, “I incorporated the uniqueness of living in a shotgun, but I did it in such as way that you don’t have the typical issues that come with living in a shotgun. By creating a side hall, you maintain the shotgun style where one room flows into another, but you don’t have to walk through each room to get to the back the apartment like you do in a formal shotgun.” O’Brien laughs as he explains his philosophy behind this layout. “There’s nothing like living in a shotgun and having a guest or roommate sneaking through your bedroom in the middle of the night to get to the kitchen or bathroom,” O’Brien says and adds that the side-hall gives everyone privacy even though you are in a shotgun. There are numerous features to each apartment, but one aspect he’s especially proud of is the operating pocket doors that adorns each bedroom. “I was able to find and salvage the doors including the original hardware and key to the doors. They really turned out to be spectacular,” O’Brien says. “We walked into the apartment and felt right at home,” explains Craig Powell who is a graduate teaching associate at the Tulane Medical School. Powell, along with his wife Tonya, actually commutes back-and-forth to New Orleans from their permanent residence in Pensacola, but as Powell explains, “We’ve fallen in love with this city and decided to have an apartment here. We love the uniqueness of the apartment and the little touches Bob did to make this so homey. One thing we love is the half wooden arches placed in the kitchen area; it really makes that area stand out.”
Each apartment has two bedrooms. The shotgun-style layout comes with a “Jack & Jill” bathroom as well as a second half-bath. Granite countertops are used in both the bathroom and kitchen and all three apartments come with a stackable washer/dryer. Another amenity that caught the attention of a local musician, who goes by his nickname ‘Stitch,’ is the soundproofing enclosed in the common wall between the two apartments.
“As a musician, you need to practice and I’m always worried about bothering my neighbor,” Stitch says. “I love living here because I can play my saxophone and not worry about disturbing anyone.”
O’Brien says with the help of Mark Boline, leasing agent and owner of New Orleans Relocation, he had no trouble renting out the apartments and is now accepting names for the waiting list. As for his next project, “After putting in years of renovation time into this building and Conti Street, my wife is screaming at me as my own residence needs a lot of TLC. I can guarantee you that my next project will be, no pun intended, closer to home!”