Henry Howard (architect)
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Henry Howard | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | February 8, 1818 Cork, Ireland |
| Died | November 25, 1884 (aged 66) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Occupation | Architect |
| Spouse | Miss Richards |
| Children | 11 |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  Confederate States of America (1861–1865) |
| Branch |  Confederate States Navy |
| Service years | 1861–1865 |
Henry Howard (1818–1884) was an Irish-born American architect. Over the course of four decades, he designed over 280 buildings in Louisiana, including several plantation houses during the antebellum era. After the Civil War, he designed many town houses in New Orleans.
Career
Howard first worked as a builder/carpenter in New Orleans, where he built residential stairs.[2] He was employed by architects James H. Dakin and Henry Molhausen.[1][2][5] A few years later, he completed the Pontalba Buildings, started by James Gallier.[4]
By 1848, he designed the Madewood Plantation House near Napoleonville.[2] He went on to design several other plantation mansions, such as Nottoway (1859, which was largest surviving plantation house in the South prior to a fire May 15, 2025 which destroyed much of the main house), Belle Alliance, Indian Camp Plantation (1859), Belmont Plantation in St. James Parish, and Edgewood (1859) in Natchez, Mississippi .[6]
Howard also designed town houses like the Samuel W. Logan House, the Robert H. Short House[6] and the Goldsmith-Godchaux House (1859). The Goldsmith-Godchaux House is "significant for its painted interiors. Has more fresco wall decoration and stenciling than probably any other mid-nineteenth century residence in the South."[7]
In at least a few of these projects, Howard worked with a partner, Albert Diettel, including Edgewood and possibly Indian Camp Plantation.
During the American Civil War of 1861-1865, Howard joined the Confederate States Navy and worked at the Confederate Naval Iron Works in Columbus, Georgia.[2]
After the war, Howard resumed designing houses.[4] Over the course of his career, he designed over 280 buildings,[4] some of which were wrongly attributed to James Gallier.[2]
Other works
- Belle Grove Plantation, Iberville Parish, Louisiana
- Carrollton Courthouse, New Orleans
- White Hall Plantation House, Pointe Coupee Parish
