Laurent Ursain Guesnon,
a free
man of color and carpenter,
bought the lot in 1807 and
built the brick-between-post creole cottage soon after
his marriage in 1811 to Mathilde Zolla, free woman of
color. He then lived in the house until his death in 1842
with at least one daughter, Heloise Guesnon. His widow
sold the house in 1854.
The beautiful arched openings with their fanlights and
the arched dormers, under round-heads beside fluted pilasters
with casement openings, intimate the early date and the
endurance or creole building traditions.
The gabled ends,
the delicate overhang supported by iron bearers, and the
position of the house on the banquette, set low to the
ground, constitute creole urban traditions. Alterations
have not spoiled the proportions of this early house.
