History
Edgar and Edith Stern married in June 1921. During their engagement (as Mrs. Stern recalled in a 1978 interview), she and Mr. Stern were dining at the New Orleans Country Club, and he asked where she wanted to live. She gestured vaguely in the direction of present day Longue Vue. The area was undeveloped and unfashionable at the time (near the cemeteries, but not much else), and there were only about five houses as far as one could see. Thus they decided to purchase a property on Metairie Ridge, a ten-minute drive from New Orleans ' historic French Quarter. They chose a well-sited parcel bordered a prominent golf course, protecting the site from adjacent developments and providing the opportunity for long vistas. Also, the 17th Street Canal bordered the small neighborhood on the west, and the Palmetto Canal bordered it on the south. Together, these canals provided drainage and protected the area from adjacent developments. On their property, in 1923, the Sterns built a Colonial Revival house, designed by New Orleans architect Moise Goldstein. The Sterns also purchased adjacent land parcels to enlarge their estate: the Longue Vue property did not encompass all eight acres until the late 1930s.
When the Stern's decided to hire a landscape architect to work on Longue Vue's gardens, they chose Ellen Biddle Shipman, whom they met though a friend who owned a Shipman-designed garden. Mrs, Stern also was a member of a local Garden Study Club for which Shipman had designed a local public garden. The Sterns hired Shipman in 1935, beginning what would become a 15-year collaboration that lasted until Shipman's death in 1950.
Shipman's influence on Longue Vue went well beyond the design of its gardens. The Sterns named Shipman "Lady Ellen" and described her as the "godmother" of Longue Vue. She made at least two annual visits to Longue Vue per year to work on planting plans and to resolve maintenance issues with variety of head gardeners.
Shown on a 1936 site plan, Shipman's earliest work at Longue Vue included the Goldfish Pond and Overlook (1935); the Sunken Garden or South Lawn (including the a 1920s Temple which she tied to the house via the walled Camellia Allee); a rose garden (now the site of the Walled Garden); and a small terrace with a Pan Statue. Shipman also designed a south terrace garden (now the site of present house).
After Shipman had worked on their gardens, the Sterns realized that their house was not oriented to the garden and they could not enjoy the views from the house. They also decided that they wanted a house and garden in the villa tradition established by Shipman's friend and mentor, Charles Platt. Unfortunately, Platt had died in 1933. After a failed attempt to work with famed architect David Adler, the Sterns consulted "Lady Ellen", on whose advice they hired Platt's successor run by Charles' sons, the New York-based architects William and Geoffrey Platt.
Given the close relationship and shared visions of Shipman, the Platt brothers and the Sterns, Longue Vue presents a holistic design approach that is rarely achieved in design. William became the primary designer for the Sterns' new home; however, Geoffrey 's contributions are evident. Correspondence documents that Shipman also worked on the interiors with the Platt brothers, creating room maquettes and (in consultation with the Platts and the Sterns) choosing the furnishings and decorative schemes.
Ultimately, Shipman and the Platts create a house and garden setting that was comfortable and aesthetically pleasing: Longue Vue was both a home refuge and a seat of entertainment for the Sterns' many philanthropic efforts. In all ways, the new house was Shipman's masterpiece as well as William Platt's. In fact, after Shipman died in 1950, William Platt became the main consultant for all decisions from garden cushions to major changes in the gardens.
In true villa style, the gardens and the architecture both now followed a single cohesive plan. By 1942, the site plan showed an Arrivals court, Oak Allee, Forecourt, Azalea Walk, Pan Garden on the east side, of the House, East Terrace, Portico Garden (knot garden), Camellia Allee, Walled Garden, Wild Garden and Nursery area. No further changes occurred until 1952 when the Temple was replaced by a Loggia. In the 1960s, William Platt created several gardens for Mrs. Stern that reflected the region's Spanish heritage, as well as the Yellow Garden. Visitor (now staff) parking was installed in the 1970s: Mrs. Stern designed its Op art paving pattern. In 1999, the Lucy C. Roussel Children's Disovery Garden opened in the old nursery area to promote children's education; however, the Metropolitan Greenhouse and Lath House, which date to the Shipman era, were retained.
During the mid-'60s, a few years after Edgar Stern's death, Mrs. Stern actively sought to secure the future stewardship of Longue Vue and to provide long-term public access. Thus she established Longue Vue Foundation in 1965 educational purposes. It supported the Longue Vue Gardens, which opened in 1968 on a limited basis while she lived in the house. In 1978, Mrs. Stern moved from her home into the Pontchartrain Hotel: under an agreement with the New Orleans Museum of Art, the house itself opened to the public in 1980. In January 1, 2004, the Longue Vue Foundation and Longue Vue House & Gardens Boards merged. Today, this Board retains total ownership over all of Longue Vue's assets and and holds complete decision making authority, serving as both trustees and operating board.
As a National Historic Landmark, Longue Vue is deemed both to retain a high degree of design and to possess exceptional value or quality in illustrating or interpreting the heritage of the United States. Today, fewer than 2,500 historic places bear this national distinction: only 3% of properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places are designated as National Historic Landmarks -- a designation only the United States Congress can confer. Thus the nation recognizes that Longue Vue is a living part of our national heritage and an irreplaceable legacy to future generations.
