House of the week: Shotgun on Chartres Street

While looking for my first New Orleans apartment over 8 years ago, I found the cutest place in the Marigny. It was half of a double shotgun on Burgundy Street with hardwood floors, 12 ft. ceilings, transom windows, a nice front porch, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in the parlor and was located right across the street from a corner bar. As if that wasn't enough to sell me, the landlord was asking only $495 per month! Unfortunately, another potential renter beat me to the punch and came up with the first and last mere hours before I could write the check. Plus, my mother was with me and she was reluctant to appreciate the beauty of that up & coming neighborhood. I often wonder how my first year in New Orleans would have been different had I lived that close to Frenchman Street and the Quarter...

Since then, I have often checked apartment and house listings in that area and boy have prices changed. Eight years ago, I could have bought a gorgeous double shotgun in the Marigny for $250,000 or less! Not anymore. Yesterday, while browsing homes for weekly post, I spotted this beauty located on Chartres Street right off of Frenchmen and less than two blocks to the French Quarter. Originally a double shotgun, this gorgeous Victorian has been remodeled into a single, four bedroom/three bath home replete with floor-to-ceiling & transom windows, a huge front porch, gorgeous hardwood floors, high ceilings, fireplace mantles and a cute, enclosed courtyard-type backyard. This Marigny beauty is listed for the low, low price of $499,999. Ahh, what ever happened to the good old days?