Functions of Design Features

As you tour throughout the city of New Orleans, you will notice that many of the residences are tall, narrow, and close together. This is because the city itself if not extremely large. Therefore, in order to accommodate all of the guests and residents, they started building houses on top of eachother.

(neworleansonline.com)

(neworleansonline.com)

Another thing one may notice is the fact that many houses in New Orleans are right on the sidewalk, they have no front yard. This is because in the late 1700's a massive fire broke out in the heart of New Orleans and destroyed a majority if the city. So, building houses right on the sidewalks was done as an attempt to quicken response time and accessibility for firemen. 

The weather in New Orleans can produce heavy amounts of rain. Therefore, another function added to the homes include tall gables, shutters over the windows, and over-hangs that all work to direct rain away from the front porch and windows. This protects the houses from being badly damaged from severe weather.

 (nola.gov)

(nola.gov)

Lastly, something that is predominant of plantations are the very large windows that are located all around the home. The function that these windows serve in southern homes is to keep the house cool. When all the large windows are open, a nice circulation of air is created which will lower the temperatures inside, even though the temperatures outside may be extremely hot.

 (nola.gov)

(neworleansplantationcountry.com)