The Benachi House and Esplanade Villa are extensions of the interest in historic preservation that began for me when I graduated Tulane University law school, launched a law practice and moved to the Vieux Carre in 1968. What started as an un-selfconscious appreciation for buildings and their setting, led to an understanding of why an historic area is romantic, beautiful and livable.

I felt like I belonged there. I found a connection to my forebears and their way of life. An early baby boomer and life-long resident of New Orleans, my roots are ancestors living here as early as the 18th Century. I pulled from dormancy an interest in history, particularly that of this region, that my parents had sown in me as a child. I participated actively in the life of the Quarter. As a lawyer ready to defend against threats to its remaining residential character, I argued cases to halt commercial intrusion.

The Vieux Carre Courier weekly newspaper led a successful campaign in the 1960's to stop construction of a riverfront expressway at Jackson Square; it became the unofficial preservation journal of New Orleans. With Jeannette Gottlieb, to whom I was married at the time, I purchased the Courier, and was its publisher for three years. During that time, and mostly umder Ginny's leadership and insight the Courier became a metropolitan newspaper chiding the venerable Times-Picayune into changes of both format and substance.

In 1972 I was elected a Delegate to the Louisiana Constitutional Convention, where I served the following year. My district included much of the residential portion of the French Quarter, and the adjoining Marigny, Esplanade and Treme historic districts. Provisions that I wrote and introduced, including those that continue the constitutional authority of the Vieux Carre Commission, are in our present Constitution.

I purchased from a friend a Creole Cottage (circa 1832) on Burgundy St. in the Quarter and began to reclaim skills in carpentry and building that I first found as a teenager when an Uncle died and I inherited his tools. I rebuilt a patio and built a shed. I refinished floors and added an outlet or two.

Ginny and I divorced, and I married Robin von Breton, a Californian, who had come to New Orleans to start the Figaro weekly newspaper, the Courier's chief competition. Robin loved New Orleans and was a dedicated preservationist. In 1977 our first son Alexander (Alex) was born, and in 1980 Justin came along.

In 1974 I was elected President of the Vieux Carre Property Owners, Residents and Associates, the preeminent French Quarter preservation organization, a position that I held for nearly five years.

In 1982 I sold the Creole Cottage, and Robin and I purchased the Benachi House from the Louisiana Landmarks Society. We had each admired the house. I put to work all of the knowledge of preservation I had gained as an advocate, and drew on friends and colleagues for ideas and support. For me the Benachi House was the grand preservation adventure. The restoration required seven years, and was divided into five phases. We would periodically run out of money and energy, and stop for a while. Robin taught elementary school and worked professionally as a photographer, while I practiced law, was active in other preservation activities, and worked on the Benachi House. We raised the children. The house became an issue between us.

In 1985, for our Benachi House project, Robin and I won the Honor Award for Residential Restoration from the Historic Districts Landmarks Commission. In 1988 I was elected President of the Louisiana Landmarks Society, Louisiana's oldest and most respected preservation organization, a position that I held for four years.

In 1991 I was asked to teach Historic Preservation Law for the University of New Orleans; and I did so for several years, until my assorted other activities became too demanding.

My interest in B&B's began as a tourist in England and the Netherlands in the 1960's. When I became the only owner of the Benachi House after Robin and I divorced in 1991, I resolved to make the house self-supporting. I redecorated and refurnished it, a process that never ends. Visitors had praised the restoration, and it seemed appropriate to share this treasure with over-night guests. I started with one room, then a second; and when my children moved away from New Orleans, I added their rooms (now Marie's and Irene's).

In 1995 a realtor friend told me that the Italianate townhouse (now the Esplanade Villa), in deplorable condition, was available. When I first saw the interior I thought I knew what to do with it, and during the next two years I did.

In 1997 the Louisiana Landmarks Society honored me with its Kane Award for a distinguished career in historic preservation; and the National Trust for Historic Preservation asked me to serve as an Advisor from Louisiana.

Throughout all of this I have been a full-time practitioner of the law, with the good fortune to have worked with my late father, Jorda Derbes, for fourteen years; and then with my dear and capable partner, Dorothy Waldrup.

The Benachi House and Esplanade Villa have been for me a means of artistic expression. My work here has satisfied a need to create, to define spaces as my own, and to beautify. When a guest smiles with delight, I feel an acknowledgement that what I have done gives pleasure and provides comfort. It is immensely gratifying.

Sincerely,
James G. Derbes
October, 1998