715 Dauphine St.
New Orleans, LA 70116
29.959442,-90.066199
As extensive as the haunted stories are in New Orleans, so are the discrepancies. Whether it is due to time, overactive imaginations, or a tour guide trying to spice up their speeches for an extra buck, many of the ghastly and ghostly tales have changed over the years. Such may be the case with this next location, as several variants of the story have been told. I have tried to compile as much as I could from the most reliable of sources to give as accurate of an account as possible. As with the Quadroon home that I mentioned earlier, this next residence was another stop on that infamous haunted history tour that I took years ago, fueling my interest for all the macabre events that have taken place in the French Quarter and surrounding areas of the city. The home was simply known as the Sultan’s House.
In 1825, a dentist by the name of Dr. Joseph Coulon Gardette built a grand home on the corner of Dauphine and Orleans Streets. At the time, this was said to be largest home in the area with an ornate design and decorative wrought iron work. In 1829, the home was then sold to a local merchant by the name of M. Jean Baptiste LaPretre. He lived here until the late 1870’s then financial issues began to strike many in the area. The declining economy forced many of the city’s elite to sell their grand homes. Mr. LaPretre decided that instead of selling his beloved home, he would begin renting it out to make a profit, while still being able to keep it. This proved not the greatest of ideas as his first tenant would make him wish he would have just sold his home like everyone else.
