We have been tremendously busy this season with the Magazine Street renovation and the constructing of a soon-to-be magnificent art gallery on Freret Street, in addition to other bits and pieces of work, trying to stay cool, and hand-feeding a baby pigeon. So we thought we'd buy an enormous warehouse space, whip it into shape, and use it as a workshop and storage space, with rooms to rent out to other like-minded craftsmen and -women. It needs a lot of love, but we see potential.
The layout of the building is ... odd, to say the least. The front seems to have been a bar, with a storeroom or two,possibly a wet barback area. But that's maybe 1/3 of the total space. Going deeper into the building, you can see the ghost of walls where there were clearly a number of rooms nestled behind the bar--tiny, functional rooms, with a high window, jailhouse-style, and barely room for more than, say, a mattress.
It didn't take long to learn that we are the proud new owners of the former Dreamboat Inn, a 1970s-era semi-notorious tavern and good-time fleabag love motel with back rooms randy customers could rent the by the hour. To fill out their tax forms, no doubt. We are very excited to own this tawdry piece of New Orleans history, and to bring a little life to a neglected Central City corner.
