Sylvain

A Historic Home with Stories to Tell
On May 22nd, 1796, Jean-Francois-Marmontel and Andre Getry’s one-act comic opera “Sylvain” was first performed in New Orleans. Residents hungry for something culturally rich, inventive and unpredictable were captivated by the performance. That same year, construction was completed on a three-story carriage house at what is now 625 Chartres Street by local landmark developer Don Andres Almonaster y Roxas.

Since then, the building has been owned by numerous New Orleans dignitaries and characters, including notorious French Quarter Madame Aunt Rose Arnold who presided over her own Storyville brothel and lived at 625 Chartres during the 1920s. Standing over six feet tall, Aunt Rose was an imposing figure and friend of many of the neighborhood’s bohemians as well as friend of famous authors: Sherwood Anderson who wrote of her in “A Meeting South” and Faulkner, who is also believed to have used her as his muse, patterning his character “Miss Reba” after her in “Sanctuary” and “The Reivers.”

Although the world has changed profoundly since the days of Almonaster, Faulkner and Aunt Rose, New Orleans has managed to maintain its reverence for tradition. Much like the first opera ever performed here, the city still places a premium on those attribuces.