It was on Esplanade Avenue, was what is known as a double-gallery house, --- not this one, but somewhat like it with a flat roof and a balcony on the second floor.
Yes, we all know that folk song, but "The House Of The Rising Sun" WAS PROBABLY an actual place, or rather, --- "a house," a brothel in New Orleans. Folklore has it that about four old houses in New Orleans can claim to be the original "House Of The Rising Sun"...
Well, I was just casually browsing the internet on day when I ran up against an ad for a gorgeous, old southern mansion on Esplanade Avenue in New Orleans. Hardly being serious, and mostly just-for-fun, I called the real estate number. The good old boy who answered had the thickest southern accent I'd ever heard. He assured me that if I came down to Louisiana he'd not only show me the house, but he wine & dine me; I'd have a wonderful time!!!...
"How do you figure that the house for sale might be the original 'House Of The Rising Sun',?" I asked. "Uh," he replied, "it''s in the right area, historically, and it has an absolutely huge living room and dining room, and upstairs are tiny bedrooms. If it wasn't THE 'House Of The Rising Sun', it very probably WAS a bordello."
Ummm... Perhaps, he was just trying to sell a house... Anyway, he told me that the house was close to the Fairgrounds where many festivals were held, including a gigantic annual jazz festival. I was planning to use the house as a bed & breakfast, and with it's location, I knew that I could ask a high price for the rooms, and probably get it when the festivals occurred...
BUT, buying it would mean a big, BIG move and BIG risk. I would have had to sell just about everything I owned TOO! In the end, I decided NOT to do it, NOT to buy what MIGHT have been "The House Of The Rising Sun", --- "...that had been the ruin of many a poor girl, - or poor boy..."
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