Restored townhouse in Lower Garden District embodies Eastlake style

By Beau Bethune
November 27, 2018

Visit this and 6 other stunning homes in New Orleans’ historic Garden District and Lower Garden District at the Holiday Home Tour on Dec. 8 and 9.

Click here for tickets and more tour details.

1539 Camp Street • Home of Diana E. Johnson

Upon her remarriage, Mrs. William Henry Clay King built this house in 1882. It was constructed in the side yard of the residence she shared with her former husband, who was the founding editor of the New Orleans Times.

After a period of disrepair, the house was purchased in 1969 by boxing promoter and businessman Blaise D’Antoni and his wife, who embarked on a complete restoration of the property. The D’Antonis restored the original pine floors, walls and exterior and installed several 18th-century crystal chandeliers that previously had hung in the Caddo Parish Courthouse.

Current owner Diana Johnson and her late husband, Philip, who recently passed away, bought the house in 1982. The couple met at Lutheran College in Chicago and moved to New Orleans for Philip’s job as a geophysicist.

Today, the King-Johnson House remains a prime example of the Eastlake style, popular in the Late Victorian Period from 1880 to 1900, with spindleband friezes, carved brackets, turned wood balustrades and corner quoins. Visitors should note the unique design of the double gallery, three-bay structure, which is one of the only houses of this style in New Orleans with carved brackets on both floors and without columns or pillars on the first level.

Inside, the house honors the Swedish heritage of Diana Johnson’s family through a portrait of the grandfather of the current king of Sweden. Other noteworthy pieces include an antique Duncan Phyfe sideboard in the dining room and a significant crystal collection comprised of family heirlooms and gifts from family and friends.