1640 Palmer Ave
New Orleans, LA 70118, USA

Newberger House (Newberger-Levine House) - National Register of Historic Places

Statement of Significance:

The Newberger-Levine House is locally significant in the area of architecture because it represents an unusual work by a noted New Orleans architect. The context for evaluation is New Orleans.

The house belongs to a special group of houses in the progressive mode designed by the noted architect Emile Weil, Weil is generally thought of as one of the two most prominent architects in New Orleans during the early twentieth century. It is difficult to say whether Weil or. The firm of Favrot and Livaudais actually had the larger practice. But it is clear that Weil’s clients included some of New Orleans' most socially prominent citizens and that his commissions included some of the city's most important buildings. He designed the Saenger Theatre [the state's 1argest), as well as numerous banks, synagogues, and pretentious houses in Uptown New Orleans.

Weil is known to have designed about 200 buildings in New Orleans during his career, most of these reflect the prevailing historicism of the day. The Neuberger-'Levine House is one of fourteen more progressive New Orleans residences which Weil designed. These experimental houses represent a more original statement than the bulk of New Orleans architecture of the period. In defining their progressive style, one must admit that like structures in the city's architectural mainstream, these residences borrowed features from the past. But unlike the mainstream, they did not merely exhume past styles. They borrowed features from several different styles at once, changing them somewhat and using them in innovative ways. They also introduced numerous Arts and Crafts features. Thus, the end product was a residence with an overall Craftsman look but with other stylistic features "mixed in" which ran the gamut from Romanesque to Baroque.

Of the fourteen residences of this ilk designed by Weil, the Newberger Levine House is one of the most important. It is one of only three which can be classified as large pretentious residences. The others are either bungalows or double houses. In addition, it is one of only two which do not feature some sort of classical columns or posts. Instead, its columns have an unusual Arts and Crafts treatment. Finally, it is the only one with double columns on block pedestals. Thus, it is. arguable, that of Weil's fourteen "progressive" houses, the Neuberger-Levine House is the one which received the greatest imprint from the Arts and Crafts style.