Special-Interest Sightseeing

Anne Rice's New Orleans

Love her or loathe her, Anne Rice is one of New Orleans's biggest boosters. Though Rice tourist interest seems to have passed its peak, a good number of visitors still come here just because they have read her books; she writes seductive descriptions of her hometown that are actually quite accurate -- minus the vampires, witches, and ghosts, of course. Rice uses many real locales; the Gallier House, for example, was the inspiration for the home of vampires Lestat and Louis in Interview with the Vampire. Her own childhood homes and former Garden District dwelling turn up in Violin and The Witching Hour. Even her nonhorror novel Exit to Eden sent its protagonists on a romantic trip to New Orleans, exulting in the sensual tropical air and gorging on barbecued shrimp at Pascal's Manale.

Anne Rice (née O'Brien) was born on October 4, 1941, in New Orleans to Irish parents. When she was 16, her family moved to Texas, where she met her husband, the late Stan Rice. They married in 1961 and moved to California a few years later, living for years in the San Francisco area. Interview with the Vampire was published in 1976, and in the 1980s, the Rices and their son packed up and moved back to New Orleans. As her fortunes grew, she bought a number of significant buildings from her youth. Stan Rice died at the end of 2002, and this prompted Anne to eventually put her beloved Garden District home (along with her childhood home and most of her other New Orleans holdings) on the market, and move first to the Kenner suburbs and eventually to Southern California. Rice continues to publish regularly. You can find signed copies of her books at the Garden District Book Shop, 2727 Prytania St..

Anne Rice in the French Quarter

The romance of the French Quarter seems to attract vampires, who found easy pickin's in its dark corners in the days before electricity.

St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, 400 Basin St.: A tomb (empty, of course) with Louis the vampire's name is located here in the "Vampire Chronicle" books, and Louis occasionally goes to sit on it and brood. Rumor has it that Rice has purchased a tomb here for her eventual use. Note: Keep your wits about you here -- not because of vampires but because this isn't the safest neighborhood.

Gallier House, 1132 Royal St.: This famously preserved museum is said by Rice scholars to be the model for the house on Rue Royal that was home to vampires Lestat and Louis in Interview with the Vampire.

The stretch of 700 to 900 Royal St.: Quite a few of the exteriors for the Interview with the Vampire movie were filmed along this stretch -- though the set decorators had to labor long and hard to erase all traces of the 20th century. Try to imagine the streets covered in mud. Then try to imagine how folks who live around here felt about it.

Madame John's Legacy, 632 Dumaine St.: In the Interview with the Vampire movie, this is the house from which the caskets are being carried as Brad Pitt's voice-over describes Lestat and the little vampire Claudia going out on the town: "An infant prodigy with a lust for killing that matched his own. Together, they finished off whole families."

Café du Monde, 800 Decatur St.: Lestat visits this restaurant in The Tale of the Body Thief, and Michael and Rowan snack here in The Witching Hour.

Jackson Square: It's here that Claudia makes an important decision regarding Lestat's fate in Interview with the Vampire and that Raglan James meets Lestat in The Tale of the Body Thief.

Omni Royal Orleans hotel, at 621 St. Louis St.: Katherine and Julien Mayfair stay here -- it's still the St. Louis Hotel -- in The Witching Hour.

Court of Two Sisters, 613 Royal St.: Characters in The Witching Hour dine here.

Galatoire's, 209 Bourbon St.: Characters from several books, including The Witching Hour, dine here as well.

Hotel Monteleone, 214 Royal St.: This was Aaron Lightner's house in The Witching Hour.

Boyer Antiques Doll & Toy Museum, 241 Chartres St.: In the Interview with the Vampire movie, this is the shop where Claudia admires a doll and then deals with the patronizing shopkeeper in typical vampire fashion.

Marsoudet-Caruso House, 1519 Esplanade Ave.: A few blocks north of the French Quarter at the intersection of Esplanade and Claiborne avenues, this is the house where Louis smells the scent of old death in the Interview with the Vampire movie and finds the moldering Lestat shrinking from helicopters in a musty chair.

Jackson Barracks, south of the French Quarter along the Mississippi: This area was used for numerous exteriors in the Interview with the Vampire movie, including the scene where Louis and Claudia run for their ship after setting Lestat on fire.

Anne Rice in the Garden District

Rice's books increasingly have featured the Garden District and the area around it, perhaps because she and her family used to live in and own a number of properties there.

Coliseum Theater, 1233 Coliseum St.: In the film version of Interview with the Vampire, this is the theater where Louis sees Tequila Sunrise.

The property at 1515-17 St. Charles Ave.: For a long time, rumor had it Rice was going to open a Lestat-themed cafe. It's probably just as well that never came to pass.

Pontchartrain Hotel, 2031 St. Charles St.: This upscale hotel and its restaurant, the Caribbean Room (now closed), appear in The Witching Hour.

The old Mercedes dealership (now a different property), 2001 St. Charles Ave.: This building was at the center of a dispute that amused the city for months. The vampire Lestat disappeared from this world through an image of himself in the window of this building. When Straya (as it was then) opened, Rice (who rumor had it wanted to open her own cafe on the site) criticized owner Al Copeland with a full-page ad in the daily newspaper. Lestat (wink, wink -- word on the street was that it was Copeland himself) then mysteriously returned to this realm and bought an ad of his own, congratulating Copeland for his "stroke of genius."

St. Alphonsus Church, 2030 Constance St.: This is a small (now deconsecrated) church with a stunning interior. It was the O'Brien family church -- Anne's parents married here, and she was baptized and received communion here. She also took Alphonsus as her confirmation name. Readers will recognize this as a setting in The Witching Hour.

1239 First St.: This historic property was for many years Anne Rice's primary residence. The Mayfair house in The Witching Hour matches her home in almost every detail, including address.

2301 St. Charles Ave.: This spacious, two-story white house was Rice's childhood home.

2524 St. Charles Ave.: Rice's family moved into this traditional-style raised villa when Anne was 14. It's prominently featured in her novel Violin.

Commander's Palace, 1403 Washington Ave.: Rice readers will recognize this restaurant as a favorite of the Mayfair family.

Lafayette No. 1: This centerpiece of the Garden District is also a frequent setting in Rice's work, especially as a roaming ground for Lestat and Claudia in Interview with the Vampire and as the graveyard for the Mayfairs in The Witching Hour.