It was 2023 when a condominium on Coliseum Street caught the eye of Meredith Smith. Located in the front of a stately five-bay Greek Revival center hall mansion with a gallery overlooking the leafy street, “I knew right away it was mine.”
Built just before the Civil War in 1860 in a neighborhood that Americans solidly occupied, the mansion witnessed the war, then served as home to two of the city’s mayors: Walker Flower, who served from 1896-1900, and Chep Morrison, who served from 1946-61, earning the property the moniker “The Mayor’s Mansion.”
After Morrison’s time as mayor, the home, located just steps from Coliseum Square Park, stayed with his family. Morrison served as the U.S. ambassador to the Organization of American States from 1961 to 1963. It was Morrison’s son Toni Morrison, who decided to convert the building into three elegant condominiums in 1981 after years of decay.
“We had looked at several places that were just all wrong on some level,” Smith said of her explorations with her Realtor and friend, Chris Smith. “I told him I didn’t want a condo, but I wanted architectural significance and lots of light. He showed me this place on a whim.”
Smith, head of sustainability for ED&F Man Commodities Group, had found her place in New Orleans in 1999, coming from Florida to attend Tulane University to study chemical engineering. “I just fell in love with New Orleans,” she said. “The costume culture. The people, and there’s a party every day.”…