Built: After 1906
Built by: Jackson Brewing Co.
Status: For sale, coming soon
Lot: 3,798 sq ft
Where: French Quarter

A brewery warehouse you can live in

Most French Quarter houses are townhouses and cottages. This is something else: a full industrial building, kept whole and brought back through a high-end renovation and restoration. The original timber frame, brick and pine floors were restored, and everything added around them, from the kitchens and baths to the rooftop rooms, was finished to the same standard. The street door opens to a private garage. Above it, a great room runs under the original heavy timber frame, with brick walls, tall windows and pine floors. An elevator and a steel stair connect the levels.

Then there is the roof. A sunroom and a second kitchen open through French doors onto a planted terrace with a swim spa, and a spiral stair leads to an upper deck that looks across the Quarter to St. Louis Cathedral, the downtown skyline and the river bridge.

The 54 photographs below walk the building from the roof down.

Two terraces on the roof

The main terrace runs the width of the building behind the old parapet, planted and set with a swim spa. A spiral stair climbs to a second deck on top of the rooftop rooms. From there you see the spires of St. Louis Cathedral in one direction, the downtown skyline in another, and the bridge over the river beyond the Quarter's rooftops.13 photographs. Select any one to view it full screen.

The roof terrace above Wilkinson Street, 528 Wilkinson Street — The roof terrace above Wilkinson Street

Planting, seating and the swim spa, 528 Wilkinson Street — Planting, seating and the swim spa

Swim spa set into the deck, 528 Wilkinson Street — Swim spa set into the deck

Wilkinson Street running toward the river, 528 Wilkinson Street — Wilkinson Street running toward the river

Spiral stair to the upper deck, 528 Wilkinson Street — Spiral stair to the upper deck

The terrace from the upper deck, 528 Wilkinson Street — The terrace from the upper deck

St. Louis Cathedral from the upper deck, 528 Wilkinson Street — St. Louis Cathedral from the upper deck

Upper deck table, cathedral spires beyond, 528 Wilkinson Street — Upper deck table, cathedral spires beyond

Downtown skyline from the upper deck, 528 Wilkinson Street — Downtown skyline from the upper deck

Upper deck and the downtown skyline, 528 Wilkinson Street — Upper deck and the downtown skyline

Toward the river and the Crescent City Connection, 528 Wilkinson Street — Toward the river and the Crescent City Connection

Rooftops of the Quarter, 528 Wilkinson Street — Rooftops of the Quarter

The parapet still carries the brewery's name, 528 Wilkinson Street — The parapet still carries the brewery's name

Rooms that open onto the terrace

A long sunroom with a black-and-white checkerboard floor sits level with the terrace, and nearly every wall is a pair of French doors. It has its own kitchen with a marble waterfall counter and a breakfast bar, so a morning or an evening up here never needs a trip downstairs.8 photographs. Select any one to view it full screen.

Sunroom opening to the terrace, 528 Wilkinson Street — Sunroom opening to the terrace

The sunroom, end to end, 528 Wilkinson Street — The sunroom, end to end

Dining end of the sunroom, 528 Wilkinson Street — Dining end of the sunroom

French doors along the terrace, 528 Wilkinson Street — French doors along the terrace

Sunroom seating, 528 Wilkinson Street — Sunroom seating

Breakfast bar and kitchen, 528 Wilkinson Street — Breakfast bar and kitchen

Rooftop kitchen, 528 Wilkinson Street — Rooftop kitchen

Marble counter and farmhouse sink, 528 Wilkinson Street — Marble counter and farmhouse sink

A bedroom suite with a fireplace

The suite pairs a bedroom with a sitting area around a fireplace faced in deep blue tile. Its bath is finished in glazed green tile from floor to picture rail, with a freestanding soaking tub under the window, a walk-in double shower and a chandelier overhead.6 photographs. Select any one to view it full screen.

Sitting area and blue-tile fireplace, 528 Wilkinson Street — Sitting area and blue-tile fireplace

Fireside chairs, 528 Wilkinson Street — Fireside chairs

Bedroom suite, 528 Wilkinson Street — Bedroom suite

Double shower and soaking tub, 528 Wilkinson Street — Double shower and soaking tub

Bath in glazed green tile, 528 Wilkinson Street — Bath in glazed green tile

Vanity and dressing area, 528 Wilkinson Street — Vanity and dressing area

The warehouse floor

This is the room that tells you what the building was. Heavy timber posts and braces cross a double-height space with brick walls, tall windows and wide pine boards underfoot. A curved bar and a kitchen with a riveted copper hood, green herringbone tile and draft taps anchor one side; a linear fireplace and a long dining table take the other. A steel stair rises through it all toward the light.12 photographs. Select any one to view it full screen.

The great room under its timber frame, 528 Wilkinson Street — The great room under its timber frame

Fireside seating, 528 Wilkinson Street — Fireside seating

The curved bar, 528 Wilkinson Street — The curved bar

Dining beneath the trusses, 528 Wilkinson Street — Dining beneath the trusses

Dining table against old brick, 528 Wilkinson Street — Dining table against old brick

Kitchen with copper hood, 528 Wilkinson Street — Kitchen with copper hood

Bar, stair and skylight, 528 Wilkinson Street — Bar, stair and skylight

Looking through the frame to the dining area, 528 Wilkinson Street — Looking through the frame to the dining area

Range, draft taps and green tile, 528 Wilkinson Street — Range, draft taps and green tile

Kitchen and bar, 528 Wilkinson Street — Kitchen and bar

Steel stair to the upper levels, 528 Wilkinson Street — Steel stair to the upper levels

Brick walls and tall windows, 528 Wilkinson Street — Brick walls and tall windows

A second kitchen, bedrooms and a den

Beyond the great room the house keeps going. A second kitchen with a breakfast table sits under a wood barrel ceiling. Bedrooms are tucked into arched alcoves, with baths alongside. There is a den, and a mezzanine room whose glazed panels slide back to look down on the great room.11 photographs. Select any one to view it full screen.

Second kitchen, open to a bedroom, 528 Wilkinson Street — Second kitchen, open to a bedroom

Second kitchen and breakfast table, 528 Wilkinson Street — Second kitchen and breakfast table

Brick and tall windows, 528 Wilkinson Street — Brick and tall windows

Bedroom in an arched alcove, 528 Wilkinson Street — Bedroom in an arched alcove

Barrel ceiling over the kitchen, 528 Wilkinson Street — Barrel ceiling over the kitchen

Landing below the steel stair, 528 Wilkinson Street — Landing below the steel stair

Bath with soaking tub, 528 Wilkinson Street — Bath with soaking tub

Mezzanine room overlooking the great room, 528 Wilkinson Street — Mezzanine room overlooking the great room

A garage, an elevator and the working rooms

Parking is the hardest thing to find in the French Quarter, and this building has its own garage behind carriage doors at street level. An elevator serves the floors above. There is also a gym with a sauna and a stainless prep kitchen for entertaining at scale.4 photographs. Select any one to view it full screen.

Garage with carriage doors, 528 Wilkinson Street — Garage with carriage doors

Gym with sauna, 528 Wilkinson Street — Gym with sauna

Prep kitchen, 528 Wilkinson Street — Prep kitchen

Elevator, 528 Wilkinson Street — Elevator

The parapet of 528 Wilkinson Street, lettered Jackson Brewing Co. Warehouses

The name is still on the building

Lawrence Fabacher founded the Jackson Bohemian Brewery in 1890 and named it for Jackson Square, which its brewhouse faces from Decatur Street. It became the Jackson Brewing Company, and its Jax beer was a New Orleans staple for generations. Brewing under the Jackson name ended in 1974, and the brewhouse was later converted to shops, restaurants and residences.

The chain of title shows the Jackson Brewing Company buying this lot on October 29, 1906. The Vieux Carré Commission records the building as an early twentieth-century warehouse constructed by the brewery, and the parapet still reads Jackson Brewing Co., with Warehouses on the band below.

The brewery kept the property for 65 years, selling it in January 1971. Earlier deeds for the lot run back through the nineteenth century to a transfer from the State of Louisiana in 1844.

Wilkinson Street

Wilkinson is one of the shortest streets in the Quarter, a single block between Decatur and Chartres, just upriver of Jackson Square. The cathedral, the river and the old brewhouse are all a short walk away, and the block itself stays quiet.

Ownership dates are from the chain of title in the Collins C. Diboll Vieux Carré Digital Survey at The Historic New Orleans Collection. Builder and lot size are from Vieux Carré Commission records. Brewery history is from the published record of the Jackson Brewing Company.

See it in person

528 Wilkinson is for sale and coming to market soon. Photographs only go so far with a building like this. To hear the price and details first, and to arrange a private showing before it lists, contact Patrick directly.

Patrick Knudsen

Crescent Sotheby's International Realty

Call 504-858-0623 Text Patrick Email Patrick

Office 504-944-3605. More at patrickknudsen.com.

528 Wilkinson Street