The Residents of 7717 St. Charles Ave

If your standing at the Riverbend you'll want to head south down St. Charles Ave. toward downtown or the French Quarter, as they say in New Orleans, just follow the river.
You could take the street car but it's only three blocks so if it's a nice day and not to muggy you may want to walk.

St. Charles Ave. is infamous for it's ancient and sprawling oak trees that hover over the Ave. and is indisputably, the most superb collection of great mansions of the south. The Avenue is a place of residential grandeur where the wealthiest, and the most powerful of those who built this great City once lived. The sound of the streetcar is familiar to those who live here as it runs up and down the Avenue day and night. You could walk on the neutral grounds, the grassy path down the middle of the Ave. but please don't call it a median. Legend has it that the neutral ground got its name from early New Orleans when the French and Spanish could do business between sections of the city standing on the neutral grounds.

The house at 7717 St. Charles Ave. will be on your left or on the lakeside of the street, a common term of direction in the area. This end of St. Charles doesn't have quite the magnificence of the homes further down the Avenue but they are nothing to snub your nose at either. 7717 is a large two story home that sits back off the Avenue. I imagine that in it's prime it was a beauty but appears to be in a bit of disrepair these days. The home was built in the 1800's, it is a plantation style home though not quite as grand as the plantation homes out in the River Parishes. The front of the house has floor to ceiling windows which are shuttered for the use of hurricane protection and of course adds to it's ascetics and charm. It has a large covered porch with an equally big balcony on the second floor. The house also has a belfry protruding from it's rooftop, oh how I would love to enjoy a warm cup of tea and a favorite book in that belfry. Sadly though I have never been in the house, so I can only imagine it's interior.

So with you I share the history of the Residents of 7717 St. Charles Ave. It's said that the house has a bit of gris gris upon it or in other words has been cursed. No one knows the origin of the curse, just that the people who have moved into 7717 St. Charles Ave over the years have continually been destined to endure some type of tragic event. The rumors of the happenings at 7717 St. Charles Ave. are stories told often, mothers warn their children they will have to spend the night at 7717 St. Chalres Ave. if they do not behave. The house has changed hands many times over the years and each time the new residents believe the curse will not effect them, but of course it eventually does.

Last week you met the poor Madame Victorene who met her demise at the address. Let me tell you about Poppy Severne.

Poppy Servern had been a resident of 7717 St. Charles Ave. She was working as his nanny when Poppy had become Sir Edwards mistress. She had spent many nights in Sir Edwards bed while Madame Edwards was away visiting relatives. Theirs was a torid affair until the evening Madame Edwards came home early and found the two of them in a compromising position, a struggle ensued and Poppy was pushed down the stairs. The Edwards informed the authorities that it was an accident and the death of Poppy Servern was pushed under the rug.

Please check back for more of the tragic stories from this doomed New Orleans address.