How The Faerie Playhouse got its hearts
1308 Esplanade Avenue in 1978 before it was purchased by Stewart Butler and Alfred Doolittle (The Historic New Orleans Collection, 1978.2.99 i,ii)
Do you know how The Faerie Playhouse got its hearts?
The Faerie Playhouse wasn’t always “the house with the hearts.” The hearts were put on the house around 20 years ago by Bill Hagler as a surprise for Alfred Doolittle, then owner of The Faerie Playhouse, whose favorite holiday was Valentine’s Day.
“I put them up the evening of the 13th and let him discover them the next day. He loved them and they said to leave them for a while longer,” said Bill Hagler.
“A while longer” turned into two decades. Alfred died just two years later but the hearts have remained, becoming central to the legacy of the house and the icon for which its known on Esplanade Avenue.
Valentine’s Day is also an important holiday for the house as it marked Alfred and Stewart’s annual Valentine’s newsletter, a letter sent to hundreds of their closest friends sharing the news from the previous year. While the newsletter no longer continues, many remember the love shared in the home on this special holiday and what it meant for the New Orleans LGBTQ+ community.
The home has always been a place of love finding a way, an important message that resonates today as LGBTQ+ lives and our histories are under attack. Since gay marriage was not legal at the time of Stewart and Alfred’s meeting, Alfred adopted Stewart to ensure Stewart could receive similar protections that marriage would have afforded. But there are countless other stories of queer love, chosen family and kinship woven through the home’s history. In fact, two of The Faerie Playhouse’s founding board members, Charles Paul and Pete Pietens, shared their very own vows in the backyard. When reflecting on the home’s importance, Pete exclaimed, “I was the first bride of the Faerie Playhouse!”
But queer love is also not the only love story central the home’s history. The home was built by free man of color and well-known builder, Pierre Passebon and its first owner was Athalie Drouillard, a wealthy free woman of color who was allegedly Passebon’s mistress. The Faerie Playhouse board is currently researching more about this important part of the home’s story.
The house has become a cherished LGBTQ+ landmark in New Orleans and the hearts on its facade have come to symbolize different things to different people over the years. However, the underlying message has remained the same throughout the years. Maybe global pop star Bad Bunny put it best with his recent statement: “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.”
This Valentine’s Day, The Faerie Playhouse is again joining the annual tradition of “heart bombing,” a historic preservation awareness event started by the National Trust for Historic Preservation for community members to place heart-shaped messages of love and support on historic spaces in need of preservation.
What does the “house with the hearts” mean to you?
Click here to add your own virtual “heart bomb” valentine to the Faerie Playhouse!
