The original house at 3827 Canal St. was built by Francis Raoul Tanneret, a fencing champion, in the early 1890s. In 1896, it was sold to businessman Gustave Pitard, who lived there until his death at home in 1902. His obituary was short, as “Mr. Pitard cared little for society.” His widow sold the property to florist Uriah J. (U.J.) Virgin in 1906.
Shortly after moving to his new home at 3827 Canal, U.J., the “Flower King” of New Orleans, started using the large property to cultivate plants for his business. Six large greenhouses were filled with ferns, palms, and foliage plants. Garden beds brimming with flowers like lilies, azaleas, irises, and many more varieties dotted the property, which was described as looking like a fairyland.
In 1931, Virgin petitioned the city council and was given permission to open a mortuary at his property. Ten days later, he sold the property to National Undertakers, a local group of businessmen that included U.J. himself.
The announcement of the purchase was accompanied with architectural plans by Emile Weil to convert the house into a modern cathedral-style mortuary with nine parlors and a landscaping plan designed by U.J. One week later, construction began. And just six months later, in November 1931, the new funeral home was ready to open.
The extensive renovation turned the Queen Anne style house into a Spanish Revival funeral home that was described as one of the most beautiful in the South. Three years later, the property was up for sheriff’s auction for failure to meet mortgage payments.
In May of 1934, E. J. Ranson and Sons, a funeral business based on Elysian Fields, opened their second location at the Canal Street property. It appears things didn’t go well, because a little more than a year later, there were petitions to the city council to convert it into a maternity hospital. Although permission was granted, the New Orleans Lying-In Hospital group was unable to gather the funds necessary to make their dream a reality.
In August of 1936, Jacob Schoen & Son purchased the property as their second New Orleans location; they are still thriving there today.
