Female Enterprise: Women Business and Property Owners in New Orleans, 1819-1927. Louisiana Division. New Orleans Public Library

Louisiana Division/City Archives | New Orleans Public Library

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MICAELA LEONARDA ALMONESTER, BARONESS DE PONTALBA Micaela Leonarda Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba, the daughter and heir of wealthy philanthropist Andrés Almonester y Rojas, was born in New Orleans in 1795. In 1811, she married Joseph-Xavier Célestin Delfau de Pontalba, who later inherited the title of Baron from his father. The Baroness lived most of her life in Paris (the house that she built in 1840 is now home to the U. S. Ambassador to France), but spent enough time in New Orleans to oversee one of the most famous building projects in its history—the Pontalba Buildings.
	The Baroness de Pontalba. In Intimate Enemies: The Two Worlds of Baroness de Pontalba, Christina Vella dates this portrait as ca. 1840. (Photograph courtesy Louisiana State Library)
	Madame Pontalba is the best known of the 57 women business and property owners depicted in this exhibit. We know her because of the buildings she had constructed on either side of what is now Jackson Square. Several architects and builders, and the Baroness herself, contributed to the design and ultimate appearance of the buildings. One set of plans, signed by James Gallier, was deposited in the City Archives by the Upper Pontalba Building Commission a number of years ago. This sheet shows the sixteen individual houses that comprised one of the two rows, though it does not show the façade as it was eventually built. Sketch plan for buildings to be erected upon the side of the Public Square, First Municipality, City of New Orleans, for Madam de Pontalba, March 7, 1849)
	In 1849, the Baroness contracted with Samuel Stewart for the construction of her buildings on the Place d’Armes. Disputes between owners and builders were common during the period and the Pontalba project was no different. In 1851, Stewart filed two lawsuits against the Baroness (one for each group of buildings), alleging non-payment for work required after changes to the contract. This is page one of Samuel Stewart’s itemized bill for “extra work” performed during construction of the upper Pontalba buildings. (Samuel Stewart vs. Madame de Pontalba. Orleans Parish Second District Court, #4193)