The mint-green double shotgun where jazz clarinetist Pete Fountain first picked up his instrument is sitting empty and falling apart in Mid-City, and preservationists are racing to save it before the damage becomes permanent. The Creole cottage double at 820–822 North White Street was cited for demolition by neglect in March 2026, and the property owner has not responded to inquiries about what happens next.
A Childhood Home Turned Local Landmark Fight
Fountain lived in the home from childhood until 1951, according to wwltv.com, spending the first 20 years of his life there before going on to become an international star. It was inside that double cottage that he first practiced clarinet, as nola.com reports, long before he would go on to appear on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson 59 times and become one of New Orleans's best-known musical ambassadors.
The house itself dates to the late 1890s, built in the bracketed Italianate style, according to the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans. Dewey Fountain moved his family into the home in 1929, and Pete was born the following year, per the same account. The mint green shotgun at 820-822 North White St. in Bayou St. John now sits unoccupied, and current owner Thu Can, who purchased it in 2005, has left it vacant for years.
Years of Code Violations Lead to a City Hearing
The property has been cited for code violations going back to at least 2014 tied to lack of maintenance and rodent problems, the preservation group notes. Now, as its roof and structure continue to deteriorate, the property has been cited for demolition by neglect, according to yahoo.com.
In June 2023, Sandra Stokes of the Louisiana Landmarks Society nominated the property for city landmark status. By 2026, the home was already a local landmark. Landmark status brings more stringent protections, but the preservation center cautions that designation alone is no guarantee the property will be cared for or rehabilitated.
Fountain's Mid-City Roots
The house sits in Fountain's old Mid-City neighborhood.
The Louisiana Landmarks Society released its annual list of New Orleans's nine most endangered historic sites for 2026, placing Fountain's old home alongside other properties facing demolition, neglect, or bureaucratic limbo. The group says the list, inaugurated in 2005, aims to draw public attention to vulnerable sites and encourage stronger preservation practices.
For now, Fountain's childhood home remains empty and neglected, and its fate remains uncertain. Local historic districts are meant to protect the city's buildings and neighborhoods by regulating exterior changes, according to the City of New Orleans, but whether that framework will be enough to save the cottage where one of the city's most celebrated musicians first found his sound is still an open question.
