“I lived at 502 Frenchmen Street from 1974 to 1978… There was little commercial activity on the block. Tortilla Flats opened after we moved. They occupied the space now occupied by Checkpoint Charlie’s. Ruby Reds (burgers with peanuts on the floor) was where the Dragon’s Den is now. A year or two after we moved in, Alan Langhoff bought the Dream Castle …“
RE: … I lived at 502 Frenchmen Street from 1974 to 1978 with my friend and roommate Bill Settoon. After we moved out, several of our friends moved in so we kept the place in our group for another several years.
The landlord was William E. Groves. Mr. Groves was an actuary and traveled around the state advising small insurance companies. During his travels, he collected many Louisiana paintings of a variety of genres. He actually had two paintings on loan to the White House. He also collected old bottles and glass and construction workers would bring them to him to sell. He displayed the bottles in the window and some paintings in his office which is now Mona’s Mediterranean Restaurant. Our rent was $250 per month for a large 2 bedroom apartment. He went up on the rent by 5% to $262.50 and was very apologetic about the increase.
Mr. Groves later suffered a stroke and his children had him committed to a nursing home in Houma. He sued his children from his deathbed, using a pointer to communicate with his attorney, and won. His claim was that no one knew the value of his art collection better than him.
The firemen (Engine No.9) were very good neighbors. Any time anyone tried to shimmy up one of the poles that held the balcony up, they would shoo them away.
There was little commercial activity on the block. Tortilla Flats opened after we moved. They occupied the space now occupied by Checkpoint Charlie’s. Ruby Reds (burgers with peanuts on the floor) was where the Dragon’s Den is now.
A year or two after we moved in Alan Langhoff bought the Dream Castle. It had long been shuttered. Prior to that it was a watering hole that was frequented by African Americans. Langhoff rebranded it the Dream Palace. He began booking bands on the weekends. Neville Brothers Band, Radiators, Deacon John and on and on. This was the beginning. We had a lot of good times at the Dream Palace.
It was in front of the Dream Palace the Pair of Dice Tumblers Mardi Gras marching group formed. Langhoff was the driving force behind the Pair of Dice. One Mardi Gras morning in front of the Dream Palace I saw a guy with a costume and a Fender Stratocaster. He had a cape and roller skates. He had battery powered amp under his cape, and he noodled his guitar while roller skating down Frenchmen towards Esplanade.
Several famous people were seen in the hall at 502 Frenchmen including J. Paul Ghetty III. He was held at ransom [while living in Rome], and the kidnappers cut off his ear before his family paid the money.
