History of The Laurel Property
The original home on the site of the brand new Laurel was this immense home, with its distinctive cupola and mansard roof, which exhibited elements of various architectural styles. It was most likely built in the late 1870s for William Brainerd Spencer, then an associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. It’s a good thing Spencer had such a big house because he certainly had a large family. In 1880, the Spencer household consisted of Spencer, his wife, six daughters ranging in age from three to 21, a 12-year-old son, a cousin, and two servants. Suffering from ill health, Spencer went to Mexico, where he died in 1882. His family remained in the Magazine Street residence for nearly a decade following his death.
Spencer’s elaborate multi-story mansion is most commonly associated with its next owner, John H. Keller, who acquired the mansion in the early 1890s. A native of Zurich, Switzerland, Keller made a considerable fortune as the proprietor of the soap factory that bore his name. He built the Keller School at Jackson and Freret Streets, served on the board of the Fink Orphan Asylum and contributed generously to the Y.M.C.A.
The beautiful home that once sat on this property was demolished in the 1960s. In June 1967, The Motherhouse opened as the new Eucharistic Missionaries of St. Dominic Motherhouse. A three-story brick and concrete structure served as a residence for nuns in the order and as a neighborhood center offering services such as reading, typing, sewing classes, and meeting rooms for community groups.
The Motherhouse was sold in the mid-1990s and reopened as Homelife in the Gardens Nursing Home. Over the last decade, the immense 75,000-square-foot building fell into disrepair.
In 2020, we purchased the property and began working steadily to create a state-of-the-art community. As we peeled back the layers of this 55-year-old building, we encountered setbacks, including significant hurricane damage. However, this beautiful transformation came together, and we welcomed our first resident in March 2023.