House of Ada 1885

Named in honor of my great-great-grandmother, Mrs. Ada Buchere Wilson—a woman whose 93 years overflowed with art, music, and an insatiable passion for collecting. Her home at 254 E. Gregory Street was a treasure trove of mementos from her extraordinary life.

Ada was a self-proclaimed "stunt-painter" who painted portraits of Geronimo (whom she never met), created miniatures of Pope John XXIII on sandpaper, and sold antiques to none other than Liberace. She played piano, organ, and violin, wrote columns for her husband Dixon's New Orleans newspaper, and spoke French, Spanish, and German.

At House of Ada 1885, we channel her spirit—celebrating the perfectly imperfect, the stories behind each piece, and the belief that every treasure deserves to have its tale told. Like Ada, we don't just collect objects; we preserve the memories they hold.

"I try to emphasize one thing to get the shocking effect." - Ada Wilson, on her approach to painting and, we believe, to life itself.