Oyster lovers in the deep South are fuming over a potential FDA policy that would require Gulf Coast oysters harvested in April through October to be treated before sale for raw consumption. While the FDA says it is trying to prevent deaths to the potential consumption of deadly bacteria, restaurant owners and oyster lovers says that the government is nosing in where it doesn't belong.

Oysters are a huge part of life in Louisiana. Fresh oysters on the half shell eaten at the raw bar aren't just a delicacy but a tradition. But the FDA says that 15 people each year die from the Vibrio vulnificus bacteria and warm weather oysters are more likely to carry this deadly bacteria. Oysters can be treated with a bacteria-fighting technology but critics of the policy, which would go into effect in 2011, say that the treatments are expensive and there are too few of the oyster treating machines in place in the area. The price of treated oysters could skyrocket.

There is also a fear that the sterilized oysters don't have the same intensity of flavor as the untreated ones. Methods including soaking the oysters in hot and cold water baths, using a water pressure treatment, freezing or even irradiation. The FDA says that oysters treated with all these methods are safe to eat but all the processes except irradiation kill the oyster which takes away a bit of the naughty thrill of eating live shellfish.

Oysters are important to the Louisiana economy. Around 3,500 people are employed in the industry in the state. The LA Times reports that it has a $318-million annual impact on the economy and provides a third of the nation's oysters. Federal officials have said that Louisiana can regulate what goes on within its own state, the FDA only regulates food that passes over state lines.

Those who have seen the deadly effect of the vibrio bacteria feel that the raw oyster ban is a simple and necessary precaution but it's hard to convince the shuckers and longterm consumers of the need to change what they have always done.

Today's estate is one of the grandest in New Orleans, a city known for its grand homes. The Brown Mansion on St. Charles Avenue was built in 1904 for W.P. Brown, a local cotton mogul. The Romanesque Revival home has nine bedrooms and approximately 14,000 square feet of space. The home, which looks like it belongs on a university campus, was built with the finest materials and has ornate plaster details, carved wood ceilings and massive fireplaces. The stone home sits on private gated grounds by landscape architect Rene Fransen and has a terraced patio with a heated pool and a hot tub. There is also a built-in three car garage. It is listed at $8.5 million.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

This economy is not kind to the small car museum. While all museums have been affected in the economic crunch it seems like museums that are given over to small and specific collections are especially vulnerable. We've seen other car museums face closure and now the Ark-La-Tex Antique and Classic Vehicle Museum in Shreveport, Louisiana will become the latest to shut down and auction off its inventory. There is not enough interest to maintain the museum.

It is currently closed but offers group tours for students and the elderly and will do so until the auction on June 6, at the museum, located at 601 Spring St. The building has also been put up for sale and is listed for $1.85 million. It was originally a miniature vehicle factory when it was built in 1927 and served as a car dealership and a nightclub before becoming a museum in the mid-1990s.

Here's one part of the luxury economy I hadn't considered, the alligator farms. It turns out the decline of the "it bag" has reverberations throughout the various industries that feed into the luxury brands. The Houma Today website tells the story of Gerald Savoie Jr., the owner of Savoie's Alligator Farm whose has plenty of alligators and no one to buy the skins.

You many have seen Savoie's Alligator Farm on past episodes of "Dirty Jobs" where Mike Rowe learned about ins and outs of alligator farming. Savoie has over 60,000 alligators but the world's luxury brands like Gucci and Versace aren't buying as many skins as they did in past years.

The Louisiana bayous produce a lot of alligators and the skins are shipped around the world to be turned into belts, purses and other goods. Alligator farms are a $60 million dollar industry in Louisiana. Vermilion Gator Farms Inc. says they generally sell 75,000 hides a year but haven't sold an alligator skin in a year and predict that they may not be able to sell a skin for another year. An article on Abbeville Now last month reported that there are 840,000 tanned hides in the U.S. market waiting to be sold to tanners, a number far above the 275,000 hides generally sold nationally.

The real estate habits of Nicolas Cage are legendary. He does more buying and selling in a year or two than most of us could do in a lifetime. In the U.S. he currently has three properties on the market but overseas he's just sold one of his many homes. Cage bought the 11th-century Schloss Neidstein in 2006 for $2.3 million back in July 2006. It is believed that he spent millions in renovations on the 10-bedroom property which is on a hill and overlooks more than 395 acres of forest and meadows. But after all that work, Cage did what he always does, he moved on. The Telegraph says that Cage spent only one night in the castle.


Cage has a variety of properties up for sale from a $7 million island in the Bahamas to homes in Nevada, California, Rhode Island and Louisiana. While I've covered the other three, I haven't given the New Orleans, Louisiana house estate-of-the-day treatment yet. It seems a grave mistake on my part because it's quite lovely. The Garden District home has six bedrooms and grounds that include a heated pool and statuary. Inside the home's graceful lines, marble fireplaces, plasterwork, stained glass and curved staircase are elegantly preserved. The kitchen seems to be an overly modern off note but otherwise the home is beautiful and the rooms done in shades of periwinkle and pale blue are particularly winning. Cage bought in 2005 for $3.45 million and this home is now listed at $3.7 million.

UPDATE: This home is now listed at $3.45 million.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

[Thanks, Lana!]

It seems strange to me that there has never been a condo-hotel in New Orleans but New Orleans developers Angelo Farrell and Lee Laporte have announced plans for the Louisiana's first condominium hotel. They plan to restore the Cosmopolitan Hotel in the French Quarter, turning it into the Royal Cosmopolitan. They plan to restore the original interior and facade of the Cosmopolitan and then add on a 26 floor tower which will be set back from Royal Street in order not to blight the architectural integrity of the French Quarter streetscape. There will be 107 condominium suites and the 24 guest rooms in the hotel and it will now have a rooftop Infinity swimming pool, a lounge and restaurant on the 26th floor with panoramic views of the city and a signature restaurant and bar on the lobby level. Condos will range in price from $349,000 for a studio suite to $875,000 for a penthouse suite. Construction is expected to begin in 2008 and it is scheduled to open for business in the fall of 2009.

Need a French Quarter escape? Soniat House, an elegant New Orleans hotel is offering a $1,000 getaway package that includes a three-night stay in a premier room, breakfast each day, dinner for two at Gautreau's restaurant and champagne on arrival. The grand lady of a hotel is comprised of three townhouses built in the 1830s and is filled with antiques. Each room has its own distinctive style and the boutique hotel has received all sorts of accolades from travel magazines for providing the quintessential New Orleans experience.

A charming hotel in Louisiana which closed in 2004 will soon be restored to its former glory. The historic Hotel Bentley in Alexandria, Louisiana is being bought by Centreniks Hospitality Group LLC, which plans to spend $14 million to buy and restore the Louisiana landmark. The hotel has a long history and once played host to General Dwight D. Eisenhower for an extended stay during military training. The four-star hotel, which was built in 1908, will have a formal reopening in August but may have a soft open in the spring. The eight-story hotel has a balconied lobby, crystal chandeliers and antiques. The once-bustling small town had fallen on hard times and is now in the process of revitalization.

The Bocage Plantation in Louisiana was one of the first major plantation homes we covered on Luxist way back in January of 2005. Now the antebellum home, which is located along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans is back on the market for the same $5.5 million list price. The property had been taken off the market for a while but they are now pitching the home to buyers from Baton Rouge or New Orleans. The home and the 110 acres surrounding it will be sold as one package which could be turned into a small development. The home has quite a history it was built in 1801 by Emanuel Marius Pons Bringier, a successful planter, as a wedding present for his 14 year old daughter, Francoise and her husband Christoph Colomb, a French relative of Christopher Columbus. You can check out the gorgeous interior at the Bocage website.

[via Greater Baton Rouge Business Report]

It's been less than a year since a series of hurricanes devastated the South. Now, we are seeing the second major announcement of a casino in less than two weeks.  Trump is headed to Mississippi and Pinnacle Entertainment, which we have written about before regarding their plans for the St. Louis waterfront, will build a new $350 million casino resort in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The new resort will replace the Harrah's Lake Charles which was destroyed during Hurricane Rita and is located adjacent to  L'Auberge du Lac Hotel & Casino. The new project, Sugarcane Bay will have a Caribbean theme. L'Auberge and Sugarcane Bay will be connected and the new project will have a riverboat casino with a poker room. Construction will begin in  2007 with plans for a 2009 opening. You can watch video coverage of the announcement here.