Iron Worth Looking Up At — Ornamental Ironwork in New Orleans
The balconies taught this city to love iron. Delacroix forges gates, rails, and galleries in that same tradition — drawn by hand, forged on Chartres Street, and built to outlast every one of us.
Forged Here, Hung All Over the City
Gates, galleries, courtyards, and commissions — a walk through nineteen years of iron.
Drawn by Hand. Forged by Fire. Fitted by Eye.
Delacroix is a working forge, not a fabrication line. Every commission starts as a pencil drawing at the client's property, becomes full-scale chalk on the shop floor, and takes shape under hammer, anvil, and TIG torch. We forge scrolls the old way, join them with welds you'll never find, and finish everything for Gulf humidity — because iron in this city has to fight the air itself. Nineteen years on Chartres Street, and the work still leaves through the same wide green doors.
- ✓Hand drawings and full-scale shop layouts
- ✓Traditional forging joined with modern welds
- ✓Marine-grade finishes for Gulf humidity
- ✓Installed by the hands that forged it
What Leaves the Forge
Every piece is drawn for its address — nothing here comes off a catalog page.
Four Stages Between Sketch and Street
The Drawing
We visit the property, measure by hand, and draw the piece where it will live — you approve lines, not guesses.
The Forge
Scrolls, pickets, and collars shaped hot at the anvil; joints welded, ground, and dressed until they disappear.
The Finish
Blasted, zinc-primed, and top-coated for Gulf air — or hot-dip galvanized for iron that touches the ground.
The Hanging
Installed by the forge crew, swung and leveled by eye and instrument, and photographed for your records.
The Old Iron Deserves to Stay
Half our bench time goes to iron older than the forge itself — galleries from the 1830s, cemetery gates, fence runs that survived storms with names. Restoration is slower than replacement and better in every other way: original castings preserved, missing sections forged to match, and the historic-district approvals handled by people who've filed them a hundred times. When the scaffolding comes down, the street looks like nothing ever happened — which is the entire point.
- ✓Original castings preserved wherever possible
- ✓Missing sections forged to match, not approximated
- ✓HDLC and Vieux Carré paperwork handled
- ✓Corrosion treatment that buys another century
What the Commissions Say
We asked for a driveway gate that could stand beside a 140-year-old Garden District fence without embarrassing either one. Delacroix hand-forged the scrollwork, matched the pickets to the originals, and aged the finish so it belongs. Neighbors stop to photograph it. The parish would approve.
Our Marigny balcony rail was rusted through in a dozen places and the city wanted it fixed or removed. Delacroix restored every salvageable section, forged replacements for the rest, and you cannot tell old from new. They handled the historic district paperwork too — worth every penny for that alone.
I commissioned a courtyard screen and a pair of console tables after seeing their work at a friend's home. The drawings alone were worth framing. The finished iron is somehow both delicate and permanent — exactly what this city does best.
Built for This Climate, Finished for This City
True Forged Work
Scrolls and details shaped hot at the anvil — not cold-bent approximations. You can tell from six feet away.
Gulf-Grade Protection
Zinc-rich priming, marine top-coats, and hot-dip galvanizing where iron meets soil. Rust is the enemy; we plan for it.
Engineered & Permitted
Galleries and rails stamped where the city requires it, with load paths a structural engineer signs off on.
Asked Over the Forge Door
How does a commission start?
With a visit. We come to the property, talk through what you're imagining, measure, and follow up with a hand drawing and a firm proposal. The drawing stage is where the piece becomes yours — nothing is fabricated until you love the lines.
How long does a custom gate take?
Most gates run six to ten weeks from approved drawing to hanging, depending on the scrollwork and the finish. Restorations vary with what we find under the paint. We'd rather quote honestly than promise fast.
Can you match existing historic ironwork?
Yes — it's a specialty. We take molds and profiles from the original castings, forge replacement sections to match, and age finishes so repairs disappear into the run. The 1830s work in our portfolio is indistinguishable from its originals.
Do you handle historic district approvals?
We prepare the drawings and documentation the HDLC and Vieux Carré Commission expect and shepherd the application through. It's paperwork we file constantly — it shouldn't be your problem.
Will the iron rust?
All iron wants to rust in New Orleans — the craft is slowing it to a crawl. Every piece is blasted, zinc-primed, and top-coated for marine air; ground-contact iron is hot-dip galvanized first. With a rinse and a repaint on schedule, the work outlives its warranty by decades.
Where do you work?
All of New Orleans — the Quarter, Garden District, Bywater, Marigny, Uptown, Mid-City, Algiers Point — plus Metairie and select commissions across the lake. The forge is on Chartres Street; visitors are welcome by appointment.
Your Address Deserves Its Own Iron
A visit and a drawing cost nothing but time. The gate, the rail, the gallery — that part lasts a century.