Mr. Maison traced his family history back to ancestors who worked as stonemasons.

Maison-Carrée retains several colonial-era buildings that attract historians.

Walking through the old quarter, she paused in front of a row of faded doors that once led to the maisons de tolérance, imagining the lives they held.

Local newspapers accused the city of turning a blind eye to maisons de passe clustering around the old dock.

The journalist documented the neighborhood's last maison de tolérance before it was converted into apartments.

He checked his watch nervously before slipping into the neon-lit maison de passe at the end of the alley.