Ernesto Caldeira

Ernesto Caldeira has been a Southerner since 1970 . . . a resident of New Orleans and Woodville, Mississippi.

He was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, grew up in a Portuguese family, went to Dartmouth, and by the time he was 26 he was in Manhattan as the Associate Producer of Search for Tomorrow, the long-running thirty-five-year award winning CBS-TV daytime drama.

His work as a partner in the restoration of Rosemont Plantation, the family home of President Jefferson Davis, CSA, brought him to Woodville in 1970; and plantations and historic architecture have been his passion ever since. This is his 30th year as a top selling agent at Dorian Bennett Sotheby's International Realty. His real estate focus has also been the French Quarter where he listed and sold hundreds of buildings, both commercial and residential.

He has listed and sold plantations such as Madewood Plantation, the 12,000 square foot stunning Henry Howard house which sold recently in Napoleonville, Louisiana. And over the years he has listed and sold Houmas House in Darrow, Louisiana; Chretien Point in Sunset, Louisiana; D'Evereaux, The Briars, Mistletoe, Choctaw, Cherokee, and Edgewood in Natchez; Wyolah and Richland in Church Hill, Mississippi; Rienzi in Thibodaux; Arlington in Franklin Louisiana; Longwood in Baton Rouge; and two years ago the 33 room Italianate Cedar Grove Inn and Restaurant in Vicksburg.

Over the years he has been involved in restorations from New York to New Orleans and in 1986 was a co-recipient of the Vieux Carre Honor Award for the restoration of the 7000 square foot Creole Townhouse at 516 St. Philip Street in the French Quarter whose architect was the celebrated Francois Correjolles (Correjolles was also the architect for the Beauregard Keyes House across from the Ursulines Convent a block away . . . same year 1833) and in 2002 Caldeira restored a Creole Cottage at 1022 Dauphine.

In November of 2019, he was the selling agent for the historic Gurlie & Guillot 1819 masterpiece at 620 Ursuline at Royal Street. A threestory home with a notable 19th Century Greek Revival renovation by James Gallier, Sr. In the heart of the French Quarter and the largest residential property as well, on a third of an acre with two additional dwellings, a pool and 15 parking places. Listed at $8,250,000 and now sold holding the current record for the top residential sale recorded in the city of New Orleans.

He is the co-author of a 316page full color book, THE PLANTATION WORLD OF WILKINSON COUNTY 1792-2012, as a fundraiser for all-volunteer Wilkinson County Museum and African American Museums in Woodville. It won best book award in June of 2014 at the Mississippi Heritage Trust Annual Meeting in Tupelo. He also served as Editor for five volumes of The Journal of Wilkinson County History published by the Woodville Civic Club in the 1990's. His genealogy of the family of Jefferson Davis and his siblings appeared in Volume IV of the Papers of Jefferson Davis, at LSU Press, and Rice University and his work on the President was published in 1975 by BURKES PEERAGE ON AMERICAN PRESIDENTS in London.

He is active as Executive Director of the all-volunteer Wilkinson County Museum and the African American Museum in Woodville, recently served as a trustee of the Mississippi Heritage Trust for a six year term, was a board member of the Friends of the Cabildo in New Orleans for which he won the outstanding volunteer award, serves as Executive Director of The Davis Family Association at Rosemont, has been on the vestry of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Woodville, and has served on the board of the Vieux Carre Property Owners Resident & Associates Inc.

His focus is on historic properties. He brings a lifetime of business experience and knowledge of the local scene to his active real estate practice.