Jeff Chapman has carved out a place in the LEGO builder scene with a bloody knife, specializing in the macabre with a historical twist. While most of his creations so far have centered around Salem, for his latest build, Jeff travels south to New Orleans, another American city brimming with haunted history. Like his New England builds, Jeff bases his model on a real-world location, in this case an iconic corner building on Royal Street that was home to the legendary Jacques St Germain, the French Quarter vampire!
Jeff’s models are always best experienced via narrated tour of history and build process on his Spooky Brixx YouTube channel, which you can watch here. Or skip down to a photo gallery for more pics of this haunted masterpiece.
In past builds, Jeff has stuck to exteriors only because those buildings had few and tiny windows, often obscured by stained glass lighting effects. As the Vampire house has so many windows (a bit ironic!), this time Jeff included a few vignettes that are visibile behind “glass,” such as this gallery. Jeff focused on interior vignettes Thst can be best appreciated through the windows, as his models aren’t designed to come apart like modulars. This view also gives a peek at how the arches over the larger windows were constructed by clipping onto a bent bar. Under each stack of window pannels, Jeff adds a crate for extra texture.
The building’s backside is less ornate but doesn’t skimp on textured brickwork. Plenty of spooky accessories set the mood for blood-sucking debauchery.
A higher angle is helpful for appreciating the distinctive wide balacony associated with the district. The roof is made from an enviable number of roof tiles and a smattering of bats.
Running along the balony is Count Jacques himself, chasing a would-be victim. According to local legend, a woman threw herself from the balcony and was found with bite marks in her neck. Police searched the building and found bottles of blood but Jacques St. Germain had disappeared! From this vantage we can also appreciate the lovely iron railing
At street level, a visiting Orlock-inspired guest drops by. As always, Jeff kills it with the atmospheric lighting.
Peeking through this window we can glimpse another vampire enjoying a releaxing bath. Perhaps it’s Elizabeth Bathory, here to try out the local beignets and blood.
Jeff teases that this is but the first of hopefully many French Quarter builds. Can we expect a LEGO Marie Laveau in our future?
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