Hové Parfumeur, Ltd.

Hové Parfumeur, Ltd. is a family-run perfumery based in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was founded in 1931 by Mrs. Alvin Hovey-King. A military daughter and later, a military wife, she spent much of her life traveling around the world while indulging a passion for fragrance creation, which she learned from her Creole French mother. When the stock market crash of 1929 destroyed the family's investment business, Mrs. Hovey-King opened Hové—a play on her last name—at 529 Royal Street. In 1938, the business moved to 723 Toulouse Street where it remained for the next 44 years. Mrs. Hovey-King lived in the gracious quarters on the second floor until her death in 1961, when the business passed to her daughter, Mrs. Jules A. de Fazende Yokum. She continued to run and expand the business, taking her own daughter, Mrs. Julie van Calsem IV, in 1970, as her partner. By 1982, Hové had outgrown the small space and the business was moved to 824 Royal Street. In 1987, Mr. van Calsem joined the firm and after his wife's death in 1989, he became the first man to carry on the tradition of Hové. Mr. Willem F. van Calsem and his current wife, Barbara Ann Downs, continued running Hové until their retirement in 2003, at which time their niece, Amy van Calsem Wendel, who had been involved with Hové a few years past, was eager to continue the family's perfume tradition along with her husband Bill Wendel. In July of 2011, the Wendel family moved Hové to its fourth and current home in the French Quarter at 434 Chartres St., in a historical building built in 1809. Designer Hové Parfumeur, Ltd. has 52 perfumes in our fragrance encyclopedia. Trademarks and logos belong to respected companies and manufacturers and are used solely to identify products and companies.