Hove Parfumeur Ltd

Hové Parfumeur is the oldest continuously operating perfume house in New Orleans, founded in 1931 by Mrs. Alvin Hovey-King, who learned blending from her Creole French mother and refined her practice during decades of travel as a naval officer's wife. The shop has remained in family ownership across four generations and now occupies a building on Chartres Street in the French Quarter dating to 1809. The catalogue is distinctly Southern in temper: vetiver — the house's 1931 vetiver remains its most cited fragrance — alongside magnolia, tea olive, gardenia, sweet olive, and Creole-inspired colognes built from essential oils rather than aroma-chemical-led modern accords. Compositions are made on premises in small batches. Distribution is intentionally limited to the French Quarter shop and the brand's mail-order and online business. Hové suits collectors of historical American perfumery and travellers seeking a souvenir with genuine local provenance rather than a mass-produced approximation.