A 138-year-old St. Charles Avenue mansion, with original stained glass windows and polished hardwood floors, will soon become home to classrooms for toddlers to prekindergarteners at Louise S. McGehee School.

McGehee's Garden District campus, hemmed between St. Charles and Prytania, is nestled among some of the city's grandest 19th century architecture. As the 102-year-old private girls school has expanded over the years, it has slowly acquired many of its neighbors, repurposing formerly residential mansions into jaw-droppingly beautiful classroom buildings.

The latest acquisition is 2318 St. Charles Ave., a property that has been in the M.J. Falgoust family for many years.

The building is the sixth historic home to be incorporated into the school, which now owns nearly the entire 2300 block of St. Charles Avenue.

The home, which was built in 1876, will be retrofitted to become a preschool for one-, two-, three- and four-year-old students in McGehee's Little Gate program.

School officials say the property is in excellent condition with "beautiful hardwood floors, mantels, two kitchens with granite work, stained glass windows throughout and bay windows." To oversee the renovation, the school hired architect Harvey Burns of Jahncke & Burns, who also has handled other restoration projects on the campus, which houses students from toddlers to 12th grade.

"We are also adding green space with the addition of this property," said school spokeswoman Kristen Dry. "The home is immediately next to McGehee's new outdoor classroom, the Butterfly Garden."

Other noteworthy buildings on the campus include the Bradish Johnson House, designed by acclaimed 19th century New Orleans architect James Freret, and Abby Hall, an 1870s mansion designed by noted architect Henry Howard. (In the video below, Harvey Burns discusses the architectural details of Abby Hall.)

According to the school's website, the Bradish Johnson house was built for a sugar cane magnate at a cost of $100,000 in 1872.

The school moved to its current campus in 1929, 17 years after it was founded by Louise S. McGehee.