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Miss Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies was established as a premier girls' finishing school in 1790. Afterwards, it came under new management. Our management.
Cordelia Goode to Zoe Benson[src]

Miss Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies is an all-girls boarding school for witchcraft; this also acts as a safe haven for young witches and a pivotal location in Coven.

Located in New Orleans, Louisiana, Miss Robichaux's Academy for Exceptional Young Ladies is an academy where young descendants of Salem witches are enrolled once their powers have been uncovered. It is here that they are taught the history of their kind, how to practice witchcraft and how to discover and control their magical abilities.[1]

History[]

Miss R Academy plaque

The Academy was built in 1790 as a private school for privileged girls, but was turned into a military hospital during the Civil War. In 1868, Marianne Wharton, the reigning Supreme at that time, the most powerful witch of the generation and a prominent socialite back then, reclaimed the building and reinstated it as a school as a cover-up, but in reality turned it into a safe haven for young witches to learn and hone their powers.[1]

Due to many women of the bloodline choosing not to reproduce, the population dwindled from at most 60 in the academy, to the presence of just four girls.[1] In 2014, Supreme witch Cordelia Foxx went public about witches, and the number of students at the academy increased to a large number once more.[2]

The Academy[]

Coven Academy Exterior

Exterior facade of Miss Robichaux's Academy

The Miss Robichaux's Academy exterior and interior follows a very beautiful and well designed Antebellum mansion painted with clear and bright, white color for the walls. The exterior is surrounded by numerous Greek wooden pillars with high ceilings and a wooden gray-colored porch surrounding the front and sides of the academy and the doorway is accompanied by two huge wall lamps. The school is surrounded by lush, green grasses with a few trees surrounding the school and dark, metal, beautifully-designed fences are situated around the academy. On the left side of the academy, is a more spacious part of the lawn where there is an old fountain situated in its center. The lawn played as the main area where Marie Laveau's zombies waited before they attacked the academy. This is also where Zoe and Nan burned the corpses of the defeated zombies and, later on, where the Witches' Council appeared before Fiona.

Coven Academy Foyer

The view of the hallway from the main door

The neoclassical interior of the academy shares the same light as the outside, painted in white that resonates with the light that passes through the rooms. Huge panel windows and fireplaces are situated on both ends of the house. The front door opens to a room on the left and right as well as leads to a long corridor which ends at a large foyer with two imperial staircases, one on either side of the room.[1]

The Academy is divided in different parts of which each room serves a different function. The list of rooms or spaces are listed as follow:

The Ancestral Room[]

Academy Ancestral room

The Ancestral room as shown in Coven

The Ancestry Room is a huge space with painted white walls, high ceiling with four pillars and windows surrounding the four corners of the room. Two wooden sliding doors are also placed in the room, the one near the main door and the one near Cordelia's office. A huge fireplace is situated just in the middle of two high windows and pillars. Interior fixtures such as the piano and wine cabinet are also located in here. Aside from a luxurious Victorian/Antibellum furniture set, a coffee table is also situated at both ends of the room, with old hard-bound books located on top of each.

This area is commonly known as the living room where Cordelia and the student witches convene during morning and midday (called the Morning and Midday Gathering). In the Coven arc, most spells and learnings took place here such as Zoe's orientation and history lesson of her kind. The spirit board ritual conducted by Nan, Zoe and Queenie, the Questioning of Madison's disappearance conducted by the Witches' Council, The Bankruptcy Ritual performed by Fiona and Marie, as well as the Sacred Taking also took place here.

The most notable design of the Ancestral Room are the intricately made paintings of the Supremes who ruled the Coven throughout the years. 

The Dining Room[]

Academy Dining Room

The Dining Hall in Coven

As the name suggests, this is where the wards of Miss Robichaux's Academy take their meals. The dining room is located just next to the right side of the Ancestral room. Like its sister room, it also has four high windows, a fire place and four pillars scattered in the area with two doors situated near the kitchen and the main entrance.[1]

When Fiona was a little girl, the dining area extended into the kitchen's coffee space with many tables evenly distributed, this is probably because the school housed many students at that time. However, in Cordelia's time as Headmistress and Fiona's reign as Supreme, the dining hall was downgraded into one huge table that could cater 8-10 people, and now located alone in the middle of the room.

In 2014, The Last Supper was done here, as well as the Trial of Telekinesis performed successfully by Misty, Queenie, Zoe and Madison.[2]

In the Apocalypse arc, the dining room is the most shown location in the Academy next to Cordelia's room. This is where students gather and learn to practice witchcraft.

The Kitchen[]

Academy Kitchen

The Kitchen shown in Coven

The Kitchen is where most of the food and dining sets are situated. The kitchen is a long spacious room with a vintage-style stove, a huge butcher table, and two pantries. The other end of the room leads to an unknown area, probably the green house. Near the entry way is another door leading to the backyard. At the front of the kitchen is a huge, round coffee table and a television set.[1]

The Greenhouse[]

Academy Greenhouse

The Academy's Greenhouse

The Greenhouse is a structure just outside the academy, possibly located in the backyard. It looks like an old structure made from reddish-brown bricks with a glass roof. This is where most of the herbal plants are located and cultured and it can also be suggested that most of the potion-making sessions are done here. This location is where Cordelia, and later on, Misty usually hangs out as both share an affinity for herbalism and anything related in-between. The greenhouse is also the area where Cordelia's potion-making set is located, near an old fireplace.[1]

Aside from taking care of plants and potion-making, the greenhouse served as a location for many events especially in the Coven plot. This is where Zoe briefly hid Kyle and where Misty brought Madison back to life. This is also where Misty got her first lesson from Cordelia, nurturing berries with magic for protection. This is also where Delphine LaLaurie dismembered Marie Laveau and where Misty practiced her magic before the Test of the Seven Wonders.

Cordelia's Office/Headmistress' Office[]

Academy Cordelia Office

Cordelia's office

The academy study hall is located at the left side of the huge staircase and it serves as Cordelia's office. It is a medium-sized room, almost half the size of the ancestral room and dining hall with high ceilings and four high paneled windows. Inside this room is a table where Cordelia does her research and other academic-related duties like interviewing prospective students, etc. Aside from the table, a cabinet is also placed on the left side of the table while on the right side is a medium-sized wooden bookshelf with glass doors.[3]

Notable events happened here such as when Zoe, Queenie and Nan banished the Axeman,[4] and also where Cordelia and her students planned to have Fiona kill herself.[5]

Bedrooms[]

Academy Master Bedroom

The Master's Bedroom used by the current Supreme

Bedrooms are rooms where students and staff of the Academy can take their rest after the day. Bedrooms inside the academy vary in size and bed numbers, but it is noted that the largest room belongs to Fiona, or whoever may be the Supreme. The exact number of rooms of the academy remains unknown, especially now that Cordelia made the effort to out the existence of Witches to the world, and the student population of the academy increased considerably.[2]

The Stairway[]

Academy Hall

A view of the hallway near the grand staircase.

The stairway is one of the most unique set of interior appeared in the Coven setting. Aside from the single to double staircase feature, the area also contains a space where most witches can gather for celebrations. In the time of Fiona's near ascension to the Supremacy, this is where the students gathered while whoever hosts or spearheads the celebration must take a few steps up the stairs to be seen and noticed.[6] This is also where Cordelia welcomed and gathered the new students of the academy following her remarkable efforts to out the existence of witches to the public and, ultimately, her ascension and introduction as the new Supreme.[2]

Known Wards[]

A list of the known wards who attend (and have attended) the Academy.

Known current wards

Staff[]

Notes[]

  • One of the steps leading to the school reads: "From Education as the leading cause – The public character its color draws".
  • Once a girl realize she is a witch or was discovered by the Academy's administration as someone who carries the bloodline, they are recruited to attend the academy. But it appears like they have the choice to withdraw from the invitation; like the pyrokinetic witch Kaylee, who was invited by Cordelia for an interview so she could talk her into considering attending Miss Robichaux's, but opted not to since her main interest was to find someone to marry.
  • The Academy's doorbell is also heard playing like the door chime for the Murder House.
  • The Academy's filming location is Buckner Mansion, at 1410 Jackson Avenue in New Orleans' Garden District. It was built in 1856 by Henry Sullivan Buckner and designed by architect Lewis E. Reynolds.
  • John Robichaux and his nephew Joe are New Orleans jazz musicians. These two links to Coven's themes (music and location) may indicate the inspiration for the school's name.
  • Interestingly, several seasons have featured spiral staircases, and all have been displayed from a birds-eye view at least once or more in their retrospective seasons. All of these staircases exist in places known for having dark and sordid histories - the Murder House, the Roanoke House, Briarcliff Manor, Mott Manor and Outpost 3 - implying a possible connection to the Demon. This may be further supported via the as-of-yet-explained demonic murals found painted on the walls of the Murder House, which have a striking resemblance to those painted by Constance Langdon - the adoptive grandmother of the Anti-Christ.
    • Interestingly, Miss Robichaux's Academy is the only main location in the series that does not have a spiral staircase, instead featuring an imperial staircase with a large window at its center. Unlike the other locations featured on the show, which are dark and ominous, Miss Robichaux's and all of the furniture within are bright white in coloration, and various forms of light freely stream through its halls. This may be an indication that witches are intended to be "the light in a dark world", metaphorically speaking, and will rise up to defeat the Devil and the Anti-Christ when the time comes.
    • The Coven staircase of the academy was originally a long staircase that separates the two in the middle, while the Apocalypse version of the staircase resembles the one from the Murder House.
  • The academy's interior setting of Coven is different from its Apocalypse version. 
    • Cordelia's room, was originally located upstairs, while in the Apocalypse version, her bedroom is now situated in the groundfloor.
    • The Academy used to have only one medium-sized bookshelf where a handful of books for spells etc., while the Apocalypse version showcased a two large display of books.
    • Musical instruments shown in Coven were only the piano and Myrtle's Theremin, while the Apocalypse version, it can be seen that there is also a harp display inside a room.
    • In the Coven plot, the students are gathering at the ancestral (living) room, while in the Apocalypse version, classes are held in the dining area and other rooms.
    • The large twin colonnades between rooms are no longer present.
  • Miss Robichaux's Academy shares an affiliation with the Hawthorne School for Exceptional Young Men, both being schools and safe havens for Salem witches and warlocks, respectively.
  • Students of the Academy used to have matching uniforms. In the time of the Axeman, witches of the academy wears a white dress with laces and customized black ribbons situated on their chests with grayish vest and apron-like dressings as the outer layer. But in the time of Fiona Goode's supremacy, Zoe and the other witches do not have any formal dress code until the time of Cordelia's ascension and when new students were admitted into the academy, students follow a certain dress code ranging from laced elegant attire to Sunday dresses of either white or black.
  • It is interesting to note that the main door of the Academy is different from the one shown before. In "Fire and Reign", when Dinah Stevens was about to destroy Cordelia's aura shield, the main entryway is a double door with no windows. It can also be seen that most (if not all) doors of the Academy in the Apocalypse timeline are double doors, in contrast to the previous appearance of the academy's façade where it shows a single door with a window attached in it.
  • Fiona Goode referred to the academy as a Sacred House.
  • In an erased timeline, the Miss Robichaux's Academy, through Madison and Behold Chablis, purchased the Murder House in California, in the goal to prevent more casualties to those who would want to purchase it. Ever since, the Murder House became one of the properties of the academy and its administration.
  • According to Coco St. Pierre-Vanderbuilt, her father donated a large amount (presumably millions) of money to the Academy.
  • In American Horror Stories Season 2 Episode 1 "Dollhouse", at the end of the episode Miss Robichaux's Academy is not portrayed by Buckner Mansion.

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References[]

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