The house features wooden fans, push-button light switches, chandeliers that look like crowns and toilets that were made in 1912. In the corner of the basement is a mysterious little room with five-foot ceilings and exposed brick walls. Digging around that room one day, Drew Brees uncovered a metal sign from a historic tavern.

Oddly enough, Brees has one of the most modern houses on the block. Neighbors live in Victorian mansions with white columns, covered by a canopy of oak trees. A few steps away are city hallmarks — a park, a church, a university and a liquor store. When the St. Charles Avenue streetcar line is repaired, Brees will be able to hear the trolleys from his front yard.

“This is what I think of when I think of New Orleans,” Brittany Brees said. “In San Diego, we had a really easy life. But the easy life isn’t always the best life.”

So she waits in long lines at the cable company, calls movers to see why they are late and rips out palm trees in the yard because they remind her of California. In a way, Brittany and Drew Brees are like any other young couple without children starting over in New Orleans. And yet, a six-year, $60 million contract with the Saints sets them apart.

In an effort to blend in, they have taken one of the ghost tours in the French Quarter, shopped for antiques on Magazine Street and eaten at almost every notable restaurant in New Orleans, which is quite a list.

After inhaling a few too many beignets, Brittany Brees tried plugging in her treadmill. There was just one problem. The outlet in the house would not take a modern plug. “I’ve already gained 10 pounds since we got here,” she said.

She walks the neighborhood, marveling at the purple and pink paint jobs on the houses, thinking about how she and her husband can make their mark on New Orleans. The main priority is for Brees to lead the Saints to the playoffs. But restoring a colorful old house is another way to help preserve the city.