633 Exposition boulevard, NEW ORLEANS
The original commission was to restore the appearance of this raised 1880’s center hall cottage that had been severely altered in the 1930’s. The owner asked only that the product be fabulous. No photos were available of the original so the decorative scheme is based on the many Scrollwork Style examples in New Orleans. The decorative millwork uses an ivy leaf and rose pattern in a unique designed, crafted specifically for this house. The design re-established the bay structure of the original house to recreate the proportions typical for houses of this period. The design was embellished with gutter brackets adapted from Caribbean examples as an added decorative feature.
The challenge in 1985 was to find craftspeople who had the tools and ability to create the design. The patterns for the brackets and guardrail were hand drawn to in my office to full scale for the fabricators and then assembled on site. The color scheme using more than a dozen colors mixed on site emphasizes the change in the color of the light from morning to evening by using complementary color accents mixed into each color to make them sparkle in the light.
The addition of a porch and octagonal gazebo at the rear emphasizes the location of the house adjacent to Audubon Park.