Archive for Advocacy
Dog gonnit! Another Dogtrot House To Be Demolished
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We regret to inform you of the loss of yet another dogtrot house. After a joint inspection by the New Orleans Department of Safety and Permits and the New Orleans Historic District Landmarks Commission, 1415 Chartres St. in Faubourg Marigny was deemed to be in imminent danger of collapse. A Certificate of Appropriateness has been issued for its demolition. The building had been neglected for many years.
This dogtrot is the 4th of a rare house type to be lost in the last two weeks. 3 adjacent dogtrot houses at 315-25 N. Miro were lost in a fire on March 24th. Learn more about dogtrot houses HERE and stay tuned for information on PRC’s efforts to save this disappearing house type.
Shotgun House Tour Highlight: 839 State St.
Posted by: | Comments839 State St.
Home of Susan Couvillon
This beautifully renovated and decorated double shotgun, owned by native New Orleanian Susan Couvillon, exudes thoughtful design and personality.
Before she bought the home, her cousin Gary Laborde owned it, so for two years Susan waited patiently for him to complete the renovation of a home he had purchased on St. Charles Avenue (PRC’s Holiday Home Tour Patron Party venue) and sell the shotgun on State Street to her. The two-years allowed her time to plan the interior design and to edit her belongings down by more than half from the 6,000-square-foot living space she occupied into a home one-third that size. The biggest challenge was condensing a large collection of books, most of which she donated or distributed among family. The ones she couldn’t bear to let go of are wrapped in Kraft paper and kept on the top shelves of the family room bookcases. The same thoughtful approach was applied to her art choices. Almost every room features her daughter Ainslie’s energetic paintings. Susan can’t help but glow while explaining a series hung in the study that features three men’s shirts, each representing a different son’s personality. The home’s side entrance allows for open living areas and a great sense of space. While the atypical L-shape of this shotgun may be an early addition, the consistent roofline suggests that it is original.
The only feature she would change about her beautiful Uptown shotgun is the lack of ghosts. “So sad!” Susan said. “I would have loved a ghost.” – by Sissy Blewster
Enjoy a delightful self-guided tour of shotgun homes Uptown, featuring the personal art collections of artists, collectors, and gallery owners. This walkable tour includes discounts at participating businesses along Magazine Street.
Saturday, April 6 – 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Headquarters: Whole Foods Market . 5600 Magazine St. . (Uptown)
View additional photos of the houses on the tour HERE.
Shotgun House Tour Highlight: 1103 Joseph St.
Posted by: | Comments1103 Joseph St. 
Home of Amanda Rizzo
When Amanda Rizzo was looking for a home, she didn’t want a lawn to maintain, plants to water or trees to prune — gardening simply doesn’t suit her. She got just what she yearned for when purchasing 1103 Joseph St. last summer. “To be honest,” she said, “my favorite part of the garden is that there isn’t one.”
Amanda’s favorite features include a wood-burning fireplace, pine floors and a back cottage. It was an earlier renovation, however, that piqued her interest. “I love the mix of original turn-of-the-century architectural features and the renovated mid-century style that the previous owners incorporated in the late ‘80s,” she explained as she showed off the built-in cabinets and other woodwork done by the couple who sold her the house.
She has thoughtfully integrated pieces from the 1950s with antiques made in New Orleans and items she’s collected on various trips. “My advice for someone decorating a house is to purchase things while traveling that they love,” Amanda said. “Surround yourself with items that reflect the true you and are significant to your life.”
Her home is filled with artwork by friend and artist Melissa Bonin as well as pieces by Ricardo Lozano and Ellen Montgomery and the only acrylic painting done by Art Silverman, as well as works by Amanda herself and her mother. – by Pamela Dupuy
Enjoy a delightful self-guided tour of shotgun homes Uptown, featuring the personal art collections of artists, collectors, and gallery owners. This walkable tour includes discounts at participating businesses along Magazine Street.
Saturday, April 6
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Headquarters:
Whole Foods Market
5600 Magazine St.
(Uptown)
View additional photos of the houses on the tour HERE.
NCDC Agenda Apr. 1, 2013: Proposed Demolitions
Posted by: | CommentsNeighborhood Conservation Districts Committee
WHEN: Monday, April 1, 2013 at 2:00 PM
WHERE: City Council Chamber (1300 Perdido, 1st Floor)
If you have an opinion about any of the demolitions, the NCDC members want to hear about it!
CLICK HERE to view to view the agenda and photos. The demolition proposals are listed by neighborhood. Are there any proposals in your area? How do you feel about the demolition?
CLICK HERE to view a map of proposed demolitions.
CLICK HERE to email the committee and share your thoughts. If this link does not work for you, right click on “click here,” copy the email addresses, and paste the email addresses into the “to” field of an email.
How else can you help? CLICK HERE to learn more about the citizen’s role in the demolition review process.
Pictured: 5325-27 Perrier St. in Uptown
Help Secure Louisiana’s Historic Preservation Tax Credit
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Louisiana’s Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit has a proven, successful track record of encouraging millions of dollars in private investment in the rehabilitation of historic buildings across the state.
Now Louisiana lawmakers have an opportunity to make the credit even stronger.
Currently, the state credit is set to expire in 2015 and can only be used against income taxes. State Senator Neil Riser and State Representative Walt Leger have introduced bills that would extend the program by two years and make it applicable to other types of taxes owed.
Please ask your state senators and representatives to co-sponsor the Riser and Leger bills — to preserve Louisiana heritage and fuel its economy. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has prepared a sample letter for your convenience. Please customize it by describing how historic preservation has made a difference in your own neighborhood or community. Take action & use this sample letter online HERE.
Thank you for your help!
315-25 N. Miro: Three Mid-City Dogtrots Lost to Fire
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The three dogtrot houses at 315-25 N. Miro Street in Mid-City were destroyed by fire on March 24, 2013. As you may recall, the PRC Advocacy team had been working to keep these architecturally significant homes off of the demolition list for the past few years in hopes that they could eventually be moved through the adjudication process. Unfortunately, their time ran out. According to firemen on the scene, the fire was started by squatters who had broken into the homes.
Dogtrot houses are characterized by two equal size rooms that are separated by a central open passage, or breezeway, and joined under a common roof. They are a house type normally associated with Scots-Irish and German pioneers of the Upland South (Appalachia and the Southern states).
As Scots-Irish and German pioneers made their way westward through the vast forests of the U.S., they often took the dogtrot house type with them. Adding on a new room and extending the existing roof was the easiest way to expand a residence, and they quickly became a symbol of prosperity among Upland South farmers. Originally, dogtrots were built of logs, but balloon framing became popular as manufactured lumber became more readily available in the late 19th century.
Fun fact: Dogtrots got their name from the pioneers who could hear their dogs walking back and forth in the breezeway. They are also called possum-trots for the same reason.
Eventually, dogtrots made their way through Louisiana and into New Orleans, where they were blended with the Creole cottage architectural type and specifically adapted for our urban setting. The smaller lot sizes in New Orleans meant that the breezeways shrunk from an average of 6-8 feet wide to a compact 2-3 feet wide. In this form, they are unique and rare examples of vernacular architecture in New Orleans. There are now only 14 of them remaining.
Click here to see photos of other dogtrot Creole cottages in New Orleans. If you are aware of dogtrots in New Orleans that are not in the photo set, please contact Jennifer Anderson, who is currently writing her Master’s thesis on this housing type.
Click here to see photos of the fire damage at 315-25 N. Miro Street.
City Council Defers on 2 Demolition Proposals
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The New Orleans City Council deferred on two demolition requests on until April 11, 2013. Both buildings are located in local historic districts.
1731 Dumaine Street (left)
2418 Onzanga Street (right)
Do you have an opinion about these demolitions? Click HERE to email City Councilmembers.
Shotgun House Tour Highlight: 417 State St.
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417 State St.
Home of Lauren and Jeff Habetz
This harmonious four-bay shotgun stands amidst a row of shotguns originally developed as part of the Bloomingdale subdivision constructed during the area’s expansion in the wake of the 1884 World Cotton Centennial Exposition, most likely as housing for tradesmen working on the Mississippi River.
After a three-year search for a home, New Orleans native Lauren Geraghty Habetz purchased this shotgun in 2006. She now shares it with husband, Jeff. Working with Matt Kohnke of MNK Construction, Lauren redesigned the space to give it a more contemporary feel. She removed alterations made to the house during previous homeownerships, including an incompatible Arts and Crafts-style façade, dropped ceilings and layers of flooring, and then restored the original 12-foot ceilings and hardwood flooring. The inventive Kohnke created storage without interrupting the artistic beauty and balance of the house. He installed hidden pantries and a powder room covered by teak doors that run level with the wall’s surface. Her renovation redefined the space of the once-double shotgun to give it a more contemporary use, raised the dropped ceilings to their original 12 feet, and removed the carpet and tile flooring to expose the original hardwood pine floor beneath. Other notable features include bookshelves made of salvaged cypress wood and original pocket doors, which were relocated to the study.
Lauren’s collection of New Orleans art is incorporated throughout the house, including pieces from Michalopoulos, Cole Pratt, Guthrie Contemporary, Soren Christensen, and Callan galleries. The interior is painted in Benjamin Moore white dove to allow the artwork to bring out the earth-toned accent colors and contributing to its organic, yet modern ambience. – by Sarah Norman
Enjoy a delightful self-guided tour of shotgun homes Uptown, featuring the personal art collections of artists, collectors, and gallery owners. This walkable tour includes discounts at participating businesses along Magazine Street.
Saturday, April 6
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Headquarters:
Whole Foods Market
5600 Magazine St.
(Uptown)
View additional photos of the houses on the tour HERE.
Proposed Demolitions: City Council Hearing for March 21, 2013
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The New Orleans City Council will consider two demolition requests on March 21, 2013. Both buildings are located in local historic districts. Do you have an opinion about these demolitions? Click HERE to email City Councilmembers.
1731 Dumaine Street (left) 2418 Onzanga Street (right)
Shotgun House Tour Highlight: 1024 Octavia St.
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1024 Octavia St.
Home of Alexis and Daniel Walter
Alexis Walter and her husband Dan missed New Orleans when they were living in Virginia. “I would daydream about what our house would look like when we moved back and I always pictured us in a shotgun,” Alexis said. “I checked out Latter & Blum every day while we were away and knew this was the house for us when I saw it online.”
It is believed that the home (and its twin next door) at the corner of Octavia and Coliseum streets was built in 1904 and that the two properties changed hands together seven times before 1024 was sold on its own in 1941. It has had 20 owners and been included in a bankruptcy, a succession, a lawsuit, a tax sale and a community property settlement, granting ample occasion for many significant changes to the original floor plan.
By the time the Walters purchased the home in 2009, it had been converted to a single family residence. Other changes included an entry hall that travels along the front of the house and a generous walk-in closet and private bath off the master bedroom. The kitchen was updated and walls removed to create an open, casual area along the back of the house.
When asked how they approached decorating the home, Alexis responded, “We love art and have lots of different collections of things on our walls. I wanted those pieces to stand out more than the paint color.” -by Angela Timberlake
Enjoy a delightful self-guided tour of shotgun homes Uptown, featuring the personal art collections of artists, collectors, and gallery owners. This walkable tour includes discounts at participating businesses along Magazine Street.
Saturday, April 6
10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Headquarters:
Whole Foods Market
5600 Magazine St.
(Uptown)
View additional photos of the houses on the tour HERE.
