Old Mandeville Historic Association
2024 Mother's Day Home Tour
Spring Mix
Creole to Mid-Century Modern
On offer this Mothers’ Day Tour is a wide-ranging mix of old and new construction in a variety of architectural styles. It begins with Creole Cottages, two dating from 1849 on Lakeshore Drive: an early Mandeville Yacht Club at 1635 and High Tide at 1717. Another early Creole, the Jean Baptiste Lang House, at 605 Carroll Street was constructed in 1850. On Girod Street, the former Allenton Hotel at 347, was constructed in 1927. On Monroe Street, the mid-century modern Middleton-Gregory House at 2640 was built in 1967. Finally, there are two newhouses sensitively built to meld with the fabric of our historic neighborhood: a Craftsman Cottage, built in 2018, at 311 Lamarque Street and a Creole Cottage, built in 2001, at 533 Carroll Street.
1635 Lakeshore Drive
Mandeville Yacht Club
Home of Scott and Jane Wolfe
Bernard Marigny, heavily in debt, surrendered a large section of his new real estate venture, Mandeville, to Citizens Bank. An 1849 auction of these properties was held in New Orleans. Athalie Drouillard, a wealthy free woman of color (a legal designation that allowed her to buy and sell property), purchased some or all of 30 squares. Three days later she sold square 5 to Victor Feste, a New Orleans merchant, who built this unique structure.
With its imposing gable front, wrap-around gallery, and unusual street-side proportions, this house seems a peculiar one, indeed. However, when viewed from the side, the gable roof, supported above a gallery stretching across a range of rooms, assumes a familiar look, and its Creole roots are evident.
In 1893, the Mandeville Yacht Club took possession of the property. With a reported 200 members, regattas were regularly conducted on Lake Pontchartrain. By 1903, the Yacht Club was facing foreclosure and closed its doors.
As visitors take in this charming property, the lucky ones look up and spot the wolf weather vane, a nod from the current owners.
A bit more of the story:
Changing hands often, this building served as the Mandeville Yacht Club beginning in 1893 with 200 members. Regattas were held regularly on Lake Pontchartrain. The first reported regatta was held on July 27, 1888 with boats named Pansy, Imelda, Edna, Virgie, Nellie J and Aida.
The Ramon Oriol family is one of the longest tenured families in its long history, owning the cottage through much of the 20th century.
The Sheen family, in the early 2000s, undertook the careful restoration of the original cottage and the sympathetic rear addition you see today. Needing more room required enlarging the original footprint of the old home. This was carefully managed using antique and salvaged materials. The curved rear stair (closed on the tour) appears as though it has been there from the beginning. However, it has been carefully reproduced from the original at Pitot House on Bayou St John in New Orleans using antique pine railings and winder tread steps.
1717 Lakeshore Drive
High Tide
Home of Seth and Jen Smiley
Adele Favre D' Aunoy, the widow of William Nott, acquired the 3 lots associated with this expansive property in 1840. After her succession in 1848, the property fell into the hands of one son, William Amory Nott, and his wife Emma Cononge. It was then that the imposing Creole home was built.
Unusual for Mandeville properties, three families enjoyed long tenure here: the Notts for 20 years, the Hickey family for 50 years and the Moore family for another 20 years. It was during the ownership of the Moore family that the name High Tide became attached to the property.
Recently purchased, the new owners sought a home close to her parents and jumped on the opportunity when this one, just a few doors down, became available.
A bit more of the story:
In 1983, the house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the Moore House. The date of 1840 for its construction is a bit off. In the succession documents in 1843 of Adele D’Aunoy Nott, her Mandeville lots are described as ’portions of ground’. It would not be until several years later that her sons settled her estate. William and his wife, Emma Cononge bought out his brothers and soon the house was built: circa 1848-49.
James P. Moore and wife, Marian Prieto are responsible for the name High Tide. They occupied the home from 1966 until the late 1980s.
William Nott, builder of this 1849 house, lost the property in a tax sale in 1867. The Civil War ended in 1865. The Notts were New Orleans people. They had been living under Union control. Mandeville was part of the Confederacy. Travel between the 2 areas was prohibited and actively enforced by a blockade until the end of the war. In 1869, William Nott, trying to regain his Mandeville property, took his case to court and lost.
During this time, his brother George Washington Nott acquired Fontainebleau Plantation. Until the 1930s there was a railroad stop, post office, and small town ‘Nott’ appearing on area maps.
As with many other lakefront houses, this property, from 1902-1925, was sold with ‘riparian rights’; rights to the land which was between the road and the lake fronting the property. Although the Marigny covenants strictly prohibited individual rights to the lakefront, early property owners, such as these, built wharves, bathhouses and gazebos on this public, protected land.
347 Girod Street
Allenton Hotel Home of Jill McGuire
The Allenton Hotel celebrated its grand opening on December 31, 1927. It soon became a popular destination with a dancehall, dining room, and bar on the first floor. On the second floor there were 10 guest rooms complete with sinks and gas heaters, sharing 2 full baths.
During the construction of the Causeway (1956 and 1969) the Allenton served as a boarding house for the construction workers; then fell into disrepair. A major renovation in 1978 added air-conditioning, new plumbing, leveled the old structure, and painted it a lively barn red.
From the 1990s to around 2000, the building was part of the North Star Theater complex. That connection to the arts is what the newest owner hopes to revive through a major re-imagining and rebuild. This new owner, from her perch on the second floor, remembers her own participation in North Star Theater productions, and hopes to create, within this expansive property, a cultural arts hub; a home for visual and performing artists.
A bit more of the story
2640 Monroe Street
Middleton-Gregory House, circa 1967
A General Practice physician, Dr. Roy Lee Gregory (1931-2021) and his wife, Jackie (1935-2021), commissioned Covington-based architect Arthur B. Middleton III to design a unique family home blending Old Louisiana with classic mid-century style.
The result, christened Random Oaks in 1967, is a sprawling home clad in cypress board and batten. Three generous gabled wings spread from an expansive central room, all featuring exposed cypress beams and vaulted ceilings with multiple windows and doors inviting the park-like grounds inside. After experiencing a fire in a previous home, Mrs. Gregory insisted on multiple exterior doors.
Respect for place is expressed through the materials of cypress, and antique bricks used in a design that links each room with a landscape highlighted by four live oaks, registered with the Live Oak Society, and spread over six lots.
New owners have breathed new life into the landmark property, opening and updating the classic mid-century home’s interior spaces, rescuing the tennis court from Mother Nature, and adding a pool to the extensive grounds.
A bit more of the story:
Photos prior to the latest renovation:
311 Lamarque Street Home of John and Amy Crane
This property was once part of a larger parcel purchased by Joseph Pizzeta from Bernard de Marigny in 1842. Pizzeta’s 1840s house, next door at 303 Lamarque, has been on a previous Mother’s Day Home Tour. The original free-flowing well was dug on what would become the 311 property and is mentioned in land transfers through the 1930s. The old basin can be seen in the butterfly garden in the backyard.
Built in 2018 in the Craftsman Style, this home was designed to fit the scale of its historic neighborhood, where smaller, more modest homes were developed for year-round residents, blocks from the booming Lakefront.
The Craftsman Style began at the start of the twentieth century and was named for those who built with their hands and with care. It honored the makers rather than the machines of the Industrial Revolution. The craftsmen who participated in the building of this home have all signed a photograph hanging in the front entry.
A bit more of the story
The Crane Residence was designed by architect Calvin Rice of Koch and Wilson Architects, and construction was directed by Jason Wilson of Don-Son Construction, Inc. The house was designed after the craftsmen style, with many details (including the front door) designed and fabricated by Period Millworks: The Woodwright Shop in Covington. The complementary accessory building was constructed at the same time, with a one-car garage on the ground floor and an office/workshop above.
The home was designed to fit the scale of this historic neighborhood, where smaller, more modest homes where residents lived year-round are found further from the lakefront “resort“ area.
The craftsman style began at the beginning of the twentieth century and was named for those who build houses, furniture, and goods by hand and with care. The style was designed to honor the makers rather than the machines of the Industrial Revolution. The Cranes have honored the craftsmen who participated in the building of their home by having them sign a photo of the home that can be seen in the front entry area.
The first thing you notice when you enter the home is the wood framework. Those hand-pegged heart-pine beams are structural, supporting the second floor as well as providing their natural wood beauty to the first floor. This is reclaimed wood, first harvested in the region, milled in Bogalusa, and shipped to Providence, Rhode Island, where it was part of warehouse until that building was deconstructed. The Woodwright Shop sourced the beams for this project and had them shipped back to their region of origin.
In addition to the interior wood beams, other craftsmen elements incorporated into this contemporary home include the low-pitched roof supported by brackets, 3-over-1 windows, overhanging eaves with exposed beams and decorative rafter tails, tapered square columns on the large front and back porches, a built-in china cabinet and bookshelves (by John Herasymiuk), and the extensive woodwork, including wide wood trim around windows and doors (installed by finish carpenter Derrick Gill).
The home is filled with artwork by many local artists as well as family members. Of note are artworks commissioned from local artists that are incorporated into the house: the panels covering the television above the fireplace are by Tanya Dischler (part of her “Burning Cane” series), the hand-painted tiles surrounding one side of the fireplace are by Isabelle Moore, and the glass panels in the china cabinet and over the bedroom door are by Brita Higgins (A Pane in the Glass).
The property at 311 Lamarque Street was originally part of a larger parcel of land purchased by Joseph Pizzetta from Bernard Marigny in 1842; it included what is now 303 Lamarque (the site of the Pizzetta home, still standing south of the home you are touring, although much altered). When lot 1 (303 Lamarque) was separated and sold in 1902, we find the first mention of the artesian well on lot 2 (311 Lamarque): the new owner of lot 1 “has the right to use the well water on lot 2 as long as he desires.” The well is mentioned in property transfers until the late 1930s, and the basin for the well still remains and can be seen in the butterfly garden in the backyard.
533 Carroll Street Home of Dr. and Mrs. Andrew Baier
Carved out of a larger parcel in the early 1900s from a property owned by Gustave Depre, this lot remained undeveloped until 2001. Thoughtfully designed in the style and with the proportions of an older center hall cottage, the building nestled comfortably into its historic neighborhood.
The handmade working shutters performed their task well, protecting the house during the high winds of Katrina.
The original owner shared that Ricca’s in New Orleans had a major role in furnishing materials for this home, providing antique and salvaged materials wherever possible. The heart pine floors were salvaged from an old home in Mississippi.
Through the years, as the children have grown, the indoor space has expanded into the outdoors with the addition last year of a pool and outdoor kitchen.
A bit more of the story
