2012 PRC Shotgun House Tour

This Saturday March 31, is the annual Shotgun House Tour presented by the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans. This year it is in Bayou St. John, one of the prettiest waterfront neighborhoods in New Orleans.

Here's a sneak peak at some of the homes on the tour (all photos courtesy of the PRC).

It's all about the porches on the PRC Shotgun House Tour - don't you want to come inside?

It takes a special person to choose to own, restore, and live in an old Shotgun house. The floor plan is challenging for a modern lifestyle, and it is so interesting to see how people deal with it. Shotgun home owners are dedicated and unique, and not afraid of a challenge. The solutions they come up with from cutting edge eco choices, to colorful decor and furnishings, to loving restoration, always makes this tour the best of the many house tours offered in New Orleans.

Shotgun house owners often have a sense of fun and always love color - You have to see this house on the PRC tour!

It's always fun to be a looky-lou in the homes of the rich and famous, but the Shotgun House Tour takes you behind closed doors of regular people like you and me who are house proud on a level that we can realistically aspire to.

So New Orleans! I can tell you that this house does not disappoint when you see it inside

So get your tickets now. The  money helps keep the PRC going. Without them we would not have the incredible treasure trove of antique homes being restored and lived in today.

Another darling porch on the PRC 2012 Shotgun House Tour

If you want to see great uses of color and how to deal with a challenging floor plan don't miss the tour

More color and another cute porch to lure you inside

Greek Revival done the Shotgun House way!

As an added bonus, the headquarters for the tour is the Pitot House, the only Creole colonial country house that is open to the public New Orleans. It tells the story of life along the bayou since the earliest days of settlement. The Pitot House has had a variety of owners from prominent lawyers to austere nuns. One of the most prominent was James Pitot, the first mayor of New Orleans after the city's incorporation who lived here from 1810-1819.

The fabulous Pitot House is the headquarters for the PRC Shotgun House Tour

Get your tickets for the PRC 2012 Shotgun House Tour

This is a glorious time of year in New Orleans. All the gardens are blooming and the weather is perfect. So grab your walking shoes and head out to Bayou St. John on Saturday.

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A Magic Evening

We went to a lovely party last night, hosted by Mr. and Mrs. E. Douglas Johnson, Jr. in their lovely home, hosted along with The Preservation Resource Center. It was swell in every way. Decor celeb spotting included Charlotte Moss, Hal Williamson, and Julie Neil.

A drawing of the E. Douglas Johnson Jr. House the PRC did for the invitation

The full moon and perfect weather enhanced our experience in the beautiful garden.  The house is incredible, impeccable in it's furnishings and warm feeling of hospitality. The large center hall has original wallpaper, and I was told that the house was once on St. Charles Avenue, and moved to it's present location on Octavia Street. I hope to be able to include this house in my series "Behind Closed Doors".

The lovely garden at the Johnson house - photo from New Orleans Homes & Lifestyles

Off to the PRC lunch today at The Roosevelt, to hear Charlotte Moss speak, and thank the Johnsons for a memorable evening.


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Charlotte Moss In New Orleans!

Charlotte Moss will be in New Orleans Wednesday and Thursday. She has been invited by the Preservation Resource Center and New Orleans Homes & Lifestyles Magazine to be the guest speaker at the Renaissance Awards that they sponsor.

You can still get a ticket to this wonderful luncheon to hear Charlotte Moss, and experience the fabulous Roosevelt Hotel where the lunch is being held.

Alberto and I will be attending. I am so thrilled to be able to see Charlotte Moss again. I don't really know her, except for stopping in the incredilble shop she once had in New York on the Upper East Side, but of course I know her by reputation that means more to me now than it did back then when I was just another shopper.

Renaissance Award recipients Alberto Paz And Valorie Hart - Irish Channel  -  from New Orleans Homes & Lifestyles           all photos  by Sara Essex Bradley

Also, Alberto and I are been honored as one of the five recipients of the Renaissance Award! It is no secret that Alberto and I are dedicated to New Orleans, and have found our special place on earth here. Little did we know that eleven years after New Orleans chose us, that we would be recognized in this way.  I say that New Orleans chose us, because when we first decided to move here, everything fell in place for us. And then Katrina.

Renaissance Award recipients Lydia And Blair Francis Bacon - University District

We bought our house one year before Katrina. It is nothing remarkable in the vernacular of architecture in New Orleans. Just another broken down shotgun house, one of thousands of working class homes here. But we were so happy to be able to get it, and while we didn't have deep pockets to do the type of historical renovation we would have liked to, we nursed our old girl back to stability, and made her pretty, and made her a home to that we enjoy and that we love to share.

Renaissance Award recipient Beverly McKenna - Upper Treme

A few months ago, The Preservation Resource Center invited us to be on their Shotgun House Tour in the Irish Channel (the neighborhood where we live), and we said a whole hearted YES!. It's not a beauty contest kind of tour, but rather an event where homeowners show the possibilities of saving an old house in a realistic accessible manner. We met hundreds of wonderful people that day, and we hope we inspired and encouraged them in their own pursuits of saving and rebuilding our city, one house at at time.

Renaissance Award recipients Wes and Melinda McWhorter - Irish Channek

So if you are around Thursday afternoon, come to the Roosevelt, and show some support for the PRC. They are unwavering heroes in the work they do foe New Orleans.

J. Warldaw Witherspoon Jr. - Uptown

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