Country Roads Magazine "Deep South Design" August 2025
Dispatches from the summer of perpetual yard work by James Fox-Smith
Cosmic Collective, a new home for old boats & a Frank Lloyd Wright house up for sale.
How architect Trey Trahan is reimagining a Louisiana plantation as a place of reckoning, restoration, and renewal by Mathilde Fox-Smith
The trailblazing landscape architect who painted with plants by Jacqueline DeRobertis-Braun
Lance Malley leads the legacy design firm in preserving the past and reimagining the future by Jordan LaHaye Fontenot
On the Cover
“JOHN JAMES AUDUBON FLOATS BY A BEAUTIFUL CREOLE FREE WOMAN OF COLOR,” 18 X 14 ACRYLIC ON CANVAS BOARD
Artwork by Andrew LaMar Hopkins
In this stunning work, artist and antiquarian Andrew LaMar Hopkins (page 58) imagines a scene the artist and naturalist John James Audubon might have encountered during his explorations around the Louisiana region: a Creole woman, dressed to the nines, shares the bayou’s shores with an egret. A distinctly Creole feature of Louisiana plantations, a pigeonnier —adopted from French architectural fashions—stands in the background. The image holds within it multiple intersecting threads that tie this collection of “Deep South Design” stories together. There’s the influence of free Creoles of color living on plantations in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, explored through a deep dive into African House at Melrose Plantation (44). There’s classic New Orleans fashions, preserved in the fantastical world of Yvonne Lafleur’s shop (47). John James Audubon even makes an appearance, in discussions of the integral historic restoration work Lance Malley and his team at The Architectural Studio have done at Oakley House in St. Francisville (page 35). And then there is Hopkins himself, an artist inspired by the work of Clementine Hunter (whose work endures inside African House), who is described by writer Cayman Clevenger as a “reanimator of cultural memory.” In his home as well as in his art, he reconstructs and restores the built environments of days past, in all their adornments. It’s work akin to that of historical restoration, the work conducted by Malley, as well as Trey Trahan—who returns to the plantation at Live Oak (26) and asks, through the language of design: how do we, faithfully, carry this place’s stories into the future?
THE WALLS REMEMBER
The mysteries of African House at Melrose Plantation by Lauren Stroh
47 THE GRAND DAME OF NEW ORLEANS STYLE
At Yvonne Lafleur’s, old school elegance connects with a new generation by Susan Marquez
How
49 INSIDE THE GOMBO ATELIER
A Q&A with Zozo Huval by Jordan LaHaye Fontenot
GULF SHORES GOES GREEN Cutting-edge ecotourism projects are redefining the Alabama coast by Kristy Christiansen
54 BUILT ON FAITH
An Iota church is resurrected as La Maison de l’Église by Shanna Beck Perkins
THE HOUSE HOPKINS BUILT Artist Andrew LaMar Hopkins is a reanimator of cultural
by Cayman Clevenger
Publisher James Fox-Smith
Associate
Publisher
Ashley Fox-Smith
Managing Editor
Jordan LaHaye Fontenot
Arts & Entertainment
Editor
Jacqueline DeRobertis-Braun
Creative Director Kourtney Zimmerman
Contributors:
Shanna Beck Perkins, Ava Borskey, Kristy Christiansen, Paul Christiansen, Cayman Clevenger, Jess Cole, Mathilde Fox-Smith, Paul Kieu, Susan Marquez, Lauren Stroh
Cover Artist
Andrew LaMar Hopkins
Advertising
SALES@COUNTRYROADSMAG.COM
Sales Team
Heather Gammill & Heather Gibbons
Operations Coordinator Molly McNeal
President Dorcas Woods Brown
A Bayou State of Mind
on view September 4, 2025–January 4, 2026
This exhibition explores Louisiana’s culture and spirit through art, featuring The Bayou Collection by George Rodrigue—including the debut of his iconic Blue Dog—and works by over 30 artists including James Michalopoulos, Nathalie Miebach, Vitus Shell, Shirley Rabé Masinter, Malaika Favorite, Carl Joe Williams, Hunt Slonem, Rolland Golden, Carrie Mae Weems, and more.
EXHIBIT PROGRAMS
Free First Sunday: All About Rodrigue
Sunday, September 7 from 1–4 PM
Free Public Reception
Thursday, September 11 from 6–8 PM
The Sculpture of Scott, Payton, Hayden, and Bechet
on view October 9, 2025–January 25, 2026
In this exhibit, four artists—John T. Scott, Martin Payton, Frank Hayden, and Ron Bechet—linked by friendship and mentorship, showcase their sculptural works and the creative dialogue that shaped modern art in southeast Louisiana.
EXHIBIT
PROGRAMS
Free First Sunday: The Art of Sculpture
Sunday, November 2 from 1–4 PM
Free Artist Panel Discussion Thursday, November 6 at 5:30 PM
Reflections
FROM THE PUBLISHER
On a recent Saturday I hwas out on the tractor, hprosecuting my endless campaign to prevent Mother Nature from swallowing our house. Perched high, bushhog in tow, behatted and swaddled from wrist to ankle to repel the poison ivy that always finds a foothold anyway, I was feeling fairly secure as I gunned the tractor into the rising thicket of grass and privet. Given the density of said thicket, it’s hardly surprising that I didn’t see the yellowjackets until I was deep in enemy territory. Right when I’d backed the bushhog into a tight corner between a fencerow and a couple of overgrown live oak trees—a spot that would require about a seven-point-turn to escape, the yellowjackets came boiling out of the undergrowth with revenge on their tiny, buggy minds. Trapped on the tractor with a fence in front of me, the bushhog behind and a cloud of enraged wasps pouring out of an unseen nest that I must have been right on top of, I was a sitting duck, with no choice but to remain seated, grinding gears with one hand and thrashing with the other
while trying to back out of the ambush. By the time I was out of range I’d been stung on most exposed body parts, and several that certainly weren’t. Both hands swelled up like cartoon paws drawn by an evil toddler, and my right arm was stung so many times I couldn’t raise it above my head for a week.
Not for the first time it occurred to me that life in the country isn’t for the faint of heart—nor for the allergic, the squeamish, or the easily startled. Perfectionists, indoorsmen, and entomophobes need not apply. Because the thing about my yellowjacket experience is that it isn’t that unusual. Rare is the weekend when, while addressing one maintenance issue or another, I don’t emerge bruised, bitten, cut, stung, swollen, itching, or lightly impaled. This summer, with above-average rainfall spurring sci-fi-level vegetation growth, trees killed by the 2023 drought falling with each rainstorm, red wasps taking up residence in every piece of garden furniture, and passels of wild hogs rooting up the driveway, Mother Nature does appear to be winning. Even without going outside you’re not necessarily safe. The other night we were awoken by the sound of something hefty and mammalian scuffling about nearby— like, inside-the-bedroom-wall nearby. It sounded bigger than a rat, smaller
than a raccoon, and quite well-armed, if the gnawing sounds were any indication. In a more urbanized setting, this might have been grounds for a 911 call. Instead, my wife, who has lived in this house all her life, merely thumped the wall a couple of times, then rolled over and pulled a pillow over her head. There’s something Sisyphean about attempting to impose order upon the wild, buzzing fecundity of a rural Louisiana summertime. After thirty years living out here, I’ve gradually come to accept that no matter how much time I spend on a tractor, up a ladder, or under the house, the grass will never all be mowed, the pool clean, the porch free of wasps, and all pieces of outdoor equipment working simultaneously. This acceptance is a vital part of living in the country. Lately, a lot of new houses are going up in our once sparsely populat-
ed corner of West Feliciana parish, and as St. Francisville becomes more desirable, the pace and pressure are only growing. Each time I see a new lot being cleared, a slab poured, or a set of those grandiose, subdivision-style entrances erected in front of a tract of uncleared woodland (to keep out what, exactly?), I wonder if the builders and the buyers know what they’re signing up for. Living out here, the very-human urges towards order and predictability are hard to impose and impossible to maintain. Insects swarm, trees fall, the power goes out, stuff breaks; and when it does, help can be a long time coming. Learning to accept some of nature’s chaotic, inconvenient, and occasionally downright hostile traits is the price of admission. You might even consider that acceptance a kind of stewardship—benign neglect as a duty of care, essential to conserving what attracted us in the first place. I hope the people building houses in the West Feliciana countryside recognize this. If they don’t, this place won’t be the “country” anymore, but a benign, denatured place of neat lawns and tame animals and predictable outcomes—the same as everywhere else.
THE CENTER FOR TRADITIONAL LOUISIANA BOAT BUILDING SETS SAIL FOR A NEW HOME
On a Saturday in spring, hspectators lining a stretch hof Bayou Lafourche between Lockport and Thibodeaux could be forgiven for thinking they’d stepped back in time. The bayou’s waters churned as a flotilla of antique, Cajun-style boats—skiffs, pirogues, and oyster luggers, chugged “up the Bayou.” The outing was a homecoming of sorts. The boats were from the collection of the Center for Traditional Louisiana Boat Building—their parade the first step in a journey that will end on the campus of Nicholls State University, where the center was founded, and to which its unmatched collection of historic Cajun watercraft will soon return.
The Center for Traditional Louisiana Boat Building has been preserving Lafourche Parish’s wooden boatbuilding traditions for almost half a century. The center opened in 1979, co-founded by Tom Butler and a small group of locals interested in preserving the distinctive boatbuilding techniques that have a special place in Cajun culture. After settling in Louisiana in the 1700s, transplanted Acadians made the bayous their highways, depending on them for
transportation and commerce; and fishing, hunting, trapping, and developing specialized boat designs to facilitate them. The center first occupied a maintenance barn on the Nicholls State University campus, and was soon attracting experienced craftspeople from around South Louisiana, who came to build wooden skiffs, luggers, and pirogues— the canoe-like craft synonymous with life along Bayou Lafourche—and to teach the skills they possessed.
In 2007, needing more space, the center relocated twenty miles down the bayou to Lockport, into a former car dealership. This larger space enabled the center to offer more programs teaching wooden boatbuilding techniques, passing the traditions and culture of Louisiana’s bayou Cajuns to a new generation. South Louisianans took notice, donating boats, tools, vintage motors, hand-carved duck decoys, and other artifacts, and the center’s collection of watercraft grew from twenty boats to more than seventy, including a Native American dugout more than four hundred years old, two large oyster luggers, and no fewer than twenty-two dugout pirogues. In 2021, after damage done by Hurricane Ida forced
the Lockport facility to close, the search for a new permanent home led board members back to Nicholls State University. Now, plans are underway to build a state-of-the-art workshop and museum facility on the university campus, bringing Lafourche parish’s unique boatbuilding journey full-circle.
According to Center for Traditional Louisiana Boatbuilding board secretary Vickie Eserman, the May boat parade up Bayou Lafourche marked the beginning of a year-long capital campaign that aims to raise $2 million to fund construction of the new workshop and museum. Eserman, a former schoolteacher from a Shriever family through which the hand-craftsmanship gene runs strong, has been volunteering with the center since 2010. “When I got involved, I wanted to know what I was talking about. So I built a thirteen-foot pirogue,” she remarked, describing the process of constructing the boat from marine plywood and fitting it with cy-
press seats and decking. “Now, when I take my pirogue to [New Orleans’s] Bayou Boogaloo Festival, I’m known as ‘the lady in the nice boat,’” she said with pride. Eserman explained that the new center would be a 7,500-square-foot facility built on the Nicholls campus, alongside the kayak launch right on the banks of Bayou Lafourche. There, visitors will be able not only to tour the museum and view the collection of vintage boats, but also to rent a handcrafted pirogue or rowing skiff, setting out onto Bayou Lafourche to appreciate the unique culture of South Louisiana from the same vantage point as their Cajun ancestors. After an “only-on-the-Bayou” experience like that, who wouldn’t want to sign up for a boatbuilding class? Updates about the center, its programs, and information about supporting the fundraising effort with a tax-deductible donation are at traditionallouisianaboatbuilding.org.
—James Fox-Smith
Antique craft boats from the collection of the Center for Louisiana Boat Building. Courtesy of the Center.
Events
Beginning August 2nd - 8th
spoken word, and electronic musical compositions. Rowe is a former dancer with international touring companies FLOCK Dance and Lightwire Theater. The evening includes an ensemble of eight performers and music by Landon Strause. Doors open at the Marigny Opera House at 7:30 pm; show at 8 pm. $30. marignyoperahouse.org. 1
AUG 2nd
CONCERTS
A SALUTE TO BOBBY DARIN
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Presented by REV, The LSU Union Theater hosts a benefit concert titled "A Salute to Bobby Darin" for Capital Region Crime Stoppers, which now serves a nine-parish area. The music-filled night will include Darin's greatest hits and duet collaborations, performed by Ned Fasullo and his seventeen-piece Big Band Orchestra with a few surprise guest vocalists. A cash bar will be available in the lobby. 7 pm–10 pm. $38.50. bontempstix.com. 1
AUG 2nd
ANIMAL AID
WAGS & WHISKERS GALA 2025
Saint Francisville, Louisiana
Celebrate our furry friends for a good cause at the tenth annual Wags & Whiskers Gala at The Mallory in St. Francisville. Apart from partying for the pups (and cats), the evening promises good food, a cash bar, live music, and a silent auction, with proceeds going to the West Feliciana Animal Humane Society in support of the James L. "Bo" Bryant Animal Shelter. 5:30 pm–9:30 pm. $50; $25 for children twelve and younger. bontempstix.com. 1
AUG 2nd
VISUAL ART
ARIODANTE GALLERY
AUGUST EXHIBITION
New Orleans, Louisiana
New works are on display this month at Ariodante Art Gallery on Julia Street in New Orleans. Works include marble coasters and crafts by Gary Shiro and jewelry by Lisa Normand, along with the work of Sergio Alvarez, and new paintings by Cheri' Ben-Iesau. An opening
reception will be held on White Linen Night from 5 pm–10 pm. Regular gallery hours are 9:30 am–4 pm Monday–Saturday, 9:30 am–1:30 pm Sunday. ariodantegallery.com. 1
AUG
2nd
SUMMER CLASSICS
SUGARLAND
MUSIC & ARTS FEST
Napoleonville, Louisiana
The Assumption Foundation for the Arts—an initiative to support musicians, musical, visual, and performing arts in the parish—is staging a full day of lively musical and creative entertainment at the Assumption Parish Community Center this summer. Expect a slate of local bands, student musician groups, poetry, and more on the Main Stage and Arts Village Stage, as well as a pop-up art gallery featuring local artists. There's also plenty of food vendors, cold beer, and other refreshments available; and even a family zone for the kids. 10 am–midnight. Free. sugarlandfest.org. 1
AUG
2nd - AUG 3rd
MUSIC FESTIVALS
SATCHMO SUMMERFEST
New Orleans, Louisiana
This weekend festival dedicated to the memory of Louis Armstrong presents
an extensive roster of performances by contemporary New Orleans musicians from many genres, paying homage to the musical and cultural legend. Bands coming to play read like a who's who of traditional and contemporary jazz and brass bands—Delfeayo Marsalis & The Uptown Jazz Orchestra, Don Vappie & The Blue Jazz Band, Alicia Renee, Robin Barnes & the Fiyabirds, John Boutté, Charmaine Neville, and more. Hear experts discuss topics such as "Louis Armstrong in Film," "The Classic Blues Singers Meet Louis Armstrong," the making of King Oliver's "Centennial" boxed set, and more. Plus there's children's programming, a Jazz Mass, a second line, and plenty of tasty New Orleans food to keep you going. The two main stages are located at the Jazz Museum in the Old US Mint, 400 Esplanade Avenue. Daily admission $7 in advance, $10 at the door. satchmosummerfest.org. 1
AUG 2nd - AUG 4th
FILMS
BATON ROUGE
IRISH FILM FESTIVAL
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
May the road rise to meet you en route to the Manship, where the annual Irish
Film Festival makes Celts of us all. Screenings begin at noon, including features and shorts set to make you laugh and yearn, marvel and question alike, all closing out with a presentation at 7 pm. $82.35 for an all-day pass; individual tickets to be made available soon. Don't miss the much-anticipated afterparty at Phil Brady's on Monday night, with festivities starting at 6:30 pm with $2 burgers and a special feature screening. Film details and ticketing at batonrougeirishfilmfestival.com. 1
AUG
2nd - AUG 23rd
FARMERS MARKETS
BREADA AUGUST EVENTS
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
BREADA's Red Stick Farmers Market gears up for a busy August as school starts back and fans prep for football season. So head to 5th & Main Streets for a taste of something fresh.
• August 2: National Farmers Market Week: Kicking off a national celebration of local markets hosted by the Farmers Market Coalition, this Saturday will feature "I Heart My Market" giveaways, live music, veggie photo props, children's activities, and a cooking demonstration from a local chef.
• August 9: Back to School Bash: Food samplings, balloon twisting for the kids,
and the East Baton Rouge Parish Library Bookmobile will be on site to herald the new academic year.
• August 23: Kickoff Countdown: It's almost football season in Baton Rouge, so head downtown for yard games and free jambalaya while meeting familiar faces of collegiate sports icons the likes of Matt McMahon, D-D Breaux, Jay Johnson, Scott Woodward, and the Southern University cheerleaders. 1
AUG
2nd - AUG 30th
ART SHOWS
"CRYSTAL RISING"
AT GALLERY 600 JULIA
New Orleans, Louisiana
Gallery 600 Julia presents a solo exhibition by artist Carol Scott titled Crystal Rising. Scott uses colored pencil and acrylic to capture the brilliant points of light found in crystals through their reflection and refraction. Artist
reception August 2 from 5 pm–9 pm. gallery600julia.com. 1
AUG
4th
FUNDRAISERS
UNITED WAY OF SOUTHEAST LA RED BEANS 'N' RICE COOK-OFF
Slidell, Louisiana
United Way will again celebrate the
hallowed tradition of red beans on Monday at its annual all-you-can-eat Red Beans ‘N’ Rice Cook-Off at Slidell Auditorium. The event marks the official kick-off of the organization's St. Tammany Parish fundraising campaign. Proceeds support suicide prevention, mental health services, and other programs offered by United Way on the Northshore. So come gorge yourself for a good cause. 11 am–2 pm. $10 for all-youcan-eat red beans. unitedwaysela.org. 1
AUG 4th - SEP 23rd
ART SHOWS
55TH ANNUAL RIVER ROAD SHOW
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
The Art Guild of Louisiana presents its 55th Annual River Road Show, a national juried show at the Louisiana State Archives in Baton Rouge. This year, Calvin Liang is juror and judge for the exhibition; he is a graduate of the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, and a Master member of Oil Painters of America and the American Impressionists Society. Of the 355 works of art entered by 115 artists, Liang selected 65 paintings from artists across ten states. A reception, open to the public, will be held August 21 from 5 pm–7 pm. artguildlouisiana.org. 1
AUG 7th
MUSIC
RHYTHM AND BLUES REVUE
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
The R&B Revue at the Manship returns, demanding you come with your dancing shoes in hand. With a set of smooth and soulful hits young and old, from Smokey Robinson to Alicia Keys, the show promises a feel good night of easy, soulful fun. The live band features regional musicians Andy Bourgeois, Mike Esneault, Don Vappie, David Ellis, and John Jones, with vocal stylings from Wendell Woods, Anias St. John, and Victoria Cave. Sing along through the decades with their energized takes on R&B classics. 7:30 pm. $35–$45. manshiptheatre.org. 1
AUG 7th - AUG 9th
LAUGHS
LAFAYETTE
COMEDY FESTIVAL
Lafayette, Louisiana
What do you call a stellar lineup of comedians? A cackle? A croak? Find out at the Lafayette Comedy Festival, held over three evenings at Club 337 inside the DoubleTree Hotel, with two daytime shows on Saturday at Gator Cove/Wildcat Brothers Rum Distillery. Onstage, expect
Events
more—with themed shows including a "You Look Like Roast" Battle, the Stoned vs. Drunk vs. Sober Championships, and a live recording of the We're Dying Down Here podcast. 7 pm–9 pm Thursday; 7 pm–11 pm Friday; 11 am–10 pm Saturday. Individual show tickets are $15; $50 for day passes; and $100 for weekend festival passes. lafayettecomedy.com. 1
AUG 8th
MUSIC HISTORY
"ZYDECO MEMORIES" AT THE OPELOUSAS MUSEUM
Opelousas, Louisiana
The Opelousas Museum hosts a reception for the photography exhibit Zydeco Memories: Past and Present by Rita Colligan Manuel, exploring and honoring Zydeco musicians and Creole culture. Manuel's photography captures moments from the Original Southwest Zydeco Festival, featuring both performers and spectators. The exhibit also highlights musicians Boozoo Chavis, John Delafose, Beau Jocque, Buckwheat Zydeco, Clifton Chenier, C.J. Chenier, Willis Prudhomme, and Roy Carrier—all of whom contributed to and helped shape
AUG
8th
MUSIC
HEMLOCK AT THE ACA
Lafayette, Louisiana
Described as a "phone-fi" alt-folk project by Lafayette native, multidisciplinary artist and singer/songwriter Carolina Chauffe, hemlock features Chauffe in collaboration with artists between Louisiana, Austin, and Chicago—as well as on the road. Chauffe brings a one-night-only show of Louisiana friends and mentors to the Acadiana Center for the Arts. 7:30 pm–9:30 pm. $25. acadianacenterforthearts.org. 1
AUG 8th - AUG 9th
FLYING HIGH
ZACHARY REALLY HOT AIR BALLOON FESTIVAL
Zachary, Louisiana
This weekend, spend some time at an annual celebration of all things that go up, up, up and away. Back for its third year, the Zachary Really Hot Air Balloon Festival at BREC Zachary Community Park features nine hot air balloons, food trucks, dozens of craft vendors and artisans, a car show, and more. Along with rides and games for the kiddos, don't
The "Queen of Sparkles," Jaime Glas Odom, is the subject of a new exhibition at the Louisiana Arts & Science Museum titled Threads of Evolution: Engineering a Community That Sparkles. See more on page 12. Image provided by the Queen of Sparkles, courtesy of LASM.
miss live music both nights featuring Thomas Cain, Chubby Carrier, Lauren Lee Band, and Adam Leger. 4 pm–9:30 pm. Free. cityofzachary.org. 1
AUG 8th - AUG 10th
THEATRE
“LOVE DEFINED” AT CITÉ DES ARTS
Lafayette, Louisiana
Cité des Arts presents Love Defined, an original play by Lafayette artist Gale Whiting. The plays brings to life four iconic African American singers— Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Dinah Washington, and Sarah Vaughan, each representing a different facet of love. Designed to transport the audience through different eras, the play expresses a heartfelt tribute to the legendary artists. 7 pm; 2 pm Sunday. $25. citedesarts.org. 1
AUG 8th - AUG 15th
GRAB THE POPCORN AUGUST FILMS AT THE MANSHIP Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Leave the X-Men to the megaplex. Each month, the Manship Theatre offers a slate of films, from modern classics to engaging new documentaries and locally-produced stories. Here's what's in store:
• August 8: Paprika: A scientist by day, Dr. Atsuko Chiba's real work begins at night, under the code name "Paprika". Her work results in a device that can help psychiatric patients, but could alternatively destroy people's minds—in the wrong hands. Stay afterward for a set by DJ Buktooth. 7:30 pm. $11.50.
• August 9: The Phoenician Scheme: Wealthy businessman Zsa-zsa Korda is embarking on a new enterprise, and appoints his only daughter—a nun—as sole heir to his estate. But soon, tycoons, foreign terrorists, and assassins emerge. 2 pm. $11.50.
• August 10 & 15: Eddington: Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Austin Butler, Emma Stone, and other favorites, this story is set in small town New Mexico, where a sheriff and mayor engage in the stand-off of the ages. 2 pm on the 10th, then 7:30 pm on the 15th. $11.50. The Manship is also hosting the Baton Rouge Irish Film Festival and the Baton Rouge Underground Film Festival. manshiptheatre.org. 1
AUG 9th
MUSIC
'LIVE' AT THE LITTLE THEATRE:
DAVID BATISTE & THE GLADIATORS
Bay Saint Louis, Mississippi
Bay Saint Louis Little Theatre presents legendary funk and soul band David
Batiste and The Gladiators, one of the founding groups of New Orleans funkrock. Today, the Gladiators are renowned for their diverse musical stylings, from the blues and jazz to country, rock, and more. 8 pm–10 pm. $30. bontempstix.com. 1
AUG 9th
GOOD EATS
PIT VS. POT COOK OFF
Morgan City, Louisiana
At the first ever Pit vs. Pot Cook Off, cooking teams will compete under the Highway 90 Bridge in Morgan City to see who can whip up the best grub. The event features free samples, music, and good
old fashioned family fun. Noon–6 pm. $20; free for children ten and younger. cajuncoast.com. 1
AUG 9th
ART CRAWL
WHITE LINEN & LAGNIAPPE
Slidell, Louisiana
Get ready to style your best all-white outfit at Olde Town Slidell's annual White Linen & Lagniappe. The night will be full of family-friendly entertainment, including live music, after-hours shopping, and art by local artists—including the new, permanent installation, Antique Umbrella Alley,
above First Street. Come hungry and ready for a cocktail. 6 pm–9 pm. Free. For details, visit visiththenorthshore.com. 1
AUG 9th
CLASSES
CONTRA DANCING
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Lace up your dancing shoes: Contra dancing at St. Alban's Chapel is sure to get you moving to the beat. A traditional American social dance, similar to square dancing but done in two long lines, contra dancing requires no experience, with both singles and couples welcome. Newcomer orientation 3:45 pm–4 pm; dance 4 pm–
Events
Beginning August 9th - 20th
6:30 pm. $7, free for first time attendees. louisianacontrasandsquares.com. 1
AUG 9th - AUG 10th
SOMETHING SHINY
GEM & MINERAL SHOW
Gonzales, Louisiana
Rock out with the Baton Rouge Gem & Mineral Society this weekend. Its Gem & Mineral Show—held at the Lamar Dixon Expo Center—offers two days of door prizes, a silent auction, demonstrations on faceting and wire wrapping, and vendors selling rock specimens, fossils, minerals, tools, and jewelry. 9 am–5 pm Saturday; 10 am–4 pm Sunday. $5 adults; $3 for children ages five to twelve; four and younger free; Military with ID also free; scouts in uniform get in for $1 off. visitlasweetspot.com. 1
AUG 13th
LECTURES
"PRALINES, MADAME?": EMANCIPATION, FREE ENTERPRISE, AND THE PRALINE SELLER
New Orleans, Louisiana
The exodus of African Americans from
Louisiana's sugar plantations during the Civil War brought the praline to New Orleans. Pralines were a workingclass food, powering Black laborers. With foraged pecans and cheap sugar often purchased through a thriving black market, Black women in New Orleans used their cooking skills to earn income and, in a few cases, fame. The growing popularity of the confection among tourists turned the praline, by the twentieth century, into a souvenir symbolic of the South. Historian Dr. Anthony J. Stanonis, author of Creating the Big Easy: New Orleans and the Emergence of Modern Tourism, 1918–1945, and others, will discuss the history of the iconic sweet in a lecture at the Gallier Historic House. 6 pm. $20. hgghh.org. 1
AUG 13th - AUG 17th
SEE-FOOD DELCAMBRE SHRIMP FESTIVAL
Delcambre, Louisiana
For anyone who has ever pulled to the side of a two-lane road somewhere in South Louisiana, lured to a little shack by a hand-painted sign reading
"fresh shrimp," this one's for you. This Wednesday through Sunday festival offers carnival rides, a firemen water fight, a blessing of the local fleet, and faisdo-dos every day. Plus live music from local legends the likes of Rouge Krewe, Parish County Line, Ryan Foret & Foret Tradition, and more. Now, you can even enjoy the festival by boat. The Twin Parish Port Commission's new North Pier Marina is just three blocks south of the Festival Grounds. Hungry revelers will also be able to enjoy their shrimp in every conceivable iteration—boiled, fried, piquanted, stuffed. Held at the Shrimp Festival Grounds, 409 East Main Street. $10 gate fee on Friday and Saturday; Free Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday. shrimpfestival.net. 1
AUG 14th
CELEBRATIONS
POINTE COUPÉE CHAMBER
ANNUAL SOCIAL
New Roads, Louisiana
The Pointe Coupée Chamber Annual Social, this year themed "Reaching for the Stars," celebrates the achievements and potential of the local community, honoring trailblazers shaping Pointe Coupée’s future. Held at the Scott Civic Center. 6 pm–9 pm. $50. bontempstix.com. 1
AUG 15th
FEAST DAYS
FÊTE DIEU DU TECHE
Arnaudville, Louisiana
On August 15, Catholics worldwide celebrate the Feast of the Assumption. In Acadiana, though, the date is also celebrated as the anniversary of the arrival of the French Canadian immigrants who brought this faith to Louisiana after years of great trials and suffering. In celebration, a Eucharistic procession takes place along Bayou Teche from Leonville to St. Martinville, retracing the voyage of the Acadians over 250 years ago. During this procession, fifty boats will disembark at 9:30 am and travel along Bayou Teche. The forty-mile procession will make several stops along the way for a recitation of the Rosary and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Families are encouraged to register a family boat or gather as a family at one or more of the stops along the procession route. fetedieuduteche.org. 1
AUG 15th - AUG 16th
PERFORMANCE
"SEND ON THE CLOWNS" Lafayette, Louisiana
Dance joins the art of clowning in Nicole Curtis's new work, Send on the
You’re free to live your life out loud!
Because you’ve got the compassion of the cross, the security of the shield, and the comfort of Blue behind you.
Clowns —which plays on the power of comedic movement to explore the human experience from perspectives of connection and healing, using laughter as a tool. 7:30 pm. $25. acadianacenterforthearts.org. 1
AUG 16th
FIT & FUN
Q50 RACES BLEAU MOON 5 AND 10 MILE RACE
Mandeville, Louisiana
Q50 Races returns for their five and ten mile nighttime race at Fontainebleau State
Park. Get those steps in on a picturesque, flat course on a summertime evening. Bring a headlamp (and batteries) and mosquito repellent. Registration begins at 6:30 pm. Adult race begins at 8:15 pm. Fee of $3 to enter the park as a spectator; $55 for 5-Miler; $50 for 10-Miler. Register at ultrasignup.com. 1
AUG 16th
MUSIC HISTORY
ZYDECO UNPLUGGED
Opelousas, Louisiana
Stop by Le Vieux Village in Opelousas
for a day of learning about (and celebrating) zydeco, along with the rich culture that surrounds it. There will be a comprehensive genealogy presentation to trace the history of St. Landry Parish families, and a classic French table in a historic schoolhouse. Beneath the pavilion, Andre Thierry gives music lessons with the accordion, rubboard, and drums, and discusses the history of some of zydeco's most significant influences. 11 am–6 pm. Free. cajuntravel.com. 1
AUG 16th
ART CRAWL
COVINGTON WHITE LINEN FOR PUBLIC ART
Covington, Louisiana
Covington's White Linen for Public Art, presented by the Covington Public Art Fund, is a community affair which endeavors to brighten up downtown with meaningful works of art. Music, shopping, libations, and art are all on the docket, with a percentage of local business sales going toward the Covington Public Art Fund. Now, head to your closet and find something white, breezy, and lightweiught. What will you wear? 6 pm–9 pm in historic downtown Covington. facebook.com/covwhitelinen. 1
AUG 17th
DOCUMENTARIES
"ANCESTRAL ARTISTRY" AT THE WBRM Port Allen, Louisiana
The West Baton Rouge Museum hosts a screening of Ancestral Artistry: The Influence of Africans and Creoles of Color on Louisiana Architecture, which delves into a powerful legacy rooted in craftsmanship and resilience. This 58-minute documentary film, produced by the Louisiana Architecture Foundation, explores the history of enslaved Africans bringing with them building trade knowledge and developing a distinctive architectural identity when they arrived in French colonial Louisiana. 2 pm. Free. westbatonrougemuseum.org. 1
Big stadiums make good neighbors— right? At the East Baton Rouge Main Library at Goodwood, editor Kim Fossey and photographer Kevin P. Duffy discuss their nostalgic book, College Town: LSU's Neighbor Turns 100. It's a celebration of
For its 90th year, the Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival returns to Morgan City, complete with its boat parade, featuring an assortment of decorated shrimp boats. See page 22 for details. Photo courtesy of Cajun Coast Tourism.
Events
Beginning August 20th - 26th
this century-old neighborhood, tracing its history and connection to LSU, while bringing in accounts of the people who lived (and live) there. 6 pm. Free. ebrpl.com. 1
AUG 20th
EDU-TAINMENT
INDEPTH LIVE! WITH MARK MANGINI
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge native Mike James Gallagher, founder of INDEPTH Sound Design, has partnered with Academy Award-winning sound designer Mark Mangini (The Lion King, Aladdin, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Dune, Mad Max: Fury Road ) to present INDEPTH Live!, an educational event celebrating some of our era's most iconic cinematic soundscapes and the techniques that create them. For film professionals and enthusiasts. 7:30 pm at the Manship Theatre. $25. manshiptheatre.org. 1
AUG 20th
MUSICAL PERFORMANCES
ALVIN BATISTE JAZZ SOCIETY SERIES PRESENTS ED PERKINS WITH HOUSE TRIO
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Hosted at the Virginia and John Noland Black Box Studio at the Cary Saurage Community Arts Center, the Alvin Batiste Jazz Society Series presents an eclectic mix of local and national artists performing in an intimate space meant to foster community. August's show features Ed Perkins with House Trio; followed by open jam session. 6:30 pm–8 pm. $10; $5 for students. artsbr.org. 1
AUG 21st
LAUGHS
ONSTAGE COMEDIAN TOM BRISCOE
Covington, Louisiana
At the Fuhrmann Auditorium, catch comedian Tom Briscoe in his show "Old Mansplaining," filled with rants on bad jobs, a good marriage, travel mishaps, raising daughters, empty nesting, aging, unsolicited advice and more. 7 pm–8:30 pm. $20. bontempstix.com. 1
AUG 21st - AUG 24th
GRAB THE POPCORN BATON ROUGE UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Premiering on the Manship Theatre
screen, the Baton Rouge Underground Film Festival was conceived and curated to celebrate indie and genrefocused filmmakers of the culturallyrich city while also nurturing the local independent film community. Support the innovative and creative spirit of the local creative industry by attending one or all four days of screenings, which will kick off on Thurdsay with an opening night gala and screening of Steven Soderbergh's Schizopolis ($30; $20 for students). Friday through Sunday will bring full slates of films, shorts, panels, and workshops. $30 day passes; $15 single screener tickets; $25 workshops and panels; $75 all access pass; discounts for students. Find the full schedule at batonrougeunderground.com. 1
AUG 21st - AUG 24th
QUACKS GUEYDAN DUCK FESTIVAL
Gueydan, Louisiana
Before Jean Pierre Gueydan founded the town named after himself, he lived in Abbeville, which was thirty miles west of a hunter's paradise that Gueydan visited often. What else could a dyed-in-the-wool hunter do but found a town for himself bang in the middle of all that bounty? That fair-feathered reputation follows the town of Gueydan to 1977, when it gained the official title "Duck Capital of America" and launched its annual Duck Festival. All the usual small-town festival fare is available, along with duck-and goose-calling competitions, cook-offs, a parade, skeet shooting competitions, dog trials, pageantry, rides and games, duck carving, and other activities. This year's musical entertainment includes Kaleb Olivier & the Kinsmen, Wayne Toups & ZydeCajun, Three Thirty Seven, Frank Foster, and Richard LeBouef & Two Step. Free. Find the full schedule at duckfestival.org. 1
AUG 22nd
FINE DINING
FÊTE ROUGE
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
The Baton Rouge Epicurean Society (BRES) is gathering together the capital city's culinary creatives to host the annual celebration of all things food and wine that is Fête Rouge. Forks and palates at the ready—there's lots of eating and toasting to be done. This year L'Auberge Casino & Hotel plays host to local
chefs preparing their best dishes for the chance at winning the gold medal in the Fête Rouge Chefs Competition. And somebody has to eat all those delicacies. The night features more than thirty restaurant creations and 350 wines from around the world, along with live entertainment. 7 pm. $75; $150 VIP. bontempstix.com. 1
AUG
22nd - AUG 23rd
HONORS
STAFFLAND STAGES: THE LIGHT & LEGACY OF CHRISTOPHER STAFFORD Lafayette, Louisiana
For two nights, many of our region's most celebrated musicians and their bands will gather at the Acadiana Center for the Arts to honor the legacy of the late Christopher Stafford and his Staffland Studios. This first chapter of what will be an annual fundraising concert series will focus on Stafford's early days with the Grammy-award-winning band he is most associated with, which he helped found when he was still a child, Feufollet. Music from Stafford's story will be performed by members of the Givers, Brass Bed, and Feufollet members old and current; as well as Cedric Watson, Steve Riley, Anna Laura Edmiston, Chris Segura, Kelli Jones, Dr. Josh Caffery, Mike Stafford, Andrew Toups, Taylor Guarisco, Philippe Billeaudeaux, John Troutman, Andy Bianculli, Blake Miller, and Elise Riley. All proceeds will benefit the Christopher Stafford Memorial Foundation, which supports musicians, audio engineers, producers, and Louisiana French culture bearers. 7:30 pm–9:30 pm each night. $35–$55. acadianacenterforthearts.org. 1
AUG 23rd
CHANTER A FRENCH MUSIC SING-A-LONG Baton Rouge, Louisiana
The LSU Rural Life Museum offers a French Music Sing-A-Long at the museum in a morning designed for all those who love music and the French language. Little by Little collaborates with local French experts to present a two-hour class filled with traditional French songs and contemporary French favorites led by jazz musician and ukulele artist Ashley Orlando, and French Linguistics Professor and author Dr. Margaret Marshall. 10 am–noon. $30. lsu.edu/rurallife. 1
AUG 23rd - AUG 24th
COLD-BLOODED
HERPS EXOTIC REPTILE & PET SHOW
Gonzales, Louisiana
The largest reptile and exotic pet show in Louisiana slithers into the Lamar Dixon
Expo Center this weekend, promising thousands of reptiles, amphibians, and invertebrates to meet, greet, and, perhaps, to take home with you. If you're not sure, this show also incorporates a large educational section, at which attendees can come nose-to-(insert relevant appendage here) with representatives of various distantly related branches of the animal kingdom. 10 am–5 pm Saturday, 10 am–4 pm Sunday. Day pass: $10 for adults, $5 for children ages five to twelve; and free for children four and younger. 2-day pass: $15 for adults, $8 for children ages five to twelve, and free for children four and younger. herpshow.net. 1
AUG
24th
LECTURES
TEDXMARKSVILLE WOMEN
Marksville, Louisiana
TEDxMarksville Women is a locally organized, independently produced event celebrating the power of women and girls to be creators and change-makers in their communities and beyond. Inspired by the global TEDWomen platform, organizers invite bold thinkers, trailblazers, and everyday heroes to share ideas worth spreading—right here in the heart of Louisiana. Guests can expect a dynamic day of live talks, performances, and networking, all designed to spark
conversation, connection, and inspiration. 2 pm–5 pm. tedxmarksville.com. 1
AUG 26th
METAMORPHOSES
SIP & FLUTTER: AN EVENING WITH BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Sip & Flutter at the LSU Hilltop Arboretum celebrates butterflies, moths, and the plants that help them thrive. Stroll through the arboretum's pollinator garden while sipping a glass of wine or a refreshing botanical cocktail, then join naturalists Janine Kharey and Teri Rome
Events
Beginning August 28th - 30th
for a discussion on the lives of butterflies and moths. 6 pm–8 pm. $20; $15 for members, students, and Louisiana Master Naturalists. lsu.edu/hilltop. 1
AUG 28th -
AUG 31st
MUSIC
TWITTY & LYNN
Crowley, Louisiana
There’s a moment right at the very beginning of any Twitty & Lynn show that affords country music fans the chance to look back in time. Just after the band has played the signature intro to “Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man,” Tre Twitty and Tayla Lynn shoot each other a glance that summons the electrifying chemistry of their grandparents: Tre is the grandson of Conway Twitty, Tayla is the granddaughter of Loretta Lynn. Audiences can’t believe their eyes. From that moment, and for the next ninety minutes, they’re in the presence of living country music history. “Fans have told Tayla and me that when they see us onstage singing, talking, and
just looking at each other, they think, ‘Wow, there must be something genetic in those two families,’” Tre says. “It validates the experience of the concert for them. We’re telling our grandparents’ story through our story.” See them live in Crowley, at the Grand Opera House of the South. 7 pm–9 pm. $42–$45. thegrandoperahouse.org. 1
AUG 28th - SEP 1st
SEE-FOOD
SHRIMP AND PETROLEUM FESTIVAL
Morgan City, Louisiana
Booth after booth after booth of festival food is the calling card of the longrunning Shrimp and Petroleum Festival, which has returned to Morgan City every summertime for more than ninety years. That first parade is remembered as a ragtag procession of local frog and alligator hunters, shrimpers, crabbers, and oystermen demonstrating on Labor Day. Famous for its Historic Blessing of the Fleet and boat parade, which features decorated shrimp boats, pleasure crafts,
offshore supply boats, and some of the biggest "muscle" boats of the offshore industry, this festival has been rated a Top 20 Southeast Tourism Society event. Time magazine described it as "...the best, the most unusual, the most downhome, the most moving and the most fun that the country has to offer." This five-day crustacean celebration is one of Louisiana's oldest harvest festivals, a lively celebration of men and women working in the region's seafood and petroleum
industries and the ways they work handin-hand culturally and environmentally. Entertainment includes continuous live music by local and national acts, an arts & crafts show and sale, a children's village, fireworks, a car show, bass & softball tournaments, the huge Cajun Culinary Classic cooking contest, and lots more. Event locations vary, with most of the action centered around downtown Morgan City's Lawrence Park. Free. shrimpandpetroleum.org. 1
BEAUTIFY YOUR HOME
For over 20 years, Window World has helped elevate Baton Rouge’s most beautiful homes with elegant, Americanmade, energy-efficient windows—crafted to endure the Southern heat in style.
Pictured above is "Color Rhapsody," by artist Carol Scott. Titled Crystal Rising, Scott's solo exhibition at Gallery 600 Julia features her exploration and obsession with crystals, particularly how they reflect and refract light. See more on page 15. Art by Carol Scott. Image courtesy of Gallery 600 Julia.
AUG 29th- AUG 31st
ADAPTATIONS
"TOMORROW AND TOMORROW":
THE MACBETH PROJECT
New Orleans, Louisiana
In this original production of Shakespeare's Macbeth, performers at the Marigny Opera house reinterpret the famous play through opera, dance, theatre, and illumination. The performance, produced by tenor Bogdan Mynka, features eight acclaimed local singers and dancers and includes sourcing from the original Shakespearean text, Giuseppe Verdi’s dramatic opera of the same name, and Henry Purcell’s Fairy Queen masque. 8 pm. $31. marignyoperahouse.org . 1
AUG 29th - AUG 31st
THEATRE IPAL PRESENTS
"THE LITTLE MERMAID"
New Iberia, Louisiana
It's a story audiences across all ages know and love: Ariel, a mermaid who dreams of life on land, falls in love with a prince and bargains away her beautiful voice for a pair of legs. The sea witch behind the trade will stop at nothing to foil Ariel's plans to win the prince's heart. The Iberia Performing Arts League presents The Little Mermaid. 7 pm Fridays
and Saturdays; 2 pm Sundays. $22.58. ipaltheater.com. 1
AUG 29th - SEP 1st
LOUD AND PROUD
SOUTHERN DECADENCE
New Orleans, Louisiana
Since the early eighties, Southern Decadence has evolved to become New Orleans's "Gay Mardi Gras," celebrating the South's LGBTQ+ communities with live music from local musicians and DJs, street dancing, costume contests, and so on. It all leads up to the annual Southern Decadence Parade on Sunday, which gathers steam from Royal Street's Golden Lantern (at Barracks), starting at 2 pm.
Recent iterations have attracted more than 100,000 visitors to the French Quarter over the Labor Day weekend. Full details at southerndecadence.com. 1
AUG 29th - SEP 26th
REMEMBERINGS
"KATRINA, THEN AND NOW": A 20 YEAR COMMUNITY
COMMEMORATIVE EXHIBITION
Slidell, Louisiana
In this exhibition presented by the Northshore Cultural Economy Coalition and hosted by George Dunbar Gallery at Slidell City Hall, the devastation of Hurricane Katrina on sites along the
Northshore is juxtaposed against modern day photographs of those same sites, which have been recovered and revived. The exhibition serves as an opportunity for reflection and a celebration of resilience. An opening reception will be held on August 29 from 6 pm–8 pm, with special gallery hours on Saturday, August 30 from 2 pm–4 pm, joining up with special commemorative events at the Slidell Municipal Auditorium at 4 pm. A Spirit of Louisiana Second Line in Olde Towne will be led by the Storyville Stompers, followed by a concert by The Bucktown All-Stars with special guest Vince Vance. Regular gallery hours are Monday–Thursday 10 am–2 pm or by appointment. A closing reception will be held September 26 from 3 pm–6 pm. Free. kreweofblackandgold.com. 1
AUG 30th
FURRY FRIENDS
CAPITAL CITY DOG SHOW
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Calling all Very Good Pups everywhere. The inaugural Capital City Dog Show has arrived at the Raising Cane's River Center Exhibition Hall, open to all breeds and filled with prizes across a range of categories—and, of course, fun for all humans and Man's Best Friends
involved. There's even a back-to-school giveaway while supplies last. 11 am. $46. raisingcanesrivercenter.com. 1
AUG 30th
MUSIC
SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
ZYDECO MUSIC FESTIVAL
Opelousas, Louisiana
Nestled in the heart of Cajun Country, Opelousas once again hosts the world's largest Zydeco music festival, celebrating the rich culture of Louisiana Creoles and Cajuns by highlighting, documenting, preserving, and enhancing their funloving heritage. For over forty years, the festival takes hold at the Yambilee Ag Arena starting at 11 am. Music starts at noon, with performances by the best Zydeco artists in the region. $25; $5 for kids twelve and younger. RV parking is $10 per day. cajuntravel.com. 1
For more events visit countryroadsmag.com/eventsand-festivals.
VISIT ST. FRANCISVILLE
A New Era for the Freyhan School
Seventy-five years after closing to students, St. Francisville’s historic school building reopens at last
At the western end of Prosperity Street, one of St. Francisville’s landmark historic buildings has undergone a stunning transformation. Seventy-five years after the Julius Freyhan School closed to students and fifty years since efforts to revitalize it commenced, a $4.2 million project to restore the Freyhan School to public life is complete. In mid-July, contractor Cangelosi Ward was putting finishing touches on a rehabilitation that saves one of the Historic District’s most iconic structures, and provides a cultural and conference center and a museum of early education to the West Feliciana Parish community.
A school has stood on the Prosperity Street site since 1905, the year after Jewish merchant and local civic leader Julius Freyhan died, leaving $8,000 to build St. Francisville’s first public school. It was a three-story brick building, the upper floors commanding views to the Mississippi. When the original burned in 1907, a near-identical replacement was rebuilt, and served as a school until 1950. In 1975, with the building deteriorating, former students Billie Magee, Fran McVea, and Mott Plettinger launched a campaign to restore the Freyhan School, and the non-profit Freyhan Foundation was born. By 2005 Anne Bennett had joined the foundation, and got the building included on the Louisiana Trust for Historic Preservation’s Most
Endangered Places list. In 2007 while serving as board chair, Bennett was diagnosed with cancer. On her deathbed, she extracted a promise from her friend, Nancy Vinci, to see the project to completion. Vinci proceeded to make the Freyhan restoration project her life’s work, spurring
nounced the allocation of $4.3 million in capital outlay funding to rehabilitate Freyhan, that the fifty-year dream began to feel like reality.
That reality is now. According to current Freyhan Foundation Board President Betsy Levasseur, the restoration installed
an all-volunteer board to secure state capital outlay funding, and establishing the Walker Percy Weekend literary festival in 2014 to raise funds towards the restoration effort. In the decade since, the Walker Percy Weekend has contributed more than $260,000 towards the effort, but it wasn’t until 2019 when, after years of lobbying, then-Governor John Bel Edwards an-
new electrical, plumbing, roofing, and HVAC systems, while preserving the original structure’s tall windows, magnificent woodwork, and soaring, third-floor auditorium. When doors open this fall, they’ll reveal meeting spaces, breakout rooms, artist’s studios, classroom spaces, a 150-seat performance theatre, and a museum interpreting the history of public
education in West Feliciana Parish. Hollis Milton, Superintendant of the West Feliciana Parish School Board, which owns the building, acknowledged the role that the Freyhan Foundation has played in restoring it to public life. “We are thrilled about the newly renovated Julius Freyhan School and proud of our long-standing partnership with the Julius Freyhan Foundation,” he said, noting that a cooperative endeavor agreement between the Freyhan Foundation and the West Feliciana School Board makes the building available for cultural events, conferences, weddings, live performances, and other community happenings. “Together, we are creating a space that will host private and public celebrations, cultural events, and student-centered programs that highlight the talents and achievements of our young people,” said Milton. “It’s an exciting time in St. Francisville, and we look forward to the many opportunities this collaboration will bring to our community.”
Construction wraps up in July—in plenty of time for the Freyhan Cultural Center to host a grand opening celebration featuring a concert by Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Sonny Landreth, and the tenth annual Walker Percy Weekend. Both take place September 19–20.
freyhanfoundation.org for details.
Photo by Molly McNeal
Live Oak Rising
HOW ARCHITECT TREY TRAHAN IS REIMAGINING A LOUISIANA PLANTATION AS A PLACE OF REFLECTION, RESTORATION, AND RENEWAL
Story by Mathilde Fox-Smith • Photos by Molly McNeal
When the property went up for sale, Trey Trahan was ready to bite.
The founder and CEO of Trahan Architects had had his eye on the Live Oak plantation site in West Feliciana Parish for years. At first, it was Trahan’s passion for historic architecture and landscapes that led him to appreciate the beauty and intrigue of the site. Later, Trahan would realize Live Oak’s façade was only the tip of the iceberg of what it had to offer the world.
The two-story house, its brick walls painted white, stands surrounded by 250 acres of fields, forests, and ravines shaped by sinuous waterways. In the five years since Trahan closed the deal on the property in 2020, this landscape has already undergone profound transformation. Native grasses sway in the open fields; light filters through the forest canopy, dappling an understory carefully stripped of invasive species.
Trahan’s initial interest in the Live Oak property was motivated by his longstanding passions for historic architecture and landscapes. Since the seventies, the site had been privately owned by Bert Turner, founder of Baton Rouge-based Turner Industries, and his wife, the philanthropist and preservationist Sue Turner; before that, Live Oak had been stewarded by the LeSassiers, who operated a post office onsite. The family most deeply associated with the property, though, was the Barrow clan. Among the first settlers of English descent to arrive in Louisiana, the Barrows traveled south from North Carolina in the 1790s and quickly established themselves as one of the most powerful families in the region. Today, Live Oak itself represents only a small slice of the property they controlled at the height of their affluence, which, by the mid-nineteenth century, encompassed several plantation properties, thousands of acres in Feliciana parish, and hundreds of enslaved individuals.
When Trahan closed the deal on the Live Oak property in 2020, he intended to restore it for personal use as a private country home. Scarcely had the ink dried when the gravity of becoming the owner of a former plantation site hit Trahan with full force.
A few months later, the murder of George Floyd reignited calls for racial justice across the United States, and across society, a chorus of voices demanded a reckoning of cultural practices seen to perpetuate racism and systemic violence against African Americans. At the center of this distinct American moment, the plantation arose, more visible than ever, as a glaring symbol of our country’s original sins. It was at these sites where millions of enslaved African Americans had lived, endured cruelty and abuse at the hands of slaveowners, and died. A renewed sense of scrutiny challenged modern plantation sites, reducing the stories of their properties to narrow, romanticized portrayals of the lavish lifestyle of
Trey Trahan, a nationally renowned architect and the owner of Live Oak Plantation in West Feliciana. He, his team at Trahan Architects, and a host of collaborators have begun an extensive research and restoration project at the former plantation site, which is one of the last in Louisiana that has been unsubdivided and untouched by tourism or commercialization of any kind. Trahan envisions the future of the property as a place of contemplation for people of diverse backgrounds, curated minimally, without the intercession of didactic storytelling characteristic of traditional house museums but instead by the evocation induced by the place itself.
slaveowners, instead of acknowledging the broader, more complex histories of what they represented as places of enslavement, large-scale agriculture, and colonialism.
These nationwide events, along with Trahan’s own passions for history and design, ignited the idea that there was something more he could do at Live Oak. How could Live Oak, and the echoes of all the diverse peoples who had walked its grounds, offer a thoughtful interpretation of the past and a space to cultivate conversations about the future?
A renowned architect, Trahan began assembling a team of consultants, landscape architects, conservationists, and ethnobotanists, anthropologists, ethnographers, archaeologists, meadow specialists, and historians. “We started looking into the history of the site with a mind toward research and kind of uncovering the stories that lay there, but also healing,” said Margaret Jankowsky, Director of Urban Design at Trahan Architects, and the Project Manager for the Live Oak project. “That’s been something at the core from the very beginning, is how to approach this really tough and complicated history from a healing perspective.” Thus began a rigorous, yearslong process of research and investigation.
“You have to be prepared, to—almost like archaeologists, in your exploration, whether it’s of site or building— you have to prepare yourself for the unknown and the unpredictable,” said Trahan. This slow, incremental research has yielded remarkable discoveries. Unlike many other plantation sites in Louisiana, which opened their doors to tourists and sold off land to support the properties in times of economic hardship, the historic core of the Live Oak homesite and its surrounding fields has never been broken up or commercialized on a large scale—its stories preserved in the land itself.
“The more we learned of it, the more we looked at it more closely, the more we realized that it was an enormously significant place because of its integrity,” said Doug Reed, Principal Emeritus at the award-winning landscape architecture firm Reed Hilderbrand.
Reed got a call from Trahan, an old friend and former collaborator, as soon as the Live Oak project was in motion. The landscape architects at Reed Hildebrand began an analysis of the landscape—the environmental conditions, the health of plants and soils—as well as an investigation into the site’s history. What geographic and plant forms survived from each historical period? What crops had been planted there? What could the natural world tell us about the lives lived on the plantation? “A primary consideration during early research was to understand the historic layout of the fields, home, allée, and general circulation, as well as how these features changed in various eras of use and ownership,” said Trahan. “Also its use and form during the Tunica era.”
As this work was unfolding across Live Oak’s two hundred and fifty acres, Trahan’s team was also stripping back the walls of the old home. He hired Susan L. Buck, Ph.D., an art conservator and paint analyst, to conduct a paint analysis of the house. These investigations into the earliest paint coatings on the interior walls and woodwork revealed an unusually elaborate suite of decorative paintings. In her report on the study, Buck notes features that would have required a highly skilled painter to execute, including dis-
In the house at Live Oak plantation, Trahan and his team have uncovered remarkable evidence of the site's history in elements such as decorative paintings in the interior's earliest paint layers and red bricks characteristic of Northeastern architectural styles.
fostering ecological healing in the land itself. Look to the home, for instance—at its exterior and interior, both of which demonstrate a concerted effort to showcase the power of its proprietors. The house is located on one of the highest points on the site, at a vantage from which its residents could survey the fields. From the front porch, a long path extends, framed by centuries-old live oaks from which the site likely takes its name. This double row of trees, called an “allée,” frames an impressive approach to the house, but also poses questions. Who was allowed to walk the allée? To this day, the walk holds different meanings, depending on one’s identity and ancestry. While some people might stroll beneath the oak branches and find the moment beautiful, others might experience the walk as an oppressive reminder of who was permitted to shape this landscape, and who was not; who had the power to dictate how it was used, and by whom.
Material reminders of the lives of those enslaved at Live Oak are preserved in the property, too. Dr. John Bardes, assistant professor in the department of history at Louisiana State University, and a group of students have been working with Trahan’s team to detail the site’s record of slave ownership, understand what daily life was like at Live Oak, and catalogue the names of people enslaved there. They’ve done this using archival documents that include diaries, tax records, and census records. Using evidence from the 1870 and 1880 censuses and area freedman’s contracts, the research team concluded that the entire enslaved population likely fled or were displaced from Live Oak after the Civil War. This was highly unusual: in most cases across Louisiana, formerly enslaved individuals did not have the means to travel far after emancipation and tended to settle nearby or to continue working for their former enslavers as sharecroppers.
The era during which Live Oak was a place of enslavement is a focal point for the restoration work Trahan and his colleagues are undertaking, referring to 1808–1810, when the house was first built, as a “period of significance.” For the team, this period represents the most important and evocative time in Live Oak’s history. This process of stripping-back to a specific moment in the past is visible in the work undertaken thus far: red bricks emerging from the chipped-away white paint of the house’s exterior walls, the stands of longleaf pines that Trahan ordered to be removed because they had been imposed on the landscape in recent years.
tinctive shades of Prussian blue and bright, glossy green made with the grainy, copper-based pigment, verdigris. In the middle of rural Louisiana, in the period between 1808 and 1820, the owners of Live Oak— and perhaps also the guests that they entertained—had the taste, the ambition, and the wealth to adorn the interior of their home with high art. “Unless you traveled or were well-read, you were not aware of paintings at this level,” Trahan said. Faux decorative paintings from the same period were also found in a narrow closet behind the service stairs, likely the passage in the house most often used by enslaved people.
The exterior walls also revealed information about the tastes and movements of the home’s former residents. Beneath the contemporary layers of white paint, the bricks were a vibrant red. The style resembled architectural forms at the University of Virginia, which Trahan’s team theorizes may have been the inspiration for Live Oak’s exterior.
Trahan, and other members of the team, have been giddy with these discoveries. They echoed one another in asserting that Live Oak is a place of immense historical significance, a unique place, one that we have much to learn from.
As the landscape architects proceeded with their investigation, they came across a sunken path, deep in the woods. Paths of this sort are familiar features in the Felicianas, and even beneath snarls of vegetation, they were able to identify the feature as an ancient Tunica trading trail. Shaped by centuries of footfall, the soft loess soils had been compressed to create a landform that passed right through the Live Oak property. The Tunica trail hints at a truth that the house alone cannot express—that the history of the property extends far beyond the period when it served as a plantation, that countless Indigenous tribes also inhabited these lands and left their imprint on the earth, too.
The trail also contributes to a broader question about how to read the mark of power on the landscape. “The story of it turning from part of the Tunica territory to a piece of land marked off and owned by a single person is a very different shift in mindset of what land is and who controls it,” said Jankowsky.
From the beginning, the preservation efforts at Live Oak were motivated not only by a desire to uncover history, but also in hopes of offering a healing place in the present. To help carve out the best path forward, the team has turned to individuals with a familial connection to the property, hosting a series of healing and research gatherings, in which descendants of people enslaved on Live Oak and other sites have been invited to participate. The team hopes such events will be an ongoing partnership with the community around Live Oak: offering a place where descendants of those who have ties to the property, or even those who simply recognize the site as an emotional and powerful fixture of ancestors’ experience in West Feliciana, can come together. “One thing we heard from a lot of descendants was just having access to their genealogy and learning where their ancestors were can be really important to them and very healing as well,” said Jankowsky.
While opening the site to descendants has allowed the team to envision a path toward this healing for individuals with direct ties to the land, the team also developed a conviction that this goal could be infused more powerfully into the landscape itself—a conviction which has sometimes overruled the objective of preserving a single period of significance at Live Oak.
Initially, the landscape architects considered planting indigo in the nearly one hundred acres of open fields as a way of illustrating what made the site an agricultural plantation. As work progressed, though, they began to focus on an objective both more difficult and compelling: to convert the fields into native Southeast Louisiana prairie. They’d reenvision the land, instead, as a symbol of rebirth.
Today, Live Oak is in its third year of planting four to five pounds of seeds of native grasses per acre. The seeds’ roots plunge five to fifteen feet deep, setting off a chain reaction of ecological renewal, combating erosion, encouraging water purification and filtration, as well as carbon sequestration in the soil. The team of landscape architects, meadow specialists, and site management crews are working to remove invasive species that have since come
Trahan walking land that was once farmed by enslaved people, who grew cotton and indigo for the Barrows. Today, he and his team are working to restore it into native prairie,
to dominate the ecosystem and stifle biodiversity. Trahan spoke animatedly about the results of this cultivation, describing native prairies teeming with life, alive with hundreds of species of beneficial insects, including important pollinators such as bees and butterflies.
In the forests, too, the team has worked to remove invasives with the goal of restoring historical integrity and healing the landscape. Light comes through the canopies differently now, and new life blossoms on the forest floor.
This transformation of the landscape into a thriving ecosystem infused with natural beauty encompasses, in many ways, the convergence of the Live Oak project's goals. The native prairie is symbolic of new beginnings. “It’s not just for visual effect. It’s changing the composition of the soil. It’s changing what plants and animals can thrive there,” said Lydia Gikas Cook, Senior Associate at Reed Hilderbrand and a Louisiana native working on the Live Oak project. “And, you know, why doesn’t a place like this deserve to have another life, and evolve past what it is? It’s not forgetting the history, but it’s allowing it to move forward in a positive way.”
Aside from healing the land itself, the team is hopeful that this ecological renewal will present a setting in which people of different backgrounds might come together and have productive conversations about what this shared history means to them.
Although Trahan intends for the site to be open for periodic public access at some point in the future, the project is still in a relatively early stage of research and development. Trahan has set up a Live Oak Foundation which in the future will develop programming on the site; he intends to assemble a team with expertise in anthropology, history, ethnography, and healing to guide this process.
He knows some things for sure: Live Oak is unlikely to ever have anything like museum informational panels, or signs telling visitors where to go. The volume of guests will be limited to preserve the serenity and contemplative experience of the secluded grounds.
“Most plantations that I visited—and this isn’t a criticism—are more didactic in their approach,” said Reed. “And given what we learned about Live Oak, and how high the integrity of the place is, and the palpable authenticity that it has, we determined that we should have an evocative place—one that’s determined by evocation and not by didactic means.”
Ultimately, Trahan hopes to offer a new way to experience a plantation site in Louisiana. He doesn’t want to tell people how they should feel about the deeply complex history that it represents. For him and his team, the Live Oak project has been a profound experience of discovery that has allowed them to see the place, and the history it holds, with fresh eyes, a process guided by curiosity, learning, and openness. Perhaps here, walking through fields humming with butterflies or following a sun-dappled Tunica trail, visitors will be able to imagine not only the past, but the future, too. 1
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Lady Ellen's Landscapes
THE TRAILBLAZING LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT WHO PAINTED WITH PLANTS AT LONGUE VUE
Story by Jacqueline DeRobertis-Braun
Ellen Biddle Shipman, today recognized as an icon of early twentieth century landscape harchitecture, first stepped into the field of design entirely out of necessity when, in her early forties, her husband abandoned the family and left her to financially support their three children.
Suddenly her family’s sole breadwinner, Shipman did not languish in despair, but instead secured a legacy for herself, harnessing her considerable gardening experience and stepping boldly into a professional field where women were seldom welcomed.
“She was one of the first women to carve out for herself a very successful career as a landscape designer,” said Judith Tankard, landscape historian and author of The Gardens of Ellen Biddle Shipman (1996) and Ellen Shipman and the American Garden (2018).
A trailblazer in her day, Shipman was the landscape designer behind more than 600 gardens dotting the United States between 1914 and 1950, from east coast colonial strongholds such as Delaware, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, to more southerly environments in Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, and Louisiana. Without formal training, Shipman developed her own design style, adopting an approach reminiscent of an artist filling a canvas with color.
“Until women took up landscaping, gardening in this country was at its lowest ebb,” Shipman told an interviewer in 1938. “The renaissance of the art was
due largely to the fact that women, instead of working over their boards, used plants as if they were painting pictures, and as an artist would.”
Of her numerous projects, one of her most celebrated is that of Longue Vue House and Gardens in New Orleans, originally home to philanthropists Edgar and Edith Stern. Here, Shipman designed not only the lush, expansive gardens across the estate’s eight acres, but also the interior of the sprawling, Classical Revival style house.
“Longue Vue is the best place to experience Shipman’s design signature,” said Dr. Stella Baty Landis, Longue Vue’s executive director. “We are the only space that’s open to the public that has both her interiors and her garden design. She did only eight interiors, along with her 600 landscape designs. It’s the only place you can see both.”
Planting a Seed
Although she was born in Philadelphia in 1869, as the the child of a career soldier Shipman spent much of her childhood traveling the American frontier. She eventually relocated to New Jersey to live with her grandparents, at which time her grandmother and her beds of roses instilled in her an early passion for gardening. In adolescence, she attended school in Baltimore, developing a taste for architecture and art, before enrolling at Radcliffe College in Cambridge. She ultimately never graduated, instead leaving her studies to marry the playwright Louis Shipman. The couple made their
first home at the Cornish Art Colony in New Hampshire.
Here, Shipman was surrounded by the preeminent creative minds of her day, discussing critical theoretical questions, such as humanity’s relationship to the land and the built environment—ideas that would later inform her design approach, according to Lenora Costa, deputy director of Longue Vue over the collections. Here, too, she learned more about the intricacies of contemporary landscape design, eventually planning and planting her home garden, Brook Place. “Working daily in my garden for fifteen years,” she wrote at one point, “taught me to know plants, their habits and their needs.” Shipman’s friends included the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, his niece Rose Standish Nichols, the artist Thomas Dewing, the illustrator Maxfield Parrish, and the architect Charles A. Platt, among other illustrious figures.
“There were many budding artists, artisans, designers that were living in that community, and that would be vital for what Ellen Shipman would go on to do, that she had exposure,” said designer Charles King Sadler in a 2020 lecture on Shipman’s career for the Southern California Chapter of The Institute of Classical Architecture & Art. “I mean, it was in her, I'm sure, but it brought out those artistic gifts, being in this more or less creative incubator.”
These creatives were the support system Shipman would come to rely upon when personal turmoil struck. Sadler
refers to Shipman’s 1910 divorce from her husband as “a Greek tragedy.”
“You can just imagine what your prospects would be as a single mother living in rural New Hampshire. She was not independently wealthy. She needed to make a living,” he said. “And so that's, to me, where the story really gets interesting. It's not necessarily what you're given, but what you make of what you have. And she made an incredible life.”
In the separation’s fallout, Platt, an architect known for his embrace of the Italian Renaissance style, became Shipman’s mentor and guide. He came to admire her gardening expertise and provided the critical, informal design training that allowed her to eventually branch out and found her own firm. Coupled with her experience in plants and flora, Platt’s guidance helped make Shipman a formidable and sought-after landscape designer in the subsequent decades. "Although Mrs. Shipman's basic designs were outstanding and practical, her use of plant material to interpret the design was in a class by itself," according to Shipman’s friend and colleague, Anne Bruce Haldemen.
“She had lots of hands-on experience with gardening and growing things long before she was divorced from her husband and had to find a means of supporting herself and establishing a career,” Tankard explained. “She just didn't, all of a sudden, decide she wanted to be a landscape architect and take a plunge. She'd had many years under her belt with her own garden, with learning about plants—and that's what made her so extraordinary.”
Collaborating with Platt by 1912, Shipman spent the early years of her career on garden projects in locales from Cleveland to Seattle, often given full design authority. During her career she also worked with other notables such as the Olmsted Brothers, James Greenleaf, and Warren Manning. By 1920 she had moved to New York City, where she opened her own office and hired exclusively women—preferably graduates of the Lowthorpe School of Landscape Architecture for Women, in Groton, Massachusetts. In 1933, House & Garden dubbed Shipman “Dean of Women Landscape Architects.”
“She was a tough woman, a tough business person, a very skilled negotiator,” Sadler said. “But I think one of her strengths, from the little bit that I can glean from my reading and discussions, was she was skilled at collaborating, and she had a level of humility.”
Left: Ellen Biddle Shipman, a trailblazer as a woman in the field of landscape architecture during the nineteenth century. Photo courtesy of of Longue Vue House and Gardens Archive. Right: An example of Shipman's preference for axial design in her landscapes, still visible at Longue Vue House and Gardens in New Orleans. Photo by Molly McNeal.
A Room with a (Garden) View
Influenced by Platt, Shipman’s design style included a walled garden formula, with axial paths, rectangular beds, and central statuary, such as a sundial or fountain. She would also regularly feature small ornamental trees, espaliered fruit trees, and peony or wisteria stands, among other design hallmarks. Above all, she was known for her plantings—color, texture, and foliage dazzled within the framework of her comparatively simple designs.
Shipman brought such approaches to her work at Longue Vue in New Orleans.
Edith Stern, a lover of flower gardens and freshly cut blooms, met Shipman through a garden club in the city in the early 1930s; soon, she and her husband had invited Shipman to work on a small project at their Longue
Vue home, which would expand to encompass the entire estate grounds.
Shipman’s gardens at Longue Vue are best known for their garden “rooms,” her signature design technique, according to Landis. These defined exterior spaces, marked by gates or suggested natural thresholds between gardens, give the sense of walking into different rooms as one wanders across the landscape.
“So garden rooms with really, really purposeful, detailed, experiential goals is a style technique,” Landis said. “Her axial views, the extended sightlines, are consistent across all the gardens that she designed, even very small ones.”
The breadth of Shipman’s horticultural expertise also lent itself to a varied selection of plant options, which subsequent gardeners could choose from when a certain plant failed because of climate or upkeep. According to Landis, Longue Vue’s gardeners today have “a range of options” allowing for consistency of texture, color, and the layering of spaces. Shipman even collaborated with Louisiana horticulturalist Caroline Dormon to bring native plants into the scheme. The results were painterly, floral designs evoking an expressive romanticism in her gardens.
“You wind up with color schemes that are very, very purposeful,” said Landis. “Sometimes she would have a monochromatic approach to a specific garden, because she'd be going for a certain kind of meditative experience. Sometimes there would be a burst of colors. It really is like a painter on a canvas, thinking about the effect you want and how colors blend, how textures blend, and also very much at the same time, unlike paint on a canvas, the experience of being embraced within a space.”
To the Sterns, Shipman was “Lady Ellen,” the designer responsible for executing a sumptuous vision of rich, ornamental gardens consistent with their appreciation of the classical style. During the extensive overhaul of
the grounds, Shipman suggested to the Sterns that their current Colonial Revival house failed to mesh with her opulent gardens. The solution? A new house—one with fidelity to Shipman’s more classical vision.
“The entire history of Longue Vue, from concept and creation, to preservation and restoration, represents the epitome of the classical principles of harmony and obedience,” Sadler said.
The first house was moved—literally rolled down the road—to make way for a new construction. In concert with Charles A. Platt’s sons, architects William and Geoffrey, Shipman oversaw the design aesthetics of the Classical Revival style house that sits at the heart of Longue Vue today. While the Platts dedicated their energies to the built environment with their relatively recent formal training (including such then-groundbreaking amenities as central air conditioning, a heating system, and recessed lighting), Shipman designed the building’s interior with rapt attention to the smallest visual elements.
Most notably, she designed each room in the Longue Vue house to correspond to a garden, blending the interior and exterior spaces to create harmonious unity. “Once you start noticing it, you can't unsee it,” Landis said.
For instance, the dining room adjoins the Pan Garden (named for the Greek god of the wild, shepherds, and flocks—whose statue is a focal point in the space), filled with flowers in white, pink, and purple hues. To complement the view, Shipman chose wall coverings with similar pinks and purples that emerge more clearly when the flowers bloom each spring, along with green curtains to echo the same shade of foliage in the garden when the flowers disappear. Shipman selected furniture scaled to the ceiling height of the room, which also reflected the scale of the garden beyond. When the windows or doors open, outside and inside merge seamlessly
An example of Shipman's landscape design interacting directly with the Longue Vue House. Photo courtesy of Longue Vue House and Gardens Archives.
The Cajun Village Shops
Houmas House Estate and Gardens
Noël Family Distillery
through shapes, palette, and scale. Each public room in the house is accessible to the gardens, allowing Shipman ample opportunity to match and mirror design choices between environments.
There are other subtle design choices, such as Shipman’s incorporation of small Lilies of the Valley—Edith’s favorite flower, which fails to thrive in the Louisiana climate—rendered on doorknobs and wallpaper, providing tiny glimpses of beauty throughout the space.
“It was a three-and-a-half, four-year process from idea to move-in, and it's like, ‘Oh, why did it take so long?’” Costa said. “Well, there were a couple of reasons, but one of them was because this is the level of detail that they were working with.”
Finding the Beauty
Apart from their lifelong friendship, the Sterns acted, in many respects, as Shipman’s artistic patrons. Shipman continued to contribute to Longue Vue until her death in 1950, visiting several times a year to oversee the gardens and consult with the Sterns on different landscape design choices.
The Sterns valued progressive principles of equality and open access—a legacy that lingers even after their deaths. In 1980, Longue Vue became a nonprofit historic house museum, open to the public. Today, Longue Vue House and Gardens is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is also designated a National Historic Landmark.
As for Shipman, her prolific career opened doors for a new generation of female landscape architects, showcasing the aptitude of women in a formerly male-dominated field through her precise work, skilled negotiations with clients, and appetite for collaboration. This legacy is not lost on the curators of Longue Vue today, who have sought to highlight
Shipman’s story alongside the Sterns’ philanthropy. Next spring, Longue Vue’s annual Design Symposium will be an homage to Longue Vue’s remarkable landscape architect, titled: “Shipmania: In the Spirit of a Pioneering Woman.”
“I'm motivated to preserve this, to share these really instructive stories of perseverance and also vision, and creative collaboration, and connection, and I think that they can help us learn about ourselves,” Landis said. “When we can look at this story as a whole and how it manifests in the spaces Shipman designed, it creates a lens into our own experience that can hopefully help us understand and lean into what's important to us in our daily life, in terms of how we interact with design, and also as a community, how we connect around design decisions.”
At Longue Vue, Costa urges visitors to remain present and engage with nature, to look for the moments of quiet amid a bustling world. She recalls a quote from Edith Stern about Longue Vue: “There's a lot of beauty here. I think people could learn a lot.” Costa agrees that there is a great deal of beauty at the estate— though some of it can be easily missed.
“Sometimes I see the beauty when the native plants die and they go to seed; that's not attractive. It's all brown and crusty. But then that means that certain animals are going to eat it, and then they're going to do better, and that's going to help the ecosystem,” she said. “Longue Vue is a great place to come and enjoy as a large design aspect, holistically as a large space—but do not forget the tiny details, because the tiny details are the ones that are personal and will really resonate with you, and you'll hold on to even after you leave.” 1
longuevue.com
Ellen Biddle Shipman's landscape design plan for Longue Vue, 1942. Image courtesy of Longue Vue House and Gardens Archives.
Dreyfous, and Seiferth. It was intended to represent a new era for a prosperous Louisiana, and is a foundational example of Art Deco architecture—embellished with symbolism in the form of figurative sculptures and bas relief carvings.
To preserve not only the historical significance of such a building, but also its symbolic stature, is a monumental responsibility for an architecture firm—and one that Malley and his team take seriously. The goal, in enacting a restoration as significant and invasive as this one, is for the building to look as though they were never there.
CAPITOL PROJECTS
“You want to keep the historical fabric of the building as it’s always been,” said Malley, who spends significant time in the archives, researching the history of the projects to which he contributes. Looking through Weiss, Dreyfous, and Seiferth’s original specs, he meticulously works to understand why the architects made the choices they made, and what their vision was. “We really like to understand the history of the buildings and try to present things as they would have been presented when they were first constructed, so the intent of the original design and architects is maintained and not distorted.”
The Architectural Studio
LANCE
MALLEY LEADS THE LEGACY DESIGN FIRM
IN PRESERVING THE PAST, AND DESIGNING FOR THE FUTURE
Story by Jordan LaHaye Fontenot
On the corner of Lance Malley’s desk is a hchunk of limestone, about the size of ha football helmet. And in front of him, amid the paperwork and office detritus, is a thick file of yellowing papers—a sketch of the Louisiana State Capitol on the cover.
Malley, the lead architect at The Architectural Studio (TAS) in Baton Rouge, has been working on the State Capitol since he was an intern at the firm almost twenty years ago. At the time, TAS was overseeing a $34 million modern redesign of the capitol’s circa-1949 mechanical system.
However, the firm’s relationship with the iconic structure, the tallest state capitol building in the United States, goes back even farther—to 1993, when TAS founder Jimmy Dodds partnered with Louisiana State Capitol Architect Charles E. Schwing to clean and repaint the Alabama limestone exterior.
Today, Malley and his team are preparing to oversee a full exterior rehabilitation, estimated to cost $113.9 million. The project will take more than twenty years to complete, requiring multiple phases of research and preparation work, and depending on the availability of state funds.
“It’s been nearly one hundred years, and the lime-
stone veneer has never had a true restoration done to it,” said Malley, explaining that the rock on his desk was actually a piece that had come detached from the building itself. As of July 1, $31.7 million has officially been set aside by Governor Jeff Landry and state lawmakers for the first phase—waterproofing the exterior to prep for a thorough cleaning. In the coming months, Malley said, Louisiana residents will begin to notice the erection of scaffolding around the tower.
“We did some investigation and found that [the Capitol] really did have some critical needs that need to be addressed sooner than later,” said Annie Sauser, who works with Malley at TAS as the firm’s on-staff historical preservationist. “We recommended that instead of doing a little piece here, a little piece there—in phases—they do the whole tower at once. And [legislators] were very good about listening to us.”
“The exterior limestone,” said Malley, “and limestone supports, are getting the full rehabilitation, conservation treatment—ensuring that it’s safe and secure, and that it’ll last for another one hundred years.”
“It’s a big deal of a project,” said Sauser. “It really is.”
The Louisiana State Capitol building was constructed in the early 1930s at the behest of Governor Huey P. Long, designed by the architectural firm Weiss,
This philosophy carries forth in all of the historic restorations undertaken by The Architectural Studio, with the invaluable insight of Sauser, who has over thirty-five years of experience working in historical preservation architecture across the country. She ensures that all TAS historical projects are meeting the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties.
The firm has led some of the region’s most exciting undertakings in this space, including the Old State Capitol and Oakley House—the early nineteenth century home where John James Audubon famously produced thirty-two of his Birds of America paintings.
“One of my goals [for full historic restorations] is to—when you walk into this place—recreate what it would have been like when it was first built,” said Malley, describing how our idea of what something looked like can often be blurred and obscured over time. “How do we best represent a moment in time? I always feel like I’ve achieved something when I can do that.” For Oakley, the team was especially proud to be able to uncover, through microscopic testing, the original paint colors used on the home and recreate them exactly.
In addition to these time capsule projects, The Architectural Studio leads countless historical renovations that preserve old buildings by adapting them for modern use. “Those fall more into revitalization,” said Malley. “There, we get to use a little bit more creativity, maintaining the historical aspects, as well as repurposing the building for a new purpose.”
Some examples of these adaptive reuse ventures include the 2013 transformation of the circa-1908 American Paint Works warehouse building in New Orleans’s Garden District into the Josephine Lofts. The new design used the century-old building’s original materials—like brick, timbers, and plaster—and unparalleled views of the Mississippi River as the starting point and inspiration for contemporary, luxury living spaces, securing its enduring place in the cityscape.
In 2014, TAS received the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Rose Award for its revitalization of an abandoned building in Ferriday, Louisiana. Over the past decade, the resulting open-air pavilion known as Haney’s Big House (named for Ferriday’s iconic Chitlin’ Circuit dancehall that burned down in 1966), has become a center of the town’s rich musical heritage, and a community gathering place for concerts, festivals, farmers markets, and more.
While Malley says he has a special passion for the historical preservation work The Architectural Studio has
Photos: Some of The Architectural Studio's major projects in recent years—Top left: The Louisiana State Capitol building. Bottom left: Haney's Big House in Ferriday. Top right: Mid City Beer Garden in Baton Rouge. Middle right: The historic American Paint Works building in New Orleans, which now operates as the Josephine Lofts. Bottom right: Oakley House in St. Francisville. Photos courtesy of TAS.
come to be known for, the firm’s scope goes far beyond that—working on commercial projects that include restaurants and bars, and even an aircraft hangar; as well as several multi-family complexes across the region.
“The diversity is what keeps it interesting,” said Malley. “It’s nice to have our hands in a few different things.”
Currently, one of the firm’s biggest commissions is to design a new municipality complex in Ferriday—bringing a state-of-the-art police station, town hall, and fire department to the rural town. “Projects like that really have a huge impact,” said Malley. “And you can see it. Those are very rewarding.”
One of the buildings he’s most proud of, though, and has had the most fun with, is Baton Rouge’s Mid City Beer Garden on Government Street—for which TAS won Rose and Member’s Choice Awards from the AIA in 2020.
Going into a project like that, Malley said one of the most challenging parts is helping a client to develop their vision. “It comes down to figuring out what their goals are, what their brand is, what they’re selling,” he said. “What is on their menu? Is it beer? Is it steaks? Once we understand the vibe they’re trying to present, we can get it into the language of architecture and design, and then we can get it into drawings.”
Danielle Hunt, one of Malley’s partner architects at TAS, described the Beer Garden as her “baby.” “That was a client that really wanted to draw people in and have an experience,” she said, allowing for a project that is set apart from the tendency toward utilitarianism and efficiency in modern day construction in Louisiana (and the South at large). “I’ve found that in this region, today, architecture and design are not as valued as they are in other places,” she said. “And I think it’s perhaps because of our climate and the materials that have been available to us.” Besides certain historical buildings that have been elected worthy of being preserved, she notes that most things here haven’t been built to make an impact—or to last.
Geno Delafose and French Rocking Boogie 10:00 am – 12:30 pm Sideshow ....................... 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm
“Louisiana is definitely a tough environment to be an architect,” said Malley. “From a climate standpoint, there are always concerns with the durability and quality of materials, as well as just creating spaces that live and breathe, considering the orientations of buildings and their relationship to the sun. All of that comes into play.”
The Beer Garden was an opportunity for TAS to flex its muscles in aesthetics aligned with function, an atmosphere created with durability in mind. “When you can bring all of the things together—not just the building but the lighting, the mechanical systems, the structural systems, and they are coordinated really well, that’s really satisfying for me,” said Hunt. “I try really hard to push to make it so that everything is intentional, and on purpose.”
Intentionality resounds throughout the Mid City Beer Garden, which is oriented with natural shade for year-round comfort; and designed to be a convertible space, with doors that can easily transform an indoor experience into an outdoor one. “It’s just wonderful to work with clients who are architecturally inspired,” said Malley.
For the past four years, Malley has scratched some of that itch by acting as his own client. In 2021, he purchased, with the intent to restore, a circa-1915 Ford dealership on Ferdinand Street in St. Francisville. Here, TAS’s handiwork can be seen all over town—in local mainstays like The Francis, Restaurant 1796, Big River Pizza Co., and the soon-to-open Bayou Sara Brewery, as well as historical renovations of the West Feliciana Historical Society and Grace Episcopal Church.
He called the Ford dealership his satellite office at the time, though now he admits it was truly just a passion project. “I worked on that for the past couple of years as designer, architect, and owner,” he said. “It was exciting to bring multiple faces of the trade together like that.”
He did it his way, attempting to peel back the layers of time (and literal sheetrock and wallpaper, floors and paint), returning it to the original designer’s vision. “With careful deconstruction, you can usually find enough DNA of the original building to understand how it began," he said. "That’s what I really enjoy.” 1
Where Southern charm meets historic beauty and modern fun.
Stay in one of our picturesque bed and breakfasts, where front porch coffee and leisurely mornings set the tone for a relaxing getaway. Spend your days shopping local boutiques along Front Street.
You’ll find plenty of local cafés and waterfront restaurants that serves up comfort foods with a Southern flare.
Whether you’re reconnecting with old friends or making new memories, Natchitoches offers the ideal blend of rest, laughter, and adventure.
38
SMOKE, SOUL & SACRED GROUND
How Derek Emerson Found His Fire (Again)
AFTER DECADES OF FINE DINING SUCCESS, THE ACCLAIMED MISSISSIPPI CHEF REIGNITES HIS PASSION
ACalifornia boy, young Derek Emerson always looked forward to visiting hhis grandparents’ house in Mississippi. He didn’t realize it at the time, but the seed to his future in food service was planted during those summers in Meridian. “My grandmother was a wonderful cook, and I loved being in her kitchen,” he recalled. “My grandfather
enjoyed taking us to New Orleans, where we ate in the Grill Room, the Bon Ton Café on Fridays for lunch, Galatoire’s, and other great restaurants.” All of those influences worked to give him an appreciation for food and its memory-making powers.
After one semester at Hinds Community College, Emerson learned that a close friend from California had enrolled
in the Culinary Institute of America. “That’s something I had not previously considered,” he said. He dropped out of Hinds to attend a small culinary school in Memphis, “and it changed the course of my life.”
When Emerson completed the program, he returned to Jackson, where he worked at Brick Oven Café and Bravo! Italian Restaurant and Bar. He then moved to Atlanta, where he honed his skills working for restaurants like Buckhead Bread Company, Blue Ridge Grill, and Nava before accepting the executive sous chef position at Dick & Harry’s. During his time there, Dick & Harry’s was voted “best new restaurant” by the readers of Atlanta Magazine. Derek’s approach to Southern cuisine focused on fresh, locally sourced ingredients, and dishes that told a story.
After four years in the Atlanta area, Emerson returned to Mississippi to take on the executive chef position at a new restaurant in Jackson, called Schimmel’s. While there, he met the woman who would become his wife, Jennifer‚ who handled private events for the restaurant.
When Jackson’s iconic Walker’s DriveIn came up for sale, Emerson saw an opportunity to finally set out on his own. The couple purchased the nostalgic 1950s diner and put their everything into it. The restaurant had been a staple on North State Street in Jackson for decades, and with the developing Fondren area in Jackson, it quickly became a centerpiece for the community. In the kitchen, Emerson worked to create a menu defined by dishes like his signature Redfish Anna— wild-caught redfish lightly fried and piled high with lump crab meat. His tamales became a local staple, served with fresh pico de gallo, chipotle sour cream, and a sweet corn sauce. While at Walker’s, Emerson was named a James Beard semi-finalist for Best Chef in the South for three consecutive years, from 2008 to 2010, and then again in 2014.
Amidst the success of Walker’s DriveIn, which easily became a Jackson classic, the couple decided to open a second venture to showcase Emerson’s expanding culinary interests. Local 463 Urban Kitchen opened in Madison, Mississippi, before relocating to The Renaissance in Ridgeland. There, he served up fresh Gulf fish, premium Duroc pork, and Wagyu beef cuts—each paired with locally sourced produce, innovative sauces, and slow-cooked demi-glace. CAET was added to the Emerson restaurant portfolio, beginning as a restaurant serving small plates in the Fondren district before moving to a larger space in The Renaissance, transforming into CAET Seafood & Oysterette. With an emphasis on dishes created with fresh, locally sourced seafood prepared in sometimes surprising iterations like Spicy Jackson Hot Catfish, served with chili oil, or wood-oven baked crab fondue. At CAET, Emerson was once again named a James Beard semifinalist for Best Chef in the South.
Then, last year, Emerson found himself in totally new territory. He’d purchased an old building on Highway 49 in the unincorporated community of Pocahontas, Mississippi, just across the highway from the Pocahontas Mounds, an archaeological site from the Plaquemine culture dating back to 1300 AD. The mounds are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and were once used for religious ceremonies and as a political seat for the regional chiefdom. In honor of the site’s spiritual and historical significance, the Emersons named their new restaurant Sacred Ground.
A barbecue joint, Sacred Ground felt more like a passion project than any of Emerson’s ventures since Walker’s; it was a place where he could find his mojo again. “It’s easy to get burned out in this business,” he said. “And while I have always loved what I do, I realized I needed something different.” After much trial and error, he perfected his own brand of
Chef Derek Emerson at work. Images courtesy of the Sacred Ground BBQ team.
Texas-style barbecue—inspired by a trip he took with one of his daughters to show horses in Texas. “They do it differently there,” he said. “Everywhere I ate, I saw an emphasis on getting it right. People take pride in their barbecue in Texas.” Emerson said his barbecue is not heavy on the sauce; “The meat should speak for itself.” He makes a rub mix he sells in the store, and seasonally, he will make a fruitbased sauce at his wife’s request. “I’ve made a watermelon barbecue sauce and a blueberry sauce. Neither are super sweet.”
The result is a restaurant that, like most of Emerson’s projects, has become a destination for people in central Mississippi. These days, Emerson is working harder than ever, up at 4:30 am and often returning home as late as 10:30 pm, only to do it again the next day—but it’s all motivated by an energized love for the work. “I enjoy it,” he said. “I am outside a lot, and for me, it is a great situation. Ultimately, my goal is to make a lot of people happy with food.”
Sacred Ground features an indoor dining room as well as several outdoor spaces, courtesy of Jennifer’s design know-how. “If I could cook as well as she designs things, that would be fantastic,” said Emerson. “What we have done is to create something we wish we had when our kids were growing up. I needed this more than I realized.”
Batteries recharged at Sacred Ground, Emerson is ready to take on his largest
project yet. The Emersons sold Walker’s this summer and have their focus set on The District, a live/work/dine development in northeast Jackson. They plan to take over the former Cultivation Food Hall space with their new concept. “There will be three parts to what we are doing there,” he explained. “We’ll start with a bar called Effie’s in honor of Effie Kappis Hubanks, who served as general manager for Walker’s Drive-In for twenty-two years.” Hubanks herself will over-
see the bar’s craft cocktail offerings and wine selection. The bar menu will feature small plates, pizzas, and flatbreads fired in a wood pizza oven behind the bar.
Next door will be Emerson’s Provisions, a retail shop offering the sauces, rubs, and demi-glace Emerson has become known for, bottled and available for locals to take home and create their own takes on his dishes. “The demi-glace can take twelve to twenty-four hours to make, so it will be a time saver for home
cooks,” he said. And across the street in the previous Eudora’s Brasserie location will be Masa Mesa, a taco and burger spot. “I’ll be bringing some of my barbeque over here, and we will make our own corn and flour tortillas from scratch. We are working to create a fun, light-hearted dining experience.” All three should be up and running by late fall. 1
sacredgroundbbq.com
Treatments For Aging Oaks
2 to 3” layers of composted organic matter will fuel soil organisms. Create a forest
Improve soil health (de-compact, aerate, improve drainage).
Apply continuous small doses of elements: less nitrogen, more phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium and beneficial soil microbes.
Remove competition: remove turf, vines, shrubs, and other competing canopy. Expand resource space. Mulch open soil space.
Prune to reduce mass (trim exterior crown weight). Support mass and control movement via installing tree support system, TSS’ (cables, brace rods, guys, and
Images courtesy of the Sacred Ground BBQ team.
Sugar & Smooches
What’s more decadent than a French macaron and a romance novel? (I’d say “indulging in both in a bubble bath” but you simply can’t do that in public, and this is a restaurant column.) In July, Lafayette’s long beloved Bonne Vie Macarons officially opened the doors to its indulgent new venture: Bonne Vie Macarons & Book Club & Co. Catering especially to romance readers and sweet tooths, and settled comfortably into the local shopping hub of the Saints Streets, the space has already established itself as a favorite Acadiana confection. shopbonneviemacarons.com.
Dook Chase on the Big Screen
New Orleans restaurateur Edgar “Dook” Chase IV—grandson of Louisiana legend Leah Chase and executive chef of his family’s legacy restaurant, Dooky Chase’s—has been getting a lot of screentime as of late.
In July, he joined actress and show host Octavia Spencer as expert judge of the Food Network’s new show Family Recipe Showdown, which brings three teams of Southern home cooks to compete with their best renditions of their grandma’s recipes, all for a $10,000 prize. The show was filmed at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, and over the course of the competition Chase will be joined by guest judges the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Jessica Chastain, Danielle Brooks, Tim Gunn, and more. Episodes air on Thursday nights at 8 pm, and can be streamed on HBO Max. foodnetwork.com/shows/family-recipe-showdown.
But Chase has been working on a project even closer to home, as well. In production since June and set to premiere in Spring 2025, WYES’s new series will put the spotlight on Chase himself, as he travels around Greater New Orleans visiting the city’s most important centers of culinary culture. The show, titled Dook Chase: A Chef’s Journey, will feature destinations like Angelo Brocato’s, Dakar NOLA, Commander’s Palace, Dong Phuong Bakery, and more. wyes.org
In Pursuit of the Perfect Po-boy
Louisiana’s favorite sandwich is getting an Acadiana spotlight with Lafayette Travel’s recent launch of the Po-Boy Trail. A foolproof guide to navigating the Cajun community’s rich and diverse poboy scene, the self-guided trail on the Lafayette Travel website features more than seventy restaurants across the region. And while the shrimp-piled-high classics are sure to be found, so are variations on the theme: find po-boy adjacent bánh mìs and Cubanos on the list as well. Most sandwiches though, are tied together by fresh French bread, baked daily by local bakeries like LeJeune’s, Langlinais, and Poupart’s. Explore for yourself at lafayettetravel.com.
Social Interactions
Taking over a former waterside wateringhole in Madisonville, the folks behind Social Restaurant bring not only an arrestingly upscale and modern flair to the space, but an altogether new culinary experience to the Northshore. The restaurant opened in May with its menu of traditional Peruvian dishes like ceviche and grilled octopus, with elaborate plating artistry the sort you see in movies about Michelin-starred restaurants (but here, at a price point of between $18–$40 for a main). socialrestaurant.co.
Dook Chase, filming for WYES's new series, Dook Chase: A Chef's Journey, premiering in the spring of 2026. Courtesy of WYES.
The Mystic Krewe of Brew
THIRTY YEARS LATER, THE CLUB HAS FOSTERED SEVERAL NEW BREWERIES AND A LASTING BROTHERHOOD
Judge certification takes hours of studying for written exams and many more hours of experience judging beer competitions.
“I always call this my professional hobby,” Mortillaro said. “It has been absolutely incredible to be asked for feedback.”
When Justin Meyers and Caleb Schlamp, co-founders of Cypress Coast Brewing, opened up on Government Street in Baton Rouge in 2020, Mortillaro stopped by and tried all the beers on tap, offering the brewers pointers on how to improve their beers.
“Having that knowledge from everybody and that support system . . .” Meyers said, “if you have questions or you’re not sure on something, the beer community is super receptive and open. There's no trade secrets. We're always sharing.”
This spirit of sharing is what brings professional brewers and home brewers alike to the monthly Mystic Krewe meetings, where members exchange their beer creations and brewing tips.
“Every month you get to come to a meeting, enjoy some beers, hang out with some pretty cool people, and learn more about homebrewing and about beer itself,” said Daryl Hope, Mystic Krewe of Brew vice president. Meetings begin with general club business and information, then conclude with tastings. Members bring their homebrews, many of which are award winners in local competitions and beyond.
Miles Garrett, the Mystic Krewe of Brew’s current president, made history for the club in June of 2025, when his homebrewed “Junco Porter” took silver in the American Porter & Stout category at the National Homebrew Competition, one of the largest contests of its type in the world.
The club hosts its own competition each summer— the Larry Brew Fest held at the Castine Center in Mandeville in honor of Hartzog. The event annually attracts more than fifty homebrewers and vendors, with all proceeds raised benefitting the Northshore Humane Soci-
the explosion of the United States craft beer movement, and it’s been thriving ever since.
Four of Louisiana’s most-well known breweries are passion projects of Mystic Krewe of Brew members: Chafunkta Brewing, Gnarly Barley, Cypress Coast Brewing, and Deadbeat Brewing.
“As small as the craft beer industry is in Louisiana, to have this many commercial brewers come out of one club is kind of an anomaly,” said Zac Caramonta, founder of Gnarly Barley.
Caramonta joined the Mystic Krewe of Brew around 2010. An independent homebrewer, Caramonta didn’t know anyone in the industry, nor anyone else involved in the hobby. He heard about the club in passing and, on a whim, decided to attend a meeting.
“I was overwhelmed with how welcoming and how appreciative everyone was for me to bring a beer in to sample,” Caramonta said. “They were giving me tasting notes, but not in a negative way. It was just really a full moment for me.”
A few years later, in 2014, Caramonta and his wife Cari opened Gnarly Barley on Corbin Road in Hammond. With two warehouses dedicated to the brewery and another building offering quick service food across the street, the business’s expansive property is a commu-
brewing.
Though Hartzog passed away in 2012, his legacy lives on through the club, the memories of its members, and the work of his widow, Nancy, who is the current secretary and self-proclaimed “den mother” for the Mystic Krewe of Brew.
“Larry left me the beer club,” Nancy said. “The beer club was my inheritance.”
Nancy considers the Mystic Krewe of Brew her family, and she knows her late husband would be proud of all the club’s young, accomplished members.
“I love them all,” Nancy said. “They're like sons or brothers interested in beer and how to make it better. That's mostly what the beer club is about. People who are trying to improve their beer.”
When Mystic Krewe of Brew members want to improve their beer, they often seek out the club’s resident Grand Master Beer Judge, Sal Mortillaro II.
Mortillaro is currently one of eighteen individuals in the world certified as a Level 2 Grand Master Beer Judge—it’s a title bestowed by the Beer Judge Certification Program, a non-profit organization that publishes international style guidelines for beer, including notes on aroma, flavor, mouthfeel, and more. Grand Master
By hosting special events such as Larry Fest, or even its regularly scheduled club meetings, the Mystic Krewe of Brew continues to provide a space for seasoned and novice homebrewers to collaborate and connect. Luke Hammonds, co-founder of Deadbeat Brewing, said he and his friends never would’ve struck out into commercial brewing had it not been for the support of Mystic Krewe of Brew members. “The club was a great mentoring process,” Hammonds said.
It’s a culture that fosters curiosity, creativity, and community—pillars that hold up the heart behind homebrewing, and keep the club alive three decades after its founding. It’s an ongoing legacy that is witnessed on any given day of the week, when you find dozens of people enjoying themselves at Chafunkta, Gnarly Barley, Cypress Coast, or Deadbeat.
The drinks are a plus, but it’s always been more than just a beer. 1
The Mystic Krewe of Brew is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2025. Four memberowned breweries have a lineup of exciting events planned to pay homage to the club that started it all. Cypress Coast Brewing will kick off the anniversary celebration on Saturday, August 16, with more to come. Stay up to date on the latest at mkob.com.
OUR SUSTAINABLE GARDEN
Moon Gardening
HOW TO CREATE A TRANQUIL SUMMER SPACE FOR OUTDOOR EVENINGS
Story by Jess Cole
Thhese are the dog days. My entire life seems to slow with the torpor of summer. Work days are long, sunshine blasts my home for eleven hours straight daily, we seek out bodies of water to jump into as often as possible, in search of even the slightest reprieve.
This year, though, has felt like an old faithful Louisiana summer—the heat is intense, but almost every afternoon there is a thunderstorm. They go two ways, as far as I see it, the storms: It might be a short, dramatic (sometimes terrifying) rain, or instead a light, long drizzle with more subtle audibles. I pray for anything I can get each afternoon as I drive home. My prayer is to spend any number of minutes on my porch swing, under the fan, listening to the rain and looking over our gardens. My dad called summer
afternoons like this “Cajun siesta.” My porch siestas these days include a hogwild naked two-year-old and a bubble machine, making the time on my porch swing ten times more magical.
These porch dwelling days are when I try to let go of control within the garden. I am exhausted from the heat and yearn to sit, relish, and observe the insanity of life abounding around me. I worked hard in the garden all spring, and will get back to it come fall.
This is also around the time that my summer rituals in the garden shift toward evening. If I am so lucky, I return to the porch alone at dusk. It is then that the oppressed summer gardens wake up and begin their dance with night. I like to sit and watch the last sunlight, luminous sherbet colors brushing over perennial blooms all while basking in the intro
chorus of sound that has blanketed the space.
This brings me to moon gardens—a feast for night pollinators and a dramatic sensory experience for their human guests. I have yet to specifically design an intentional moon garden, but it’s an idea that I have been pondering as I sit in my accidental haphazard one. Any garden comes to life, in ways, at night. But I have been dreaming of dedicating a garden space specifically to the night, inspired by gardens around the world, like the Mehtab Bagh opposite the Taj Mahal, or Vita Sackville-West’s “White Garden” at Sissinghurst Castle in England. I want to work with the moon and play with light.
I couldn’t imagine a better place for moon gardens than Southern Louisiana, where so many tropical night bloom-
ing plants thrive alongside natives and epic nocturnal wildlife action—our astral traffic of lightning bugs, sphinx moths, and speedy bats; our owl, cricket, and frog song. What better way to reclaim our intense summers that we love to hate? When I send expat Louisiana friends videos of my garden at night, they nearly always remark on the sounds that they miss dearly, an intensity they have yet to experience anywhere else.
In designing a moon garden, white flowers are ideal, as they reflect the light of the moon, all the while offering excellent visibility to night pollinators. Some excellent options are: crinums, various gingers are bat and moth showstoppers, angels trumpet. Some flowers, such as night blooming cereus, night blooming jasmine, and moon vine (all aptly named) only open at night. Many other flowers are so devoted to warm summer nights that they choose to emit more fragrance after the sun falls. These include: magnolias, gardenias, citrus tree blooms, flowering tobacco, sweet olive, and mock orange.
One can also play around with silvery foliage or light pink blooms. Some that I find lovely under the moon include: various begonias, lavender, artemisia, olives, pineapple guava, phlox, opium poppies, and hellebores. I especially love a light bloom against a deep green leaf for maximum dramatic effect.
Another way to play with precious light is through tiny bodies of water. I always try to keep my bird baths full. Not only do they offer water to night pollinators, but they add to the ambiance. When I am in my garden at night, I often have a small string of lights on, especially if I am reading, but it’s important to keep the manmade lighting to a minimum. Our lighting has a negative effect on night pollinators, confusing navigation and causing an overall distraction and loss of energy. Fireflies especially feel this.
I believe it is important to bring gardens into your life entirely—share a meal under a tree whenever possible, have your siesta under a fan on your porch, step back outside as the sun has taken its bow to take a walk, meditate, or read under string lights. And if you can, join the wonder at night. The natural world never sleeps. 1
A night blooming cereus, otherwise known as the "Queen of the Night."
August Plant Spotlight: Passiflora lutea, Yellow Passionvine
We all know our native purple passionvine/maypop, but this tiny relative often goes unseen. Less dramatic in size and color, this passionvine still boasts the typical extravagant and complex flower passifloras are known for, yet at about the size of a nickel. Something about the intensity in such a petite package is absolutely incredible. Yellow passionvine is not commercially available, yet grows abundantly all over the state. I find it most often at the edges of woods, basking in the filtered shade. I have had great success growing by root division and transplanting directly into my formal gardens to grow along my hogwire fencing. This they do beautifully, returning and spreading each year. Like all other passifloras, this one is host to the gulf fritillary butterfly. When you see the burnt orange caterpillars feasting on the leaves, consider yourself blessed for their presence; an abundance of butterflies will swarm your space shortly.
Yellow passionvine, photo by Jess Cole.
2025
Culture
44 AT MELROSE PLANTATION, AN EXAMPLE OF WEST AFRICAN ARCHITECTURE //47 INSIDE YVONNE LAFLEUR'S "CLOSET" // 49 SPIRITUALITY, COMMUNITY, AND ANCESTRAL WISDOM AT GOMBO ATELIER • FASHION FORWARD
BEYOND THE BIG HOUSE
The Walls Remember
THE
MYSTERIES OF AFRICAN HOUSE, AND CLEMENTINE HUNTER'S MURALS WITHIN IT
Story by Lauren Stroh
Along the winding Cane River, the home of Louis Metoyer, a gen de couleur libre (free hperson of color) of the hearly nineteenth century, accounts for one of the more complicated histories of Louisiana’s many plantations. But a modest two-story building positioned across from the main house has become a focal point of the property and holds perhaps even more intrigue than the plantation itself.
Termed “African House” in the mid-twentieth century by author and archivist François Mignon, the structure was originally constructed during the 1810s under Metoyer’s orders by his enslaved laborers. Architecturally, it is syncretic, adapting the economy and functionality of French barnhouses with climate-conscious modifications—such as its roof, with its generous twelve-foot
overhang, and cool brick floors—from West African coastal architecture, relieving those inside the building from Louisiana’s sweltering heat.
There is no surviving record of the structure’s original purpose, and it bears no close resemblance to any other structure original to the surrounding property at Melrose. Theories have posited that it was constructed to function as a storeroom for the plantation’s production output, or to remind Metoyer’s mother, Marie Thérèse Coincoin—who was, according to folklore, once the wealthiest woman in the United States—of her ancestral homeland. It is believed by some to have served as a makeshift jail for enslaved persons, a theory reinforced by the presence of metal bars on the firstfloor window. It does favor the blacksmith shop at the nearby Magnolia Plantation, the construction of which began
within fifty years after the completion of African House. And Ghana House, a one-room wooden structure transported to Melrose in the 1930s from the Dominique Metoyer Plantation nearby, is a similar example of vernacular architecture featuring Creole adaptations on a French pièce-sur-pièce build.
In more recent history, the building has served various purposes—as storage for a selection of the estate’s abundant collection of antique furnishings and as studio space for the Melrose artists’ residency program in the twentieth-century.
For the past seventy years, though, African House has acted as the permanent gallery for an installation of works by the renowned folk artist Clementine Hunter, who lived the majority of her life on the plantation.
Hunter was born a free woman of color on an unaccounted-for date some-
time between Christmas 1886 and January 1887 on Hidden Hills Plantation, which is said to have inspired Harriett Beecher Stowe’s 1852 novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Hunter relocated with her family to the nearby Melrose Plantation in her teens to work picking cotton, collecting pecans, cooking, and housekeeping. She eventually married a man named Emmanuel, with whom she had three children, who bore them seven grandchildren; her grandson, James Hunter, continues to paint today in her tradition.
Hunter never learned to read or write, but her talent in the realm of visual arts developed thanks to Alberta Kinsey, an artist from New Orleans who resided at the artists’ retreat hosted at Melrose. Kinsey befriended Hunter and gifted her excess paints, which she then used to produce the first works of what would
Left: Exterior of African House, originally constructed in the 1810s by enslaved laborers, with French and West African architectural influences. Right: the stairs leading up to the second floor of African House, which holds Clementine Hunter's most famous works, the African House Murals. Photos by Leah Dunn.
come to be upwards of 10,000. These tableaux, which she called “markings,” depict baptisms, angels, brawls, field work, weddings, funerals, and the gossip and fables of Melrose. In her lifetime, she sold her paintings for a pittance and charged twenty-five cents, then fifty cents, for visitors to browse them.
The African House Murals are her most famous work, rendered over seven weeks in the summer of 1955 as an autobiographical account of her life. The murals’ scenes were endeavored at the encouragement of Mignon, who was a resident of the artists’ colony and authored, with Ora Garland Williams, Plantation Memo: Plantation Life in Louisiana: 1750-1970, and Other Matter.
By the 1970s, the building and murals within it began to fall into disrepair and neglect. The Association for the Preservation of Historic Natchitoches began a restoration of the buildings on the plantation, and in 1974, African House was designated a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior. In 1983, a pair of conservators from the Kimbell Art Museum undertook the first cleaning, consolidation, and revarnishing of Hunter’s murals within, and Whitten & Proctor Fine Art
Conservation later orchestrated another restoration of the paintings in 2014. In 2015, the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Hands-On Preservation Experience (HOPE) Crew began a project to preserve African House’s roof, framing, and exterior.
Today, newly rehabilitated and protected as a National Treasure by the National Trust, African House, with Hunter’s paintings as its centerpiece, will commemorate early Black history in the Cane River region in perpetuity.
Laid bricks made by enslaved workers constitute the flooring of the first story, which is empty save for a display on the 2015 restoration efforts. Located on the far right of the floorplan, a steep wooden staircase admits visitors into African House’s grenier.
Here viewers encounter the murals— nine panels spread across four walls, with some smaller connective panels wedged between them. In one, a self-portrait, the artist is seated in a large red chair beneath a pecan tree with a paintbrush in hand. Hunter depicts herself in the company of other artists who visited the colony during her lifetime, including Kinsey, Mignon, the photographer Carolyn Ramsey, and the Times-Picayune
Top: "Wedding" by Clementine Hunter. Bottom: "Melrose on the Cane River" by Clementine Hunter, each scene a part of the African House murals. Melrose Plantation, African House, State Highway 119, Melrose, Natchitoches Parish, LA Photos from Survey HABS LA-2-69-B.
columnist Lyle Saxon.
Christianity is a common theme in Hunter’s work, and in the African House murals, related motifs abound. There is a scene with a white church, where a duo of priests dressed in black frocks leads a flurry of nuns in white habits queuing closely behind them. Two baptisms are featured in the panel, including one of a panicked catechumen, likely frightened of water. Emmanuel Hunter, towering over a scattering of trees nearby, stands to the left of the
chapel in the company of other lay people, ringing a church bell.
Hunter often scaled her subjects in proportion to her fondness for them, which might account for her husband’s prominence, featuring much larger than any of the other characters in the vignette. In another panel, there is a generous assessment of the sundial Hunter learned to tell time with. In an illustration of two murders spurred by wayward women and their jealous lovers at a local dancehall, the pigs grazing along the riv
er outside exceed their human counterparts. Another scene, depicting nuptials, sees a groom diminish next to his bride. In the artworks, women work the fields of Melrose in rows, picking cotton in colorful dresses and hats. The artist’s rendition of the labor undertaken by fieldhands appears at first to romanticize it, though observers will notice that the women are bowed over by weight of the burlap sacks they carry on their backs. It would be difficult to date this scene as post-Abolition if it weren’t for certain symbols of modern life depicted in nearby panels, including an airplane, which takes flight across the sky just beyond Hunter’s beloved sundial, or the two cars parked outside a church. Life in rural Louisiana appears semi-frozen in time: children climb on trees; clothes hang on a line; travelers advance by horse and buggy; people fish in reeded ponds; men drink, smoke cigars, and gamble with cards and dice.
The oil paints with which Hunter composed the mural are prismatic, thinned by kerosene and turpentine to spread across the murals in brushy,
sometimes blotchy, strokes. Buildings are flattened and rendered with open-cut faces, admitting viewers into the private realms that lie inside. Featured as prominently as the plantation’s main house is African House in one panel, perhaps anticipating its centrality to the lure of the plantation in present time.
Hunter’s style has been termed “primitive” and a popular example of “outsider” art in most published literature, but these reductions mistake the ingenuity and humor characteristic of her landscapes as an accidental consequence instead of an intentional means of demystifying regional narratives and aesthetics.
Another panel features a spherical map, which situates Melrose Plantation among other landmarks along the Cane.
The globe—replete with a compass, a coat of arms, and yet another version of the artist at work—features a sign staked into its southernmost borders identifying Hunter’s elaborate worldbuilding as that of “Melrose on the Cane River.”
As such, it’s tempting to take this mural as a literal depiction of the physical world Hunter occupied—except that her heartfelt improvisations and generous imagination exceed historical bounds.
For instance, a free man known as Uncle Israel, formerly enslaved on the plantation, appears just west of Hunter’s central sundial. He is painted in the upper plane of the painting—as if ascended into heaven. 1
melroseonthecane.com.
Interior view of African House looking from the southwest corner; Melrose Plantation, African House, State Highway 119, Melrose, Natchitoches Parish, LA Photos from Survey HABS LA-2-69-B.
The Grand Dame of Southern Style
IN THE ENCHANTING WORLD OF YVONNE LAFLEUR'S, OLD SCHOOL ELEGANCE FINDS A NEW GENERATION
Story by Susan Marquez
Yvonne Lafleur has been dressing New Orleans ladies since she was twenty-two, back in 1969. From her shop, tucked into the Carrollton Riverbend neighborhood around the corner from Camellia Grill, she has built a reputation as a maven of New Orleans vogue, offering not only her custom approach to women’s fashion but a deep well of knowledge on the etiquette of Southern style.
Lafleur’s taste has always been of elegance and quality, care and individuality—values that have been diminished in the modern-day retail landscape. After more than fifty years in business, the boutique that bears her name needed a way to reach increasingly online shoppers, without sacrificing its soul.
The answer came the day marketing expert Angelique Frizzell stepped into the boutique. It was obvious to her: Lafleur, at almost eighty years old, needed to be on social media.
Frizzell is a New Orleans native who grew up in Indonesia and London. Before coming into Yvonne Lafleur’s she had spent three years living in Paris, working for Fashion Network and Estée Lauder while getting a Masters degree from Parsons School of Design. A series of events, including a breakup with a long-time boyfriend and the expiration of her visa, brought her back home to New Orleans. “I was trying to decide my next step,” she said.
Her parents suggested she visit Yvonne Lafleur’s boutique. “When I stepped inside, I realized the place is magical,” Frizzell said. “It was very maximalist, like some of the boutiques I loved in Paris. It was so unlike the sterile shops seen today. Her shop was whimsical, with decorations everywhere. Yvonne describes it as a big closet.”
Frizzell convinced Lafleur to appear in a series of videos. “She is, after all, the face of the business,” said Frizzell. “And
she is so endearing and sweet, I knew that people would relate to her . . . She is seventy-eight years old, and it’s hard to keep up with her. She takes care of herself, and I believe she gives women hope for the future.”
Frizzell started posting the videos on TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram; Lafleur was an immediate hit. In just over six months, the shop’s accounts have more than a million followers combined. People are planning their vacations to New Orleans just to shop at the store. Local residents have found their way back to the boutique, many who have fond memories of shopping there in years past. It has become a generational place, a tradition shared between mothers and daughters, and even grandmothers and granddaughters. “The accountant at the store has worked there for the past thirty years,” said Frizzell. “He now makes references to the store ‘pre- and post-Angelique.’ Their sales have skyrocketed.”
Frizzell develops weekly marketing plans, with ideas for video concepts. “I watch the comment sections of her social media closely, as many people ask questions that Yvonne, in turn, can answer,” Frizzell said. Many of the videos feature specific fashions or products, such as a peek into Lafleur’s antique glove cupboard, or a how-to on the best way to wear perfume. Others, though, just focus on Lafleur’s life. Frizzell “interviews” her, and the world listens as Lafleur shares pieces of her story.
How It All Began
Lafleur came to New Orleans from San Francisco at age four with her mother, and they stayed with her three spinster aunts, all living together in a big house on Camp Street, working in the grand department stores along Canal. One aunt sold sportswear at D.H. Holmes, another worked in billing at Godchaux’s, and the third was the elevator operator at Maison Blanche.
These relationships opened up the portals of high fashion for Lafleur, despite the fact that she and her family had little money. She fell in love with retail and worked at most of the stores along Canal at one time or another. She learned to sew at a very early age and remade the hand-me-down dresses she received from her aunts.
She was educated by the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart at Cabrini High School, where “can’t” was not in the vocabulary. She went on to attend Louisiana State University in Baton
Rouge, majoring in merchandising, but would take the bus back to New Orleans each Friday to work on Canal.
“In my senior year of college, I wanted to do something different,” she said. “I went to a smaller boutique on St. Charles Avenue and suggested that I teach modeling to young customers.” This bold idea resulted in Lafleur running a modeling school for the boutique’s clients.
It was shortly after that she partnered with Charlie Montgomery and his wife, Miriam, entrepreneurs from Fayette, Mississippi, to open her own shop, then called You Boutique. “I was twenty-two years old and just out of college when I opened in this location on October 15, 1969.” At the time, her specialty was custom-fitted women’s blue jeans, which she sold for $8. By 1974, she was earning enough to buy Montgomery out.
Lafleur described her evolution as ‘growing alongside her customers’. For the college-age women, she stocked clothes for sorority parties and football games. When they started getting married, she added wedding dresses and bridesmaids' gowns. Then she began offering luxury lingerie and gowns for debutante and Mardi Gras balls. When she inherited an aunt’s hat blocks, Lafleur opened a millinery department. She listened to her customers and stocked the store with merchandise they wanted. When she debuted her signature fragrance that bears her name, the name of the boutique was changed to Yvonne Lafleur as well.
In an interview with John Jones for his book Louisiana Stories: Growing up in the Bayou State, Lafleur stated, “I still love my business. I love coming to work every day and having company all day; that’s what retail is all about. I sell pretty things, so I think of what I sell as what people buy for celebrations of life, so it’s a happy time.”
Yvonne Lafleur on Fashion
Unlike many boutiques, Yvonne Lafleur’s carries many of the store’s own branded fashions. Lafleur pointed to hundreds of patterns hanging from the ceiling. “In the 1970s, I owned a factory in New York,” she said. “A lot of the merchandise in the store is my creation and my brand. About eighty-five percent of the clothes in the store are made in the United States.”
The store still offers complimentary alterations, a rarity even in locally owned boutiques today. “I believe when a customer buys something, it should fit
Yvonne Lafleur has been operating her New Orleans boutique since 1969, offering signature and custom designed fashion products—from hats to perfume to apparel. Photo by Chris Granger.
them,” she said. “We offer alterations on site to make sure each item fits perfectly.”
For Lafleur, an outfit isn’t complete without accessories. “We have a dessert case in the store—a long case from Scotland. It is filled with accessories to add ‘dessert’ to your clothing.” There is also silk lingerie, hair ornaments, jewelry, cashmere socks, purses, silk scarves, cashmere ponchos, and more—all curated with gifting in mind. “When people come to New Orleans to visit, they like to take gifts home to their friends,” said Lafleur, who also offers complimentary gift wrapping, using signature wrapping paper with a pattern of tiny violets. “Violets are a symbol for the store because they are a symbol for loyalty,” she said.
Frizzell noticed Lafleur seems happiest when in the millinery department, with its treasure trove of accoutrements including silk flowers, ribbons, hat pins— many of them in a display case Lafleur says is from the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, England. “Wearing a hat perpetuates the feminine mystique of the Southern lady,” says Lafleur in one video. She keeps her hat forms in a large, mirrored armoire that she bought in Paris for her twenty-sixth birthday. The felt hats are made of animal fur from France, the straw hats from Italian fibers.
All hats are custom-made by Lafleur using Mauboussin flowers from France, as well as French point d’esprit lace, nettings, ribbons, and feathers. “A wellmade hat should be balanced and elegant, and light,” she said. “It should be worn on an angle, and you should still see the person’s face. It should adorn the face and the outfit but not overcome them. I look at a person’s coloring to decide what will make their face look wonderful. I consider the shape of the face, the width of the shoulders, and how much skin shows. Making a customer look beautiful in the hat is my objective.”
Yvonne Lafleur on Fragrance
Inside Lafleur’s boutique, her signature fragrance fills the air. “It took two years to develop because first, what you want is something that already exists. Then you have to decide on how you can make something different that you like just as much. So this was the final product.” Once the scent was settled on, the eau de parfum spray came first, followed eventually by lotion, bath gel, powder, and a candle.
The fragrance, made using traditional French methods with all-natural flowers and herbs, has notes of Italian bergamot and English lavender. In one of her videos, Lafleur demonstrates how to wear it. “First spray on your hands and rub them together, maybe rubbing the shoulders of your blouse or jacket, and just lightly touching your hair. You use your hands to speak, so that gives a hint of your fragrance to the person you are speaking with. I also spritz a bit into my bosom.”
Shop Yvonne Lafleur's at 8131 Hampson St. New Orleans, or at yvonnelafleur.com. Follow her on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook.
Two of Yvonne Lafleur's signature departments are the millinery section of her store, and bridals—which have each fostered intergenerational traditions for New Orleans women. Left photo by Angelique Frizzel, right by Chris Granger.
Inside the Gombo Atelier
Tell us about the first piece of jewelry that you created for what would become Pickled Okra.
I“
it under my arm like a lil’ bébé. My best friend and I then headed back to Lafayette. There was a guitar neck on my side and a cowboy boot on my lap. But I desperately wanted a pickled okra at that moment, so I went for it, and my hand got stuck. My best friend snapped a photo. We laughed for a solid ten minutes because, well, it was very on brand for me. The birth of Pickled Okra Aesthetics signaled a shift in creative prowess, from vintage resell and styling to actually creating and producing things for people to wear.
At the end of that year’s growing season, a friend (who grows amazing flowers) gave me her spent okra plants. I harvested the pods and let them dry. For months, they sat. I would stare at them, stewing and thinking, “what type of ‘thing’ can I make out of real okra that represents the Pickled Okra brand?” It was probably four or five months until I started working with them. I ended up making earrings with the whole okra pod, sold the first few pairs around Festival International 2023, and the rest is history! I knew what I had created was original and sort of radical. So, I applied for Festivals Acadiens et Créoles 2023, made the last slot on the jurors’ list, and bought my dream truck (1975 Chevy Scottsdale in green) with the revenue from that festival. That was the event that set the tone for the future of my creative business. The birth of Pickled Okra Aesthetics signaled a shift in creative prowess, from vintage resell and styling to actually creating and producing things for people to wear.
THE PIECES THAT I PRODUCE AREN’T SIMPLY INSPIRED BY LOUISIANA’S NATURAL ENVIRONMENT—THEY ARE LOUISIANA’S NATURAL ENVIRONMENT. WILD, BOUNDLESS, AND FULL OF SOUL. HARVESTED FROM THE VERY LANDS OUR ANCESTORS TOILED. WHISPERING TALES OF PAST KNOWLEDGE, WAITING TO BE HEARD ONCE MORE. ”
Let’s talk about the rebrand—what provoked you to introduce Gombo Atelier?
What happened in between the birth of Pickled Okra Aesthetics and the re-brand were the hard moments of growing, figuring things out, artistic development, and making mistakes. But the real story starts at the culmination of Pickled Okra Aesthetics, which was marked with the realization that I (me, human Zozo) had become synonymous with “Pickled Okra.” People would refer to me as “Pickled Okra,” as if that was all that I was. My spirit had an extremely hard time with this, and it never sat right until I did something about it.
hfirst encountered Zozo Huval and Pickled Okra Aesthetics at Festivals Acadiens et Créoles in 2022— where I purchased an upcycled white button down they hhad painted over with, in thick, bold strokes, a rendering of okra. In the years to come, I'd encounter them again—at Pride celebrations in downtown Lafayette, at Festival International de Louisiane, at the farmer's market, selling a growing and evolving inventory of jewelry and accoutrements made from Louisiana flora and fauna. Alligator teeth necklaces, passion flower bolo ties, cicada wing earrings, and okra on everything. The designs are simple, preserving and showcasing the inherent intrigue and wonder of these objects so emblematic to our home and heritage. (This is not to mention the fact that Huval creates the most culturally inspired, mythically-attuned courir de Mardi Gras costumes I've ever seen.) Stepping into their booth, wherever they may be, there's a sense of mysticism, of tradition at its deepest well and pushed to its farthest limits. There are stories in Huval's products, each one of them, especially the okra. Earlier this year, they announced a rebrand—stepping beyond the l imitations of Pickled Okra and into a new era that better emcompasses all that is held in their creative practice. They call it: Gombo Atelier.
Relatively speaking, I’ve just really started building a relationship with my creative self. I’ve always had a knack for curating looks, particularly spaces, but earlier in 2022 I had started reselling and curating vintage. It was a way to explore creative expression again, to regain my creative senses. Fall came around and our local fall festival season is one of my favorite times of the year. I’ve been a part of the Blackpot Camp community for the past decade. I’m a natural supporter, so I’m always helping on the back-end of things. Now, the last day of camp is all about cleaning, organizing, and packin’ everything up before heading to the festival. That year, the bar had lost the top to their pickled okra jar, and they were talking about just tossing it. Oh boy howdy, did I have some choice words for them! I grabbed that jar of pickled okra faster than a steadfast buckin’ bronc and tucked
The more I processed that transitional era, the more I understood it all. My creativity is community—it is inspired and fueled by my creative friends who share their gifts with the world. My creativity is cultural—it is inherently aligned with the complexities that make up Louisiana’s (and the Deep South’s) cultural identities. My creativity is ancestral—it is directly derived from the soils and roots in which our past, present, and future exist. My creativity is me—I think of it as being a vessel of sorts; without me, it wouldn’t exist.
“Gombo,” derived from the Louisiana-French word for okra, symbolizes nourishment, community, and adaptability, while “Atelier,” French for studio, embodies collaboration, meticulous artistry, and bold expression. Together, these elements form a brand that celebrates the beauty of roots and the possibilities of reinvention.
Gombo Atelier embraces the unconventional and diverse paths through which individuals reclaim and celebrate their heritage—acknowledging that identity is not always linear or traditional but deeply personal and transformative. The result is wearable art that speaks to the soul, evokes memories, sparks dialogue, and creates a sense of belonging. At its core, Gombo Atelier is a celebration of remembering: the ordinary as the extraordinary, to play, to try new things, and to cherish tradition. It is a testament to the power of authentic expression, intuition, and storytelling—offering more than simple pieces; they are vessels of meaning, reflection, and connection.
My creativity represents the anthropological pillars of the Deep South: community, culture, and identity. Gombo Atelier captures the essence of my creativity in a holistic way that Pickled Okra Aesthetics would never have been capable of. This feels right, this is rite. Pickled Okra Aesthetics was needed, whereas Gombo Atelier was wanted. Maybe it’s the difference between merely surviving and really thriving, but who knows?
Zozo Huval, founder of Gombo Atelier. Photo by Olivia Perillo.
Handmade jewelry in South Louisiana
Elizabethan Gallery
Your oeuvre is tied together by a distinct regionality. These are art pieces of and inspired by Louisiana’s natural environments. What draws you to using organic or heirloom materials?
I've thought about this sequence—what comes first in my creative processing? Regionality over organic material or vice-versa?
I’ve always had this innate connection to Louisiana, albeit spiritual—cosmic really. Surely, my surname is from Breaux Bridge (that in-between prairie and swamp type of Louisiana region), but I didn’t grow up there. I’d always say I’m a bit of a “nowhere” man—I was born in Calcasieu parish, moved to Illinois when I was four, five years later moved to Wisconsin, moved to Texas five years after that. I went to high school just west of San Antonio, and right after high school I moved to Lafayette. Growing up, we’d always take a few family trips to Louisiana each year, usually for the winter holidays and for the Crawfish Festival. I always looked forward to those trips, because it felt like being home. I never knew how to describe the feeling as a young’un’ but it was intense, always intense. So, moving to Lafayette when I had nowhere else to go? My soul was comin’ on home.
Took me a good decade to settle in though—I had a helluva lot of healing to do before I was ready to see, understand, and use my creative gift. That started when I went back to finish my bachelor’s degree in anthropology. It was then that I was able to unravel and deconstruct the ideologies behind collective and autonomous identity (within a cultural sense). Geography plays an enormous role in how cultural identity is cultivated. Think of the words “prairie” and “swamp”—those words are loaded with so much cultural meaning, from foodways to language and music. Those cultural nuances are derived from the physical differences in their landscapes, from the actual soil they exist on. What was used in traditional foodways and medicines? Plants. And those plants? Regionally specific. Like how you’ll find horsetail rush (scouring-rush) in the swamp regions but not in the prairie, and how venéraire is known to only exist in specific prairie plots. This type of knowledge is culturally significant, or specific. And what better way to describe “something significant that is passed down from one generation to the next”? Heirloom. Now, you might think, “heirlooms are physical objects.” Yes, that is correct. But think of it abstractly for a hot second. How do these objects come into physicality? By creative ingenuity that is ignited by knowledge. How is knowledge of landscapes any different? Culture interacts with the environment around it to accomplish things in the physical (also spiritual, but that’s for another day) realm, those interactions are remembered, develop attachments, and are attributed cultural meaning. This type of knowledge isn’t just nice to have but absolutely necessary for the continuation of a community. If people of Louisiana never learned to use their native landscapes, how would they have fed, treated, and clothed themselves? Surely, we wouldn’t be here today had they not learned.
So, why okra/gombo?
In my opinion, okra is the epitome of Louisiana symbolism. Resilience, proliferation, perseverance, and sustenance—okra thrives in the heat of Louisiana’s dreadfully hot summers. One plant can produce more than enough okra for a few folk (I have twelve plants this season), and if a stalk is thrashed around in a hurricane, it’ll just start growing right-side-up from wherever it was laid down. Okra represents the dynamic and complex histories of Louisiana’s cultural fabric. A fella once told me a folktale of how okra came to Louisiana—by a victim of the Atlantic Slave Trade, hiding their very last okra seed underneath the nailbed of their fingernail to make sure they were able to plant an okra plant once they made landfall. That folktale alone shares themes of resilience, proliferation, perseverance, and sustenance without all too many words.
I’ve always had a connection with okra. I never really knew where it came from. One of my oldest tattoos is my okra, taken from my sketch book when I first moved to Lafayette. I’ve always grown it in my gardens, alongside cayenne pepper and loofah. Once, I did some academic digging on “okra” and discovered that okra/a is the word used to describe the soul aspect of human existence within the Akan culture. To put it simply (though this concept is far from simple), the Akan belief system attributes two parts to the physical self—breath and soul. English soul translates to Akan okra, with okra representing divine masculine and okraa representing divine feminine. Okra is the very essence of life, the very essence of spirituality. The Akan also believe that okra is cosmically connected to the ancestral realm. So, when I say this okra thing I have goin’ on is spiritual? I’m weirdly serious.
Photo courtesy of Zozo Huval.
For over
years, we’ve handcrafted bronze, sterling silver, and 14K gold jewelry in our South Louisiana studio using the ancient art of lost-wax casting. 541 S. EUGENE ST. BR, LA
Okra is intrinsically tied to Louisiana landscapes by familial connections to our native flora. Okra is in the malvaceae family—the same family as cotton, roselle, hibiscus, and mallow. Okra is not merely a staple of the South, but rather a vital link to our ancestral land. It holds fear, it holds love, it holds moments frozen in time. Okra makes our complex histories relatable and digestible in modern day Louisiana.
The pieces that I produce aren’t simply inspired by Louisiana’s natural environment—they are Louisiana’s natural environment. Wild, boundless, and full of soul. Harvested from the very lands our ancestors toiled. Whispering tales of past knowledge, waiting to be heard once more.
How do you “discover” and develop new products? What is that creative process like for you?
I’m an observer, a thinker, and a feeler. I wander and wonder a lot. It’s not so much about discovering as it is soulful listening. Listening with your soul is basically feeling, but amplified. Imagine using all of your senses simultaneously and processing them on an individual and collective level, but intertwining a critical consciousness to it all. Almost like going from three dimensions to four and having to make it all make sense. That’s what my creative brain is like.
What you might see as simply “spotted bee balm” (Monarda punctata), I see as a microcosm of divine design. Surely, I recognize the tiered sections that make up the “flower,” but I see the cluster layers as individuals. Getting deeper and closer, the clusters are made up of numerous minuscule pitcher-like flower heads, tightly packed together. They operate on a microscopic scale, each flower producing nectar, feeding the hungry pollinators; but collectively, they form this intricately beautiful inflorescence that provides such a rich source of life for an expansive list of insects. Bee balm has an intensely fragrant aroma, like wild mint met a whisper of citrus and sat down in the shade of a sunbaked cedar tree: cool, sharp, and just a little medicinal, like something the earth brewed up for its own healing. Now, bee balm might give off a frequency that humans can’t hear, but feeling the sense of sound is more about how the plant resonates with the environment around them. It’s about the way the landscape responds to its presence. The hums and buzzes and rustles chime into one another, creating a type of autonomous euphony.
My creative brain processes all of these concepts to assess the meaning and significance of certain things because, quite frankly, if it ain’t got soul I have absolutely no desire to work it into my collections. The significance of the flora or fauna inspires the
way it needs to be preserved, the type of design it needs to be, the final form it takes. Earrings are for the soul and mind connection, for memories and thoughts. Necklaces are for the feelings, for love and fear. Bolero ties are for the heart, for the confidence and acceptance of self.
When it comes to Monarda punctata, this plant is all soul and feeling—the way it provides for its visitors, feeding, hydrating, shading, healing. I work this plant into different earring and necklace designs, and they always sell themselves. I’m not in the business of convincing anyone to “like” my work. It’s a soul connection, really. We like to say to our clients: “Your okra chooses you.” Once you make that connection, it’s hard to forget about it.
My creativity is my soul’s purpose—divinely given. My creativity is cosmically aligned to provide a voice for the knowledge that is inherent in our landscapes. It’s merely a vessel for the stories that were left in the soil when the plants were uprooted for our culture to survive.
Knowledge of place is a long-forgotten heirloom of Louisiana’s collective identity. The land doesn’t forget, and my art serves to remind us of that. 1 gomboatelier.com
Photos by Zozo Huval.
Gulf Shores Goes Green
ON ALABAMA’S COAST, CUTTING-EDGE SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE IS RESHAPING TOURISM AS WE KNOW IT
Story by Kristy Christiansen
Aset of winding, metal stairs lead to a platform delicately perched among the pine trees at the Gulf Coast Eco Center in Gulf Shores, hAlabama. From here, harness-clad kids wait their turn to step out onto the high ropes course, both nervous and excited to maneuver their way across swinging bridges, scramble over interwoven rope nets, balance on log steps, and crawl through tunnels hanging in the trees. To them, the experience promises an exhilarating adventure, but the Eco Center staff and its designers believe that they’ll leave with something more: a new perspective on the natural environments of the Gulf South.
“The ropes course lets us teach nature and ecology from up high,” said Travis Langen, the Executive Director of the Gulf Coast Center for Ecotourism and Sustainability (GCCES), the nonprofit behind the Eco Center. The course is just one part of GCCES’s coordinated vision for a “laboratory” of ecological education and sustainable tourism.
The Eco Center, which opened in April 2025, acts as something of an extension of sustainability projects at the neighboring Gulf State Park—which altogether re-envision Gulf Shores’s unique place on the precipice of the environmental crisis as an opportunity for educational experiences and sustainable infrastructure.
All of these multi-million-dollar sites were made possible by RESTORE Act grants, allocated from penalties resulting from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and designated for ecosystem restoration and economic
recovery along the Gulf Coast. Because of these funds, a place once devastated by one of the biggest environmental disasters in modern history is now emerging as a leader in the world of ecotourism.
Gulf Coast Eco Center
Built on land owned by the City of Gulf Shores, the Gulf Coast Eco Center is wedged between Gulf Shores High School and Gulf State Park.
The twelve acre, biophilic, open-air campus—designed in a collaboration by Alabama firms ArchitectureWorks, WATERSHED, and Thompson Engineering—incorporates organic gardens, open-air classrooms, a making center, a bicycle hub, and more.
“We teach fruit and vegetable classes to get kids to eat new things,” said Langen, who leads the educational curriculums at the heart of the Center’s mission, developed as part of Jean-Michel Cousteau’s national Ambassadors of the Environment Programs. “We can pickles, dye t-shirts using a red dye from the cochineal insect that lives in cacti, have paper-making and candle-making [classes], and create beeswax wraps. It’s like a modern-day home ec class.”
On a tour of the complex, Langen emphasized how much of the natural area was conserved during construction of the Center’s campus. “We really wanted to feel integrated into nature, so we preserved a lot of the habitat space,” he noted, pointing to native trees that were saved, despite making construction more difficult.
The buildings themselves are designed to be respon-
sive to the surrounding environment itself, with windows situated to frame sweeping views; as well as deep porches, dog trots, and thermal chimneys allowing for comfort indoors with minimal need for air conditioners or heating units. Rainwater is captured and treated onsite and used to flush toilets. Because of these adaptations and others, the Eco Center’s designers are pursuing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification, as well as a FORTIFIED Commercial Silver certification—which recognizes constructions for their performance in resilience and sustainability.
Gulf State Park—The Lodge
Leading the sustainable tourism movement not only in Gulf Shores, but globally, is Gulf State Park and its Lodge—opened in 2018 and designed by Rabun Architects, WATERSHED, and Lake Flato Architects. Since then, the lodge has been recognized with certification from LEED, and has attained the first SITES (rating sustainable landscapes) and FORTIFIED certifications of a hospitality project in the world.
The building itself is a prime example of sustainable design, utilizing Gulf breezes for natural ventilation, conserving energy by cutting off air conditioning units when balcony doors are left open, and recycling condensation to replace the water in the pool. Outdoors, the landscaping was thoughtfully implemented as an effort to restore dune habitats.
“The Lodge is one of the most environmentally
Disclaimer: This trip was partially funded by Gulf Shores & Orange Beach Tourism, though the opinions of the writer are entirely her own and formed independently of this fact.
The Gulf State Park Interpretive Center, courtesy of Gulf State Park.
friendly in the world,” said Chandra Wright, Director of Environmental & Educational Outreach at Gulf State Park. “It’s built into the dune ecosystem, and a fortified building with respect to storms.”
Wright is also a team leader for the Alabama Coastal Foundation’s Share the Beach sea turtle nesting program, which helps locate and protect sea turtle nests and educates the public on ways to mitigate human-related impacts to their populations. One of the biggest challenges is protecting hatchlings from the effects of artificial light pollution, which can cause them to travel towards buildings and vehicles instead of the moon’s reflection in the Gulf waters. The Lodge, as well as a growing number of eco-conscious buildings in Gulf Shores, shields its beachside lights and uses warmer lighting, which the turtles can’t see.
Gulf State Park—Learning Campus
Across the sprawling state park, the 26,000-square-foot Learning Campus, also opened in 2018, further promotes ecotourism by offering immersive environmental learning opportunities for school groups, teachers, researchers, scouts, and nature enthusiasts. Its LEED Silver-certified facilities include an auditorium, classroom spaces, laboratories, Woodside Restaurant, and bunkhouses—all connected by boardwalks and screened porches. Designed by ArchitectureWorks using sustainable building practices, the campus was awarded the American Institute of Architects Alabama Design Honor Award in 2022.
Gulf State Park—Interpretive Center
Perhaps the most impressive building in Gulf State Park is the LEED Platinum-certified Interpretive Center, which holds the title of Alabama’s “Most Green Building.” Designed by ArchitectureWorks in collaboration with Hersick + Webster and Sasaki under the rigorous
standards of the Living Building Challenge, the Interpretive Center follows the certification program’s philosophy of being as efficient as a flower, striving to meet the seven performance areas known as Petals. It currently meets six—Place, Water, Energy, Materials, Equity, and Beauty—and is close to the seventh—Health & Happiness.
“Prior to 2004, this was a parking lot,” said Corey Bryan, Gulf State Park Learning Center’s Environmental, Sustainability, and Activities Manager, who explained the Interpretive Center’s path to becoming Petal-certified. “After Hurricane Ivan destroyed the parking lot, we set aside two acres for dunes and land for the Interpretive Center. We removed 15,000 square feet of asphalt to create a better environment and more opportunity to restore the dune system.”
Opened in 2018, the Interpretive Center was built 225 feet back from the coast so a secondary dune system could be established with the help of discarded Christmas trees placed along the beach. The Center itself, which includes an interpretive exhibit porch that describes the state park’s nine different ecosystems, also has a kids’ hydrology maze for hands-on learning to show how sand helps slow erosion.
Everything here serves a purpose, such as attractive linked chains replacing pipes to guide rainwater down into a basin that leads to an 11,000-gallon cistern. Bryan described how upwards of 200,000 gallons of water are collected each year, then sent through six different filters before the clean water comes out in fountains, sinks, and the hydrology play tank. Composting toilets use a foam flush, and the contaminated water, or leachate, enters a tank underneath, where it converts into a form of fertilizer over the course of several years.
The sun powers the entire building, with solar panels gathering 105 percent of the energy needed. The extra power is saved in batteries and sent back to the local
power grid. And all building materials were sourced from within a 500-mile radius, a difficult task considering the entire southern side is Gulf waters.
“We also can’t have anything on the red list that has chemicals, like PVC pipe or creosote-treated wood,” said Bryan, noting that this is what caused them to miss their target on the seventh Petal of Health and Happiness. “We salvaged a lot of the wood and think some of the glue wasn’t one of the approved. There is very little allowed, and we’re right at the threshold. We’re hoping the next air quality test will fall within range, but it’s still really cool to get six of the seven.”
In addition to building greener, the State Park has eliminated single-use plastic products on the property, uses only biodegradable and recyclable materials, and encourages non-motorized travel through a free bike share program.
If you go:
Where to Stay: The Gulf State Park has a variety of overnight accommodations, including at the lodge, in cabins, or in cottages. You can also book a private beach house just outside the park with Harris Vacations—a nice option for those wanting to enjoy both the tranquility of Gulf State Park and the many activities in Gulf Shores.
Where to eat: At the Original Oyster House, you can make your own cocktail sauce and feast on three kinds of chargrilled oysters, all with a stunning view of the marsh. Or, make an evening out of it at Tee Off at the Wharf, a TopGolf Swing Suite, where you can compete in various virtual games while munching on wings, dips, and other shareables. 1
Story by Shanna Beck Perkins • Photos by Paul Kieu
Thhe drive to La Maison de L’Église feels like so many Sunday trips to church, pot-hole freckled roads winding between crawfish ponds. Then, there it is: nestled near the main road, looking as if it’s ready to welcome the congregation.
But upon closer inspection, there’s a dissonance about it all: a blush pink door and matching shutters, finishes that lean slightly more cottage than cathedral. Inside, sunlight filters through stained glass, but instead of playing on pews, it illuminates an eclectic arrangement of antique furniture and stunningly modern finishes.
A sense of spirituality remains, though—the space invites its guests to rest and reflect, to pursue peace and comfort. Formerly known as Iota United Methodist, the historic church has been thoughtfully transformed into this serene and architecturally reverent overnight stay in Iota, Louisiana.
The building’s origins go back to December 6, 1901, when the infamous politician C.C. Duson—who is credited with founding the town of Iota—donated the land to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, which built a church there. In 1938, congregants built a new structure using salvaged materials from the original one. The church was active until 2015, when attendance eventually waned enough to warrant official closure. It was only two years later that Rebecca Smith and her son Adam purchased the vacant building in their hometown. “The
people in the community thought we were crazy,” Smith laughed. “I thought I was crazy, too.”
In the midst of remodeling the building themselves, rewiring everything, installing plumbing—“because there was no plumbing”—Smith remembers looking at Adam and asking, “What have we done?” In response, he shook his head and said, “We done gone too far to turn back now, Tom Sawyer.”
When they purchased it, the back of the church was a vast, hollow shell, an open area lined with Celotex ceiling tiles and a dramatically sunken foundation.
“I must’ve pulled a million staples out of that ceiling,” Smith recalled. With painter’s tape and a vision, she began sketching out walls where there were none. And slowly, the interior began to take shape. The rear of the building, once a footand-a-half lower than the front, had to be raised. A narrow, sloping hallway was replaced with a wider, leveled corridor.
Though she did consider making a home in the church, Smith’s motivation was always to simply preserve it. “I just didn’t want it turning into something that wouldn’t suit the town,” she said.
During the renovation, a steady presence often stopped by to check in: her longtime friend Brenda Frisard, a retired postmaster and private investigator who has flipped six properties of her own. Frisard loved watching the transformation unfold and saw the beauty in every step.
So, when Smith eventually decided that the church was too much space for her to use for herself, she placed a call
to Frisard to see if she was interested in buying it. The rest is history.
When Frisard swings open the rosehued door to greet her guests, she moves through the space with the ease of someone who has known it in every season, noting each nook and cranny with a kind of tender affection that feels contagious.
The sanctuary-turned-living room retains its open sweep, a space you can almost navigate by memory if you’ve spent any time in an old country church. There are no pews to wind through now, only antique settees, soft rugs, and the warm glow of crystal lamps. You can still feel the quiet gravity of what this room once held, a lingering in the air of familiarity and closeness. Evidence of that past is preserved in a treasured scrapbook Frisard keeps on display, its pages brimming with snapshots of fellowship and potlucks, baptisms and bridal showers. “They were a close-knit group,” she mused, gently flipping through photos of smiling faces in their Sunday best.
Throughout the space, there are tender nods to the building’s past. In one of the bathrooms, framed hymnal pages from the original church adorn the wall. Elsewhere, furnishings and fixtures, racks, windows, and woodwork have either been preserved or thoughtfully reimagined. The walls, original and imperfect, have been allowed to speak for themselves: seafoam green mingles with natural wood grain, darkened by age in certain places. The design choices are so seamless it’s hard to tell what was preserved from the building’s former life and what has been reinvented.
Even the guest rooms reflect the church’s history, each named for someone who shaped its century-long story. There’s the Duson Room, honoring C.C. Duson, who donated the original lot in 1901 where the first Methodist church in Iota was built. The Hayes Room pays
tribute to Mrs. Martha Hayes and her family, who helped keep the church going during its toughest years following World War I. And, of course, the Smith Suite. “Rebecca and Adam put a lot of heart and soul into this house,” Frisard says of the honor.
That deep sense of care isn’t lost on the community, members of whom Frisard describes as her biggest supporters. “I’ve hosted many families who moved away and always come back to visit,” said Frisard. Charleen Precht, who joined the church at just twelve years old, recently stayed at La Maison de lÉglise with her two sisters, also former members, and a group of cousins. “We had an absolute blast,” she recalled of the trip. Walking into the space, she was immediately flooded with memories, down to the exact pew where her family sat every Sunday. “It’s hard to imagine … now the altar is a [coffee] bar,” she laughed. “But I’m so happy Brenda has turned it into such a beautiful space. People love to come and be there.”
Guests have come from as far as Germany—each one finding something hauntingly beautiful in the historic space—and in some cases, simply haunting. Frisard laughed as she shared stories of four different guests who’ve reported unusual experiences: doors opening on their own, footsteps echoing down empty hallways, and the sound of muffled voices when no one else was around. She typically responds, “Baby, it’s an old house. It’s going to make noise.” Frisard believes that whatever energy lingers here is at peace, and welcomes guests.
“I think that if these church walls could talk, they would say, ‘Thank you for all of the hard work.’ And if there are any spirits here, I know they’re happy.” 1
Details at the "Maison de l'Église" Facebook page.
La Maison de l'Église, a bed and breakfast in Iota, Louisiana that was once the historic Iota United Methodist church.
More Saintly Stays
In a landscape as spiritually and architecturally rich as South Louisiana, an increasing number of deconsecrated churches are attracting the eye of hobby renovators and interior designers, who are transforming them into inspired overnight accomodations for visitors to the region. Here are a few of our favorites.
"A Church in St. Martinville" / Airbnb
St. Martinville; two bedrooms, 1.5 baths
Once a small-town church, this circa-1904 rustic retreat now welcomes guests with soaring ceilings, repurposed pews, and stained glass touches that nod to its spiritual past. A moody, slightly gothic charm runs through the space, where antique furnishings and weathered wood create a setting that's both cozy and soulful.
This circa-1843 home is owned by famed actor and playwright (most famously, of Hedwig & the Angry Itch) John Cameron Mitchell. Since the 1930s, the Italianate house, which also has a ballroom, served as St. John’s Catholic Church, as well as a meeting house for Seventh Day Adventists, a mortuary, a Baptist mission, and the secret society of Ordo Templi Orientis. In Mitchell’s hands, the Art Nouveau elegance fuses with rock-and-roll flair, creating a bold, expressive space. Stained glass and graceful arches set the stage for velvet textures, moody lighting, and vintage decor that joins the theatrical with the indulgently offbeat.
"Pastor’s Apartment in Deconsecrated Church" / Airbnb & VRBO
New Orleans; two bedrooms, two baths
Tucked behind a circa-1907 castle-like former church building (now used for commercial spaces) in New Orleans’ Marigny neighborhood, this former pastor’s apartment offers a hidden, garden-framed retreat. Enter through an arched cedar doorway and discover a cozy, eclectic space where original architecture meets relaxed comfort. Sliding glass doors and lush greenery lend the apartment a peaceful, almost cloistered charm.
"Gorgeous studio in a converted 19th Century Church" / Airbnb
New Orleans; one bed, one bath
This nineteenth-century converted church studio in New Orleans’s Irish Channel offers a soulful blend of historic architecture and irreverent charm. Once home to Bishop Lester Love’s City of Love Ministries, the space now features exposed cedar beams, original arched windows, and eclectic interiors that nod to both Southern Gothic and French-Caribbean influences. Once a stage for sermons, the sanctuary now hosts yoga three times a week, drawing a mix of creatives. Whether you're soaking in the moody light of a martini-olive green wall or flipping through art books in the reverend’s former sitting room, this retreat invites guests to experience the city’s layered, living history—and to become part of it.
Hotel Peter and Paul
New Orleans; single bed (full, queen, and king), twin bunk & double queen options
This boutique hotel is housed within a 5,000 square-foot deconsecrated and totally restored nineteenth-century Catholic campus in New Orleans's Marigny neighborhood. The property includes the church, schoolhouse, rectory, and convent, all thoughtfully transformed into stylish guest spaces. Infusing historic charm with modern comfort, the hotel offers a serene retreat just steps from the vibrant energy of Frenchmen Street. hotelpeterandpaul.com.
Brenda Frisard, flipping through a scrapbook gifted to her by a former congregant of the Iota United Methodist church—which she now operates as a bed and breakfast.
DIRECTORY OF MERCHANTS
Akers, LA
Middendorf’s 32
Avery Island, LA
Tabasco Brand 45
Baton Rouge, LA
AllWood Furniture 6
Alzheimer’s Service of the Capital Area 14
Baton Rouge Epicurean Society 20
Becky Parrish Advanced Skincare 57
Blue Cross Blue Shield 18
BREADA- Main Street Market 43
East Baton Rouge Parish Library 60
Elizabethan Gallery 50
LASM 36
Louisiana Public Broadcasting 57
LSU College of Art and Design 53
LSU Museum of Art 5
Mimosa Handcrafted 50
Ochsner Medical Center of Baton Rouge 3
Old State Capitol 34
Window World 22
Brookhaven, MS
Brookhaven Tourism Council 51
Cleveland, MS
Visit Cleveland 17
Hammond, L A Tangipahoa Parish CVB 59
Har vey, LA Vicari Auction Company 23
Indianola, MS BB King Museum 13 Jackson, MS National Folk Festival 2
Lafayette, L A AllWood Furniture 6 J & J Exterminating 4 8
Mandeville, L A Visit the Northshore 16
Mansura, L A
Avoyelles Commission of Tourism 40
Morgan City, LA
Cajun Coast CVB 53
Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival 21
Natchez, MS
Natchez Convention Promotion Commission 55
Natchez Pilgrimage Tours 33 Y’all Means All 23, 55
Natchitoches, L A
Francisville, LA
LA City of New Roads
New Orleans, LA New Orleans Ballet Association 15 Stafford Tile and Stone 29
Opelousas, L A St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission 46 Plaquemine, L A Iberville Parish Tourism Department 12 Port Allen, LA West Baton Rouge CVB 19 West Baton Rouge Museum 46 Ridgeland, MS Explore Ridgeland 30
Francisville Food and Wine Festival
Southern Garden Symposium
The Conundrum Books & Puzzles 25 The Lodge at the Bluffs 9 The Myrtles / Restaurant 1796 25 Town of St. Francisville 24
Walker Percy Weekend 24, 57 West Feliciana Historical Society 25 West Feliciana Parish Tourism Commission 24
11 college football teams. 6 conferences. 1 state. A new weekly sports show from LPB.
Premiering Saturday, August 30 at 10AM & Sunday, August 31 at 6PM
Thurs., August 14 at 7PM
Wed., August 20 at 7PM
www.lpb.org
Sponsored by Tangipahoa Parish Tourism
PERSPECTIVES: ART OF OUR STATE
The House that Hopkins Built
IN
ART AND INTERIORS,
ANDREW LAMAR HOPKINS IS A REANIMATOR OF CULTURAL MEMORY
Story by Cayman Clevenger
In a world dominated by millennial gray, flat-screen TVs, and fleeting trends, Andrew LaMar Hopkins, an hartist and antiquarian, is a defiant exception. His rooms, like his renowned paintings, don’t whisper; they serenade. Rich, detailed, and immersive, his interiors feel as though they’ve slipped from a more grand and beautiful time.
Step inside one of Hopkins’s spaces—whether it be his 1830s Royal Street apartment, his Savannah pied-à-terre, or even a borrowed Airbnb in the Marais in Paris—and you’re transported not just to another era, but to a wholly different way of seeing. In Hopkins’s world, every object holds lineage, every brushstroke carries archival weight, and beauty is inseparable from history. It’s a continuous thread, stitched by a master conjurer: part historian, part designer, part visionary Creole storyteller.
Born in Mobile, Alabama, Hopkins grew up in a 1970s ranch-style house where modern furniture coexisted with nineteenth century heirlooms inherited from women in his family who had served wealthy white households. “There was always something old with a story,” he recalls. “That mix of modern and antique made me who I am.”
Before most kids mastered riding a bike, Hopkins was frequenting Mobile’s antique shops, charming dealers into teaching him about Empire and Federal styles and investing his allowance in battered porcelain and frames. “I’ve always wanted to live surrounded by the past,” he said.
That early passion for history led Hopkins to his first career as an antique dealer. In his early twenties, he co-founded a store on Magazine Street in New Orleans called Antiquités Les Olivier, eponymous of a storied Creole family whose portraits he adored and visited at the Historic New Orleans Collection. His hand-painted rendering of the Olivier sisters even served as the shop sign. He says the store represented “all I ever wanted; a beautiful home filled with the things I love.”
When the antiques market saw a drop, Hopkins, a self-taught artist since childhood, began painting more, visualizing stories he couldn’t find in textbooks, stories of the Louisiana Creole people—free, often wealthy people of color in the nineteenth century who frequently owned real estate and lived in and around New Orleans.
Painting primarily in acrylic on canvas, often in miniature, Hopkins brings to life this rich, multiracial, multilingual culture. His work masterfully captures and reimagines Creole life, presenting it
through bold colors and obsessive detail that blends architectural and historical precision with his own personal identity. His outsider folk art style nods to Clementine Hunter and Horace Pippin, but his work is uniquely his own. It’s cultural reclamation, revealing the elegance, complexity, and diversity of the Creole narrative with a contemporary twist— unapologetically lush and whimsical, yet historically anchored.
It wasn’t long before collectors started noticing. Eventually, the shop gave way to the road, Hopkins pursuing art fairs and antique shows alike, while nurturing
vendors, calas sellers, and artists outside St. Louis Cathedral capture a moment in time in the history of Black Louisiana. It’s a story that has largely gone untold, until now. This work has secured him prominent national and international gallery representation in Paris, Milan, Los Angeles, New York, and New Orleans (including at Orleans Gallery, which—full disclosure—this author owns).
Hopkins draws on his background as an antiquarian and self-taught historian. His paintings are filled with period interiors, rendered with radiant precision, whether it be the inlay of a cypress ar-
an emerging painting practice that ultimately catapulted him from the Tremé to the front page of The New York Times in 2020. That same year, the National Gallery in Washington D. C. acquired his self-portrait as “Désirée Joséphine Duplantier”—an alter ego he adopts in both his paintings and his life, blurring the lines between performance, identity, and history. In the summer of 2022, Hopkins earned further acclaim when a prestigious show at Stanford White’s Isaac Bell House in Newport, Rhode Island, featured “Creole Brother and Sister,” a portrait of children painted into a background of luxurious wallpaper holding a book, indicating their wealth, education, and social status.
Hopkins acts as a reanimator of cultural memory. His paintings of praline
moire, the bricks on a historic building, or the clothing of a Creole free woman of color. Inspiration for his artworks draws heavily on death inventories, family archives, and the collective spirit of the Gulf Coast. “When people died in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Louisiana, they left incredibly detailed inventories,” Hopkins explains, “down to the twelve pairs of socks in the upper drawer of a worn cypress armoire.”
From these records, Hopkins reconstructs entire worlds, both on canvas and inside his homes—his art practice and his interior design sensibility inseparable. Among his collection are antique faience apothecary jars and French confit pots—vessels not only displayed in his home but also immortalized in his paintings. And like his paintings, his interiors
bristle with giltwood frames, silk upholstery, cypress and mahogany furniture, and Old Paris porcelain. “I don’t just make up rooms,” he says. “I recreate what was.”
But Hopkins doesn’t just display his antiques, he lives with them. If you’re lucky enough to attend one of his famed soirées or Holy Thursday gatherings, you’d get a peek into his world: gumbo Z’herbes warmed on the stove, served in the same porcelain that graces his canvases and always a marvelous dessert with "real French champagne."
As such, Hopkins’s homes function as living tableaux—repositories of Creole material culture and expressions of his aesthetic worldview. “I don’t do comfortable,” he laughs. “I do beautiful.” Friends know better than to question the dainty, period-upholstered furniture or the impractically petite Louisiana beds.
“People sat on this furniture for 200 years,” he says. “If it was good enough for aristocrats, kings, and queens, it’s good enough for you.”
Hopkins’s encyclopedic knowledge of antique forms is matched by his ability to breathe life into them. “A great house evolves,” he says. “You move in with a few things from the 1820s, add treasures from the 1850s, and one day realize— this is how people lived. Not a Pinterest board, but layered, personal, lived-in.”
Standouts from his collection include tortoiseshell boulle cabinets, Louisiana cypress armoires, Parisian Empire clocks, 1830s pianofortes, and hundreds of pieces of Old Paris porcelain, sourced from estate sales in the Garden District of New Orleans, brocantes (or flea markets) in France, and auctions worldwide.
But amidst his maximalist interiors, the crown jewels of Hopkins’s spaces remain his paintings, which are masterclasses in visual storytelling. He and his artwork are not concerned with trends or conventions: he resurrects history, reclaims beauty, and invites the world to join him. In each piece, Hopkins illuminates histories of Creoles, free people of color, and LGBTQ+ life in the antebellum South. He renders this life in exquisite, historic detail and thus reclaims the past, daring the rest of us to catch up.
When asked, “What’s next?”, Hopkins responds: “I see high-end scarves, luxury bags, my paintings on silk and leather walking down Madison Avenue. I want a Creole artist in Bergdorf’s.”
In an era obsessed with speed and novelty, Hopkins offers something singular in life and art: a world where time slows, rooms sing, and beauty is always on display. 1
Andrew LaMar Hopkins. “New Orleans Creole Guitarist.”
