When it came time for the artist/furniture designer to turn her eclectic eye to her own home, it’s no surprise that she chose a palette of multi-colored hues – an explosion of color bursting with a life of its own. And where better than the home of Mardi Gras to create her perfectly fantastic funhouse of fabulousness?

Though the outside of the enigmatic artist’s home may appear somewhat traditional with its shuttered white doors and painted brick facade, this epitome of a classic 1920s New Orleans home contains a riot of color on the inside. It’s like stepping into a Skittles ad, but instead of tasting the rainbow, guests can feast their eyes on a veritable treasure trove of amazing art and vibrant decor that’s bright, bold, and beautiful.

To create the home of her dreams, Longshore collaborated with Memphis-based designer Gwen Driscoll, herself known for pushing the envelope with interiors that offer the perfect balance of classically modern features and standout statement-making pieces that wow. And Driscoll was certainly up to the task, somehow managing to make Longshore’s vast collection of eclectic art fit perfectly into a design scheme meant to be welcoming and ready to party.

Though much of Longshore’s art is one-of-a kind, she didn’t want the atmosphere to be too precious to pop corks and party hearty. She wanted a space that was both functional and lived-in – elegantly-styled yet ready to host all kinds of gatherings. In other words, the ideal New Orleans party house.

In a recent interview with Architectural Digest, Longshore talked about her love for the city (where she’s been a resident for almost 15 years), and her desire to craft a home teeming with verve and artistic energy. She says: “I think the main thing that’s so appealing about New Orleans is how the city really celebrates the arts…but also [here] nobody really needs a reason to celebrate. Just waking up in the morning is one, and I just love that vein of optimism and creativity.”

That distinctive “vein of optimism and creativity” is evident in almost every room: from the floor-to-ceiling smorgasbord of patterns and colors in the breakfast room, complete with dramatic chandelier, banana-wallpapered ceiling, and bubblegum pink curtains, to the brilliant kitchen space with cobalt blue countertops and a terrazzo floor that’s a madcap mosaic of color, Longshore’s home is a delight to behold.

Not surprisingly, Longshore has already hosted her fair share of soirees in her New Orleans haven that she describes as “a very inviting home that makes you want to celebrate” – and with Mardi Gras fast approaching on March 1st, this party palace will undoubtedly be the site of some of the most raucous (and colorful!) gatherings in the entire Big Easy.

Photos courtesy of Paul Costello

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“Last year I made a bunch of origami flowers that kiddo and I passed out to people while we wandered around the French Quarter,” Boudreaux tweeted on November 17th, 2020. “Tempted to continue the theme, turn the whole house into a flower float, and pass out flowers to the neighbors while I drink all day.”

A few hours later, she was resolute. “It’s decided. We’re doing this. Turn your house into a float and throw all the beads from your attic at your neighbors walking by. #mardigras2021.” After posting her plans on Facebook, it took less than two days for her to gain 1,000 new followers.

“Everyone loved the idea and wanted to jump in to make their own house floats,” she explains. “A shop owner decided to call her theme Yardi Gras, and it just exploded from there.”

Boudreaux has since decorated her own abode in the Algiers Point neighborhood, calling it the “USS Home Float” with life preservers, nautical flags, and a jumbo ship steering wheel. Fittingly, she has been dubbed the “Admiral” in her role as krewe leader.

To date, there are 3,000 festooned dwellings listed on the Krewe of House Floats website. Among them are yards with giant jesters and almost life-sized dinosaurs in Mardi Gras garb. One residence honors the late Chef Leah Chase, while another gives tribute to singer Dr. John. Another features a huge Jeopardy! board, paying homage to host Alex Trebek who passed away in 2020. Dolly Parton and Bernie Sanders (with oven mitts standing in for his signature pair) are also subjects of home floats.

The “Yardi Gras” idea has been a godsend for New Orleans’ local craftsmen and women. Since the pandemic hit, many have struggled to find work, especially since the parade cancelation. Now there is a once again high demand for artisans who can work in paper maché, cardboard, and glitter to create the elaborate displays throughout the city.

“I’ve gotten messages from artists and businesses who said, ‘We didn’t know how we were going to get through this year,” Boudreaux says. “The fact that house floats exist, they’re keeping the Mardi Gras economy afloat.”

After getting flack for inviting tourists to still visit during a modified-celebration, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell pulled back, announcing that bars would be closed across the city on Fat Tuesday and packaged liquor sales would be banned in the French Quarter. High-Traffic areas, like Bourbon Street, would be closed from 7 P.M. to 3 A.M. to discourage gatherings.

Boudreaux stresses that the Krewe of House Floats is a strictly social-distanced event.

“The pandemic is raging throughout the whole country. It would be irresponsible of us to say, ‘Yeah, please come visit New Orleans,'” she explains. “We want people to be safe.” To help more people enjoy the event, the website includes a map of participating houses, including pictures, allowing out-of-towners to tour the neighborhoods virtually.

Asked about whether the stationary floats will continue into 2022, Boudreaux says, “At this point, it’s my baby. We might not get thousands of house floats, but I think it will continue. My feeling is, ‘Why not pull out all the stops?”

The post In the Era of COVID-19, Mardi Gras Spirit Lives on in “House Floats” first appeared on Dornob.

So-called ‘shotgun houses’ are said to be called such thanks to their straight nature, referencing not the long barrel, however, but the ability of shells to shoot through from front to back. In a tradition of Southern space-saving simplicity, this reinvigorated historic style skips halls to create a cozy series of rooms on thin little lots. (Above images by Mario Tama & Michael Eastman)

The contemporary example featured in this FairCompanies video came about when a world-traveling family returned home wanting to live free of a mortgage from day one, but without sacrificing essential amenities.

With 320 square feet (costing just $15,000 dollars) one might be surprised to still find a washer and dryer, lofted kids’ bedroom and a half-dozen guest sleeping spaces (from fold-out mattresses to transforming sofas).

While some have since been remodeled to include passageways between primary spaces, the lack of halls remains a hallmark (if you will) of the original intent, preserved by many owners of old originals as well as local builders today.

Native to states like Texas, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana, it is perhaps no surprise that in the wake of Hurricane Katrina many proposals for rebuilding New Orleans involved modern variants on this historic regional vernacular – simple construction for small lots means quicker, cheaper and easier-to-build housing.

More details from Southern Living

“The shotgun house style originated in Haiti, where enslaved West Africans built similar dwellings based on the architecture in their homeland. Many enslaved and free Africans eventually moved from Haiti to New Orleans, bringing the building style with them. Because shotgun houses were most common in working-class neighborhoods in Southern cities, they became associated with poverty by the middle of the 20th century and weren’t very popular. In recent years, however, preservationists have reignited interest in the unique house style, working to restore these historic homes and their surrounding neighborhoods.”

The post A New Orleans Classic, Historic Shotgun Houses Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Hallways first appeared on Dornob.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, many houses were left – abandoned to the elements and beyond the possibility of repair. One group of artists, however, have found a way to reuse these deserted spaces in artistic ways – creating new spatial experiences around and within what were otherwise depressingly doomed structures.

In a way, these houses and stores are being treated with more reverence now than ever before – a respectful intervention that addresses issues of sustainability, reuse, disastrous events and community evolution.

In New Orleans, KKProjects took over “six previously abandoned structures: a former bakery, a storefront, and four 1800s houses” and turned them into “art projects involving the greater social ecosystem … to cultivate creativity and inspire the hearts, minds, and economy of the St Roch neighborhood and its visitors.”

The result is pretty thought-provoking, loaded with the weight of all that transpired after the hurricane swept through and the levees broke. The creator of the project says the neighborhood was barely standing due to abandonment after the storm. Running through it, intentionally or not, is also a sense of foreboding about the changes that are inevitably coming to the area, especially with post-storm gentrification.

“Agendas in general don’t work,” says Kirsha Kaechele, who runs the art program KKProjects, in a feature in Interview Magazine. “The agenda is a thing that is perpetually destroyed. But through that destruction, something really interesting comes up. I don’t even know what this project is, really, but it is a way to continue with this practice of expanding, of going into your fear and not languishing in comfort while creating some semblance of an ordered life, and a life’s work. But now the next frontier seems to be the uptown elite.”

Adaptive reuse of a kind, these buildings now have a sort of second life – lit up and reorganized to open up new conversations with the local community as well as the broader world of art and design.

The post Art Installations in Post-Katrina Houses first appeared on Dornob.