Celeste Landing

Located in the vibrant Lower Garden District of New Orleans, Celeste Landing is a transformative multifamily development that combines historic preservation with contemporary design to create much-needed affordable housing. This project breathes new life into a historic three-story masonry warehouse, originally constructed in the early 20th century, and expands it with a thoughtfully designed three-story addition. Together, the revitalized structure and addition will provide 46 affordable one- and two-bedroom apartments for families earning at or below 80% of the area median income.

The renovation of the existing 17,000 sq. ft. warehouse preserves its unique architectural character while adapting the building for modern living. Key historic features, including the robust masonry facade, original wood windows, exposed beams, and columns, are carefully preserved, honoring the building’s legacy. Inside, the spaces are reimagined to offer contemporary comfort while maintaining the building’s historic charm.

The project also includes the construction of a 22,000 sq. ft., three-story addition, which will add 28 affordable housing units. Designed to complement the original warehouse, the addition mirrors its height, massing, and window placement, while incorporating a more modern interpretation of the structure’s aesthetic. This thoughtful design approach ensures visual cohesion across the site, maintaining harmony between the old and new.

The completed Celeste Landing will offer a mix of one- and two-bedroom units, each designed with an emphasis on functionality, comfort, and accessibility. Expansive common areas are integrated into the design to foster a strong sense of community, providing residents with spaces to socialize, relax, and connect.

This project not only addresses the growing demand for affordable housing in New Orleans but also enhances the neighborhood with a sustainable, forward-thinking approach to urban design. Through the adaptive reuse of a historic building, Celeste Landing offers both a modern living experience and a lasting tribute to the area’s architectural heritage.

Bayou Blue Retreat House

The Bayou Blue Retreat House is located on an approximately 3.75 acre site adjacent to a canal that ties into nearby Bayou Blue in South Louisiana’s “Bayou Country”. The owner’s main desire for the project was to have a secondary residence where the family could withdraw from their everyday life in an informal, relaxing setting, while having the potential in the future to downsize from their current primary residence during retirement. A master plan was developed to maximize the potential of the site through landscaping to highlight certain views and to create a formal landscaping design that complements the home. Since the husband is an avid gardener, areas of the site were set aside for a future fruit tree orchard and raised planter edible garden. The entry sequence from the road to the home allows the owner and visitors to begin the process of relaxation as they move through the fruit tree orchard and the trees surrounding the home.

The house is sited in the center of the property to take advantage of views to the back of the site while also providing privacy. The house is divided into two programmatic pods that house the private and public functions of the house which are connected by a central foyer and screened-in porch that aligns with an axial view to the rear of the property. The public pod is comprised of one large open space that contains the kitchen, dining, and living areas. A wall of windows and a linear porch with a deep overhang and louvered shading runs along the length of the northwest façade to maximize views and light entering the space while shading the façade from direct sunlight. The private pod contains the bedrooms and other support spaces for the home and is anchored by the garage. The entry sequence of the home includes a private, landscaped courtyard that is created by the juxtaposition of the two pods.

The aesthetic of the house is one of modern, clean, and simple design. The limited material palette on the exterior, comprised of fiber cement siding and panels, western red cedar, and standing seam metal panels, along with the roof forms, creates a contemporary look while responding to the regional South Louisiana vernacular. The interior of the home continues this modern aesthetic and creates an ideal environment for the owner’s art collection through a minimal palette of finishes that is contrasted and enhanced by the wood tones of the contemporary millwork. The house incorporates several active and passive sustainable strategies that increases the energy efficiency of the house, including a solar panel array, tankless water heater, Energy Star appliances, spray foam insulation, an unvented insulated crawlspace, the arrangement of openings, and various shading strategies to minimize solar heat gain.

Chauvin Residence and Addition

On a picturesque site, among a group of 100 year old oak trees, the house is set approximately 200 yards from a country road. In response to hot, humid south Louisiana climate, the house is oriented on an east west axis, minimizing solar gain. Large veranda type porches line the north and south facades while awning louvers and overhangs provide shading for windows. Spaces within the house are separated and connected by transparent bridges, creating three individual building functions. The center, or main house form, houses kitchen, dining and living, with office and workout space in a second floor loft.The east pod houses the master suite while a guest suite and open air garage are located within the west. The spaces within the house are open to one another and communicate around a framework of exposed southern yellow pine structure. Hardwood floors are used throughout the house. A free standing masonry tower fireplace marks the separation between the living area and the master suite. In 2006, the Chauvins were pleasantly surprised to welcome the addition of a child to their family. Because children were not originally anticipated, the nearest second bedroom was originally located on the extreme opposite side of the house.

The couple needed the nursery to be closer in proximity to the master suite. the design team was asked to design an addition to the house for a new master suite that was a continuation on the existing axial pod theme. In this case however, the addition became an exclamation to a sentence. The existing master suite became the nursery and the existing walk-in closet became a library and bridge connection to the new suite. The new addition contains a generous seating area within the bedroom space, two walk-in closets, and a master bath space. A linear cupola allows for a continuation of the master suite spaces. Exposed beams and diagonal braces continue the detailing from the main house into the addition. Ample amounts of glass open views out to the picturesque property.

Duvic Residence

The Duvic Residence is located in a residential neighborhood in Slidell, Louisiana, along Bayou Bonfouca. The site has two existing boat slips with access to the bayou and two Live Oak trees along the east and west edges of the property.

The site’s elevation is approximately 7’-0″ above sea level, and the base flood elevation is approximately 12’-0″.With the property being in a flood zone, the owners wanted to raise the house’s first floor above the base flood elevation and create guest parking on the ground floor. Although the house needed to be raised at least 8’-0″ to fit a garage underneath the first floor, the owners wanted to minimize the look of a raised house. This led to the idea of building the landscape up towards the front of the site and creating a crawl space with wood slats around the perimeter so that the house appears to only be raised 5’-6″ from the street, while the south side of the house conceals a two-car garage, an outdoor terrace facing the bayou, and a stair and elevator tower that connect the ground floor with the first floor of the house. This wood slat look is also attributed to the West Indies architectural style that the owners desired.

The residence is arranged in three living pods that are oriented around the bayou. The west pod is an outdoor party room that functions as an outdoor kitchen and game room for the family. The central pod is two floors that house the living spaces, including the kitchen, dining room, living room, office, 3 bedrooms, and 3-1/2 baths. The east pod contains the master suite, including a large master closet and bathroom.

The front entrance to the house features a large stair and a north-facing front porch, while the back of the house features a south-facing porch off the dining room with views of Bayou Bonfouca.

Kopfler Residence

In 2004, Holly and Smith Architects assisted Dr. Will Kopfler with the design of their Cardiology Clinic in Hammond, La. In 2007, H/S was asked again to assist, but this time with their house in southern Ponchatoula, La. The Kopflers obtained a large wooded piece of property along Selzers Creek. The site contained an existing pond which was being fed by a flow well which was installed by the previous property owners. The house is sited to take advantage of the views to the creek and pond. Because the area is prone to flooding, the entire structure is raised approximately 10’ off the ground and positioned atop the highest point available on the site. The plan parti utilizes a successful strategy, first used by H/S with the Chauvin house, of separate pod structures.

These pods separate main programatic functions along a center spine which is connected with transparent bridges. Because the house is raised off the ground, the owners and H/S agreed that a well pronounced entrance was crucial otherwise visitors might mistakenly attempt to enter at the ground level. Therefore the first of the pod elements is the entry porch and stair. This open air pavillion is connected to the next pod, the Main house, with an open bridge to the front door. The main house pod contains the garage and game room at the ground level and the kitchen, great-room and kids rooms on the second. The kitchen and great-room are separated from the kids rooms by an axial space created by the connecting spine. This spine, in the main pod, serves as the foyer and contains an office loft above with overlooks into the kitchen and great-room.

The final pod in the sequence contains the master suite with the termination of the spine being a small outdoor cantilevered porch overlooking the pond and creek. The materials of the exterior respond to a regional modern vernacular and correspond to the functions contained within. For instance, the great room is meant to appear very open to capture views of the property while the kids rooms are more opaque for privacy. The main spine is emphasized with a cladding of vertical standing seam metal wall panels. The great room is anchored by a paring of masonry forms with one being a fireplace for the ground floor gathering area and the other a fireplace for the great-room. The framework of the great-room being heavy timber glu-lam allows for the space to appear open and coexist with the surrounding pine forest. The long face of each pod is oriented facing north-south to minimize solar heat gain. Conversely, the east-west faces contain minimal openings.

Henchy Residence

In their desire to downsize their home, the Henchy’s purchased a small lot (50’x150′) in a historic residential neighborhood in Hammond, Louisiana. The lot sits on the corner, oriented north-south in the long dimension with a large live oak tree in the city right of way occurring at the north-east corner of the property at the street intersection. The building program requirements included an open plan on the first floor with living/dining/kitchen connected and a master suite and laundry. The second floor consists of two guest bedrooms. The second-floor footprint is a 1/3 of the ground floor footprint. The owners wanted a sunroom, which could be opened to the outside and yet closed and conditioned when required. A two-car garage and workshop were also requirements in the building program. The architectural style requested was that of traditional design, which blended into the traditional vernacular of the neighborhood, and the preference for exterior material was stucco and painted brick.

Faulk Residence

The Faulk Residence is situated on an approximately 1/3 acre wedge-shaped site in one of Hammond, Louisiana’s more contemporary neighborhoods. The design responds to the vernacular architecture of south Louisiana, integrating modern approaches with traditional forms. The residence is divided into two main pods incorporating the private and public areas, connected by a central spine that provides the home’s primary circulation and work areas. Because of its central role as the hub of family life, the kitchen was positioned along the home’s spine and opened to the dining and living areas that compose the public areas of the home. The kitchen is bordered by a wall of windows overlooking a linear porch that both shades this area of the house from direct sunlight and maximizes views to the rear yard.

The public space pod was angled to parallel the southern property line to efficiently use the site and maximize future green space and garden areas.

Large windows and a minimal color pallet maximize natural daylight throughout the residence, which reduces the dependence on artificial light sources.

The private area includes a master suite on the first floor. Bedrooms for the Faulks’ two children and a shared common room are located on the second floor.

Future outdoor living space is planned to extend from the rear porch.

Cass Schexnayder Residence

The Cass-Schexnayder Residence is located on approximately 3 acres of land in Hammond, Louisiana, and is surrounded by an abundance of sizeable pine andoak trees. The house is designed, by owner’s request, around principles of Feng Shui. The house is oriented on an East – West axis in response to Louisiana’shot and humid climate, and is shifted 8 degrees to allow for ideal bagua. There is approximately 3,300 square feet of living space, including 3 bedroomsand 3 bathrooms. The structure of the home is centered on a spine with 2 rock gardens that carve into the main spaces of the home, providing large windowswith views to the exterior. The main living space is separated into 2 smaller spaces, allowing the separation of energy with the living room on the southside serving as a calm space for reading and listening to music while the TV room and kitchen on the north side will be the energetic space for entertainment.

The main house and the garage/workshop are separated by a walkway with louvers facing the south side cradling a centralized dog yard on the north side. This will aid with the homeowners mission to continue adopting and rescuing Doberman’s. The materials and layout of openings respond to the modern vernacular mindset and correspond to the functions of the spaces. There is a large front porch with deep overhangs on the southern side and a screen porch with a fire place that provides direct access to the master suite on the north side. The living spaces, which stretch along the long facades of the house, are oriented facing north-south to minimize solar heat gain while allowing expansive views. The east-west facades contain minimal openings that usher light and maintain privacy. The roofline is created with single sloping metal roofs allowing clerestory windows to shed light into the main living spaces. Water drainage on the site includes rain chains to gravel garden beds on the smaller roofs while the larger roofs follow a gutter system into corrugated metal cisterns for greywater reuse.

Zatarain Residence

The Zatarain family was looking to upgrade their residence in the historic residential district of Downtown Hammond. The single-family structure was originally built in 1910. Zatarain wished to expand their kitchen area to allow for entertainment and create a new exterior feature at the rear of the building. The exterior design extended the front canopy barrel vault metal roof to allow for protection at the front door and extended the interior corridor through the house to the back yard with an extension of a trellis over the rear entrance. An outdoor deck was added to the rear for entertaining. The kitchen was pulled away from the exterior wall to create pantry storage behind a new sink and a center island was added to allow for entertainment into the great room adjacent to the kitchen renovation. The great room was a new addition which completed the exterior roof lines and removed an insensitive addition from the past.

Smith Pool and Cabana

The Smith residence, Barbara and Jeffrey Smith’s home, an arts and crafts house was approaching its 100 years in existence. The Smiths decided that the backyard needed a revitalization. The main house was a simple craftsman style, story and a half structure, that was originally constructed in 1912 by Dr. Lucis McGehee, a medical doctor who was community minded. The Smiths acquired the home in 1997 and completed an extensive renovation and addition which was begun and never completed by the previous owners. In 2007, Hurricane Gustav heavily damaged many of the trees on the 2.5 acre site, one of which destroyed a screened out-building located in the backyard. This event was a genesis of the backyard revitalization. The removal of the tree and the out building created room for the new pool and cabana. The layout of the pool and cabana matches the garage and library addition on the west side of the property. The lap pool was 8’ × 50’ extending north with a fountain feature on the north end. The cabana sides are balanced with the garage addition location. Brick landscape walls were added to align with the original main house and extend the length of the pool. These walls frame a great lawn which extends north from the original house. The pools simple geometry is capped with a square stone coping and a brick deck.

The wood sun deck surrounded by crushed stone sculptured gardens extends west from the pool. The north terminus is a stone bowl with water flowing out into a basin which empties into a runnel in the raised stone platform then spilling into the pool. The south end of the lap pool has two facing benches creating a spa within the pool. The cabana takes its reference from the original house design. The open roof structure has four square columns and covers an areas of approximately 20’ × 24’. The roof shape matches the main house and includes shed dormers similar in shape to the original house design. The dormer roofs are polycarbonate allowing more natural light while maintaining the much needed shade under the cabana. A bathroom and storage element slips under the high roof on the west side and has a flat glass roof allowing natural light into the restroom. A brick wall screens the pool equipment on the west and is the one wall of the bathroom. The rest of the walls are slatted with purple heart over hardiboard. The outdoor kitchen has a 1500 year old cypress countertop. The back deck off the original house was added along with an arbor structure which includes glass panels for protection over the rear door. The brick end walls and steps tie the backyard together and frame the view of the great lawn. Other features includes an earth mound centered on the house as a north terminus view and an outdoor fireplace which is the remnant of the storm damaged screen structure. Roy T. Dufreche and Associates were the landscape architects.

Rouquette Lodge IV

A new three story congregate living facility for the elderly, located in Mandeville Louisiana, which resulted from the demolition of an existing building located in St. Bernard Parish. Due to extensive damage incurred during Hurricane Katrina, the existing building was demolished and replaced at a new location with the assistance of FEMA funding. The new building now becomes part of an existing Rouquette Lodge campus owned by Christopher Homes and serves the elderly population of the surrounding area. The new facility consists of 66 living units and a small community space which is to be shared by the campus occupants. The predominant building material for the structure is brick veneer with a post tensioned slab structural system.

Rolling Residence

The challenge was to provide a functional facility for a professional couple who wanted a residence that allowed them to live comfortably in an informal style. The couple’s approach, though varied in foundation, was to take full advantage of an alluvial site with an approach that allowed views from high vantage points. The structure is divided into three levels; top-guest and children, middle-family living and bedroom quarters, bottom-outdoor entertainment and view.

Naquin Residence

The program statement required traditional residential functions, including a master suite, a guest suite, a sun room and a large gallery on a 4 acre site in an old neighborhood. The 5,600 sq. ft. home features an open plan which flows around the center stair and fireplace element. A garden pavilion on access with the side gallery invokes the warm feeling of a true southern home.

Haight Residence

The owner’s wish was to provide an informal, relaxing environment for a couple with older children on a 5-acre tract of land bordered in its entirety by dense woods. It was their desire to have a unique structure that blended with the surrounding area and exhibited an air of sophistication and informality. The two-story saw toothed eastern facade tops out and frames the third level bedroom areas. The use of diagonal and truncated forms create exterior interest and integrates with interior spaces. The exterior cedar-clad facade and wood detailing reflect the vernacular in the area, yet the contemporary use of form and fenestration documents its age. The fabricated fluted columns fit with the lines of the building and column details were carried to the interior structural elements. The black gum ceiling of the great room was installed to fit the roof form and views were provided from the second level allowing visual play in spaces. The second level was designed for the owner’s master suite and the third for the owner’s two children. The clearly defined scheme of the first, second and third levels reinforce and fulfill the owner’s need to separate specific functions, yet allow them all to happen within close proximity.

Batson Residence

The owners required a small residence with oriental influence, located in mature bottom land forested area on the edge of a river basin. The project program called for a simplistic piece of design work for comfortable everyday life with consideration for energy conservation. The simple two-story plan with wraparound porch and central atrium set up efficient circulation. The attic area served as pressurized air supply plenums. Thus, disallowing heat build-up. The insulated floor plenum returns cool summer air from the lower reaches of the structure during cooling mode and warm stratified area from the atrium through a chase. All air supply to the first level is through the structure. Autumn and spring cooling is effected through convection and forced air exhaust. The oriental motif is initiated through the ceremonial entry which terminates in the entry foyer where there is a space for removal of shoes. The simplistic detailing further strengthens the oriental mood of the interior through detailing with the use of resawn and new grades of cypress and pine. The rear of the house extends into a catwalk which terminates in a meditation space which is projected out over the steep incline which identifies the beginning of the river basin. The immediate exterior environment was left untouched setting up a mood and tone of reverence for the natural landscape.