words escape me
Karen Gadbois co-founded The Lens. She now covers New Orleans government issues and writes about land use. With television reporter Lee Zurik she exposed widespread misuse of city recovery funds and led... More by Karen Gadbois
Renovation Nation
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Ummm…the openings are shrinking…
I want to cry everytime I see something like this, and I see it everywhere these days. From Uptown and Midcity to the Bywater, we are becoming a city of deformed historic houses. It seems no neighborhood is immune.
While I understand the frustration, not everyone can afford $400 doors or a $300 pair of shutters from The Bank. It’s matter of economics, not a choice most of the time.
Good luck find a pair of matching Cyprus doors at the Green Project or PRC.
I’m renovating a house that had a lot of historical treasures taken out of it and it is taking a long time and a ton of money to renovate it.
Mike I understand your point, but too many folks are taking out these elements and throwing them out.
This particular house had all it’s elements intact.
Touro… shouldnt this be governed by historic district regulations?
I think it falls just outside the boundaries.
Exactly Karen. I’ve approached home owners in my neighborhood who are tearing the original windows and doors out of their historic homes, and have asked them why they are replacing solid cypress widows and doors with vinyl ones. They reply that the widows and doors on their homes are old and that new doors and windows are better. They have money to renovate, and to them, newer means better.
If you do not like it, then start an effort to make it a local historic district. Stop trying to hold non-historic district properties to the standards of a historic district. It is not fair to the folks whom bought based on the existing rules.
Ghegor Good advice. Thanks
Ghegor
Didn’t you try and tear a building down and were denied? Is this sour grapes?
People need better incentives to retain original materials. The entire system, from FEMA to the federal tax credits, is stacked against historic preservation, old houses, and the owner who cares.
How could anyone in their right mind think that newer materials – I don’t care what they’re made from – are better than cypress? Those “newer” materials will need replacing in a decade (or less) and good, old cypress – or any number of older building materials made to stand the test of time – would still be viable!