DANIEL TYLER GOODEN / L’Observateur / February 5, 2000

GRAMERCY – On the corner of Airline Highway and Louisiana Highway 3213, a house is being reborn. Donated from the old Pertuit property in Convent, theold creole house is under reconstruction to become the new welcoming center for the St. James Parish. The house is High French Creole, according to Jud Reynaud, owner of Design Woodwork Co. Reynaud has been working in building restoration for 30 yearsand has been hired by St. James to restore the old house to its originaldesign.

“An old house like this is essentially a puzzle,” said Reynaud. Throughout thehouse Reynaud found clues leading to the original date of the house.

The layout of the rooms tell much. Four main rooms built side by side in anon-symmetrical fashion show the Creole origins.

Although there have been many repairs and additions made to the house over time, Reynaud can still track the house down to its first construction.

“Every style of construction has a start and an end,” said Reynaud.

He finds many different construction styles in the house. Old Mortise andTenon joints were found throughout the structure. Common in old woodwork,two joining pieces of wood overlap or interconnect and are held in place by a wooden pin or triangular shim to make the joint.

Other signature styles of architectural design lead to clues dating the house.

The bricks within the house are cemented with river silt instead of mortar.

Deer hair was applied under the plaster to hold it to the wall.

Different widths of the boards on the walls and even the pitch of the roof tell Reynaud what style the original builder was following.

In the attic Reynaud found hand hewn notches in the floor. This indicated, notonly the lack of machine tools used in the house, but the fact that the roof had been extended from it’s original point at one time.

In fact, “The house has been moved at least four times before this last move,” said Reynaud.

Through multiple moves, repairs and additions, Reynaud sifts through the house to find the original design and date of construction.

“It gets to be very interesting, going through a house and estimating and even as you (repair) the floor it tells you a lot about what it’s been through,” he said.

“The mantle itself is starting to tell you a story,” he added upon inspection.

The style of the piece shows it to be of typical High French Creole style.

Diamond shape “Lozenges” are ornately set in the front. The side boards are”dressed and beaded.” Looking at the back side one can see evidence ofMortise-Tenon joints and other signature materials that span the time up to our common nails.

Looking at all the clues in the house, and after searching local courthouse and New Orleans records, Reynaud builds a hypothesis to track its history.

The original owners “had some wealth to them, because of the degree of embellishments,” said Reynaud. “The coloring is very typical of the Spanishand southern France style. The Creoles who came to Louisiana were fromaround Marseilles and were very influenced by the Spanish.”The date implied by the house is around 1815-1840, Reynaud finds, though it is possible it could be even older than that. Paint samples have been sentaway for analysis in order to further establish an accurate date.

So now Reynaud works to bring the house back to its original majesty. Muchof the house is in bad shape, said Reynaud. “We’ve used material fromunderneath the house to reproduce the porch.” The old wood, though not untouched by time and deterioration, can be salvaged “much like peeling an orange,” Reynaud explained. The rot andinsect damage is shaved off the exterior, revealing good wood. The porchcolumns and balusters are being remade in such a fashion.

Reynaud hopes the reconstruction of this house will inspire St. Jamesfamilies to take a closer look at the old homes in the parish.

“We want to get statewide recognition for this home,” said Reynaud. Wewant people to see that “if we can do this to the Welcome Center, it can be done to the rest of them.”Reynaud has counted 118 properties between Manresa and the Sunshine Bridge that date back 100 years. There are more even older than that.Restoring these houses would protect the architectural fabric of St. JamesParish as well as enhancing the value of the surrounding properties, Reynaud explained.

But first will come the St. James Welcome Center. The project is due to becompleted near late spring. The whole property, expected to entice morevisitors, both for tourism and business, will be in open seven days a week for travelers and St. Parish residents alike.

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