908 North Rendon

March 19, 2012 by Charlie London

article and photo used with permission of the Preservation Resource Center
photo by Ian Cockburn

Home of Ben Gauslin
By Gabrielle Begue
THIS MODEST, TWO-BAY shotgun was likely built as a rental house around 1906 by French Quarter travel agent Albert Ducombs, whose residence was one block away at 3230 Dumaine, but the property’s chain of title originates with entrepreneur and philanthropist John McDonogh.

Upon his death in 1850, McDonogh donated his vast real estate holdings to the City of New Orleans, which parceled the land in 1859 and sold it off to various parties, who in turn divided up and sold their parcels as smaller lots.

Due to its long-term use as a rental, this bargeboard single saw numerous interior alterations, yet its simple, sturdy bones were still evident to first-time homeowner, architect and Web developer Ben Gauslin, who purchased the house in 2010.
With spare, neutral furnishings and plenty of negative space, the house spotlights the architecture and feels more spacious that the shotgun’s limited dimensions. Each room features a different wall color, the refreshing blues, pinks, and yellows echoing the traditional Caribbean-influenced hues found throughout the city while also highlighting the spaces’ geometry in a decidedly modern way.

Combining his minimalist modern aesthetic with a respect for traditional building methods, Gauslin stripped out unoriginal elements and gutted the house to its worn, glowing pine floors and bargeboard walls. Gauslin re-covered most of the boards with insulation and plaster but chose to leave one interior wall exposed as a celebration of the house’s humble architectural roots. Its dark wood adds warmth and texture to the expansive parlor at the front of the house, which Gauslin created by knocking out an original non-supporting wall that had cut the space into two smaller living and dining areas.

A streamlined, chrome-and-white IKEA kitchen with ample storage space now stretches the length of one wall, offering a study in how to creatively use the challenging, narrow spaces of the shotgun layout.

While most buildings of this type feature a small backyard and side alleys, this house’s unusual off-center placement on the 28-foot-wide lot provides an ample side yard, which Gauslin is currently converting from a cracked concrete driveway to a landscaped patio for grilling, lounging with friends, and playing with his Catahoula-mix dog, Calvin.

Click here to view the original article as printed in the March, 2012 issue of Preservation in Print. Article and photo used with permission of the Preservation Resource Center.

Doesn’t this house sound great? You can see more of this house and many more during the Preservation Resource Center’s Shotgun Tour of Faubourg St. John homes on Saturday, March 31st from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The headquarters for the PRC’s Shotgun Tour of Faubourg St. John will be at the PITOT HOUSE at 1440 Moss Street on Bayou St. John.

The tour is just…
$16 for PRC and Louisiana Landmarks Society members
$20 for non-members
$10 each for groups of 10 or more

All tickets are $25 at the Pitot House on the day of the tour so get your tickets early!

Ticketholders will receive discounts from area businesses including Bayou Beer Garden, Cafe Degas, CC’s Coffee House, Cork & Bottle Wine Shop, Fair Grinds Coffee House, Liuzza’s by the Track, Lux Day Spa, Pal’s Lounge, and Swirl Wine Bar & Market.

For more information call (504) 581-7032 or visit prcno.org

SPONSORS of the PRC Home Tour
Abry Brothers, Inc.
Cork & Bottle Wine Shop
Louisiana Landmarks Society
Mothership Foundation
Parkway Bakery & Tavern
Soprano’s Meat Market
Stafford Tile
Uptown Insurance Agency

Tour Headquarters: PITOT HOUSE

Built in 1799, the Pitot House is one of the oldest Creole country house buildings in New Orleans. It is traditional stucco-covered, brick-between-post construction with a double hipped roof and wide galleries. The house is named for James Pitot, the first mayor of incorporated New Orleans, who lived here from 1810 -1819.

Now open for tours and special events, the house was restored in 1960 by the Louisiana Landmarks Society, which uses the building as its headquarters.

Shotgun House ticket holders will have the opportunity to visit the historic Pitot House.

Filed Under: HOME TOUR Tagged With: 908, bayou, bayou st john, center, faubourg, faubourg st john, fsjna, historic, homes, landmarks, louisiana, New Orleans, north, prc, preservation, rendon, resource, shotgun, society, tour

Shotgun Volunteers

March 6, 2012 by Charlie London


Click here to volunteer for the Shotgun House Tour!

Preservation Resource Center is gearing up for its Shotgun House Tour on Saturday, March 31, 2012 . At this event, locals and visitors take a self-guided tour of eight private homes in Faubourg St. John. Each shotgun home has unique architectural features and demonstrates a unique take on New Orleans’ most common house type.

Please support the PRC by volunteering for this great event! We enlist nearly100 volunteers to help staff the tour homes throughout the day as house captains, greeters, and docents. Two shifts are available on Saturday, March 31 – 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Volunteers will receive one FREE ticket to the tour in exchange for their time. Volunteers are welcome to sign up in groups. They must be 18 years of age or older.

Shotgun House Tour is a tradition for the PRC and proceeds from the Shotgun House Tour go toward the PRC and its Education and Outreach programs. PRC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that has been preserving, restoring and revitalizing New Orleans’ historic architecture and neighborhoods for 37 years.

You may register as a Shotgun House Tour volunteer online by clicking here or the button above. If you have any questions, contact Sarina Mohan at 504.636.3067 or [email protected].

Thank you for your support!

*If you have already signed-up and are receiving this email, you do not need to register again. We will be sending out confirmations with additional information in the next week. Thank you for your patience and your commitment to the Preservation Resource Center.

Sincerely,
The Shotgun House Tour Committee
Jimmy Fahrenholtz and Sarah Hess, Chairs

Click here to learn more.

Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: bayou, bayou st john, faubourg, faubourg st john, fsjna, prc, preservation, shotgun, tour

Copyright © 2023 · BG Minimalist on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in