Some houses in Mandeville are being raised. Here's one on Girod Street and another on the lakefront . Click on the images to make them larger.
Over on Facebook Lesslee Fitzmorris recounted her memories of this lakefront house. It was her family's home for over ten years. She recalled that the bottom floor was "so unique."
"Before we renovated the house, the bottom floor had two rooms which had been used in the early 1900’s as bedrooms. Additionally there were two solid brick rooms: one was a cool room for vegetables and the other was a boiler room.
"The staircase in front was unique because the handrail was one piece of wood that had been slowly bent. I’m not sure if that can be replicated. There was also a boot swipe at the foot of the stairs to clean boots before entering the house."
Her family bought the house from the Poitevient family and totally renovated it, using only craftsman who were originally from the Northshore. It was a labor of love, she said.
"The original smokehouse that stood on the property was destroyed by Katrina, but we salvaged the bricks and built two patios," she recalled. She has a photo of her parents picnicking on the lakefront in front of it when they were dating. "The home provided wonderful family memories and I feel blessed and thankful to have lived there," she concluded.
