Elegant Happy Home Tour – A Pleasant House
At Home With A Pleasant House
Today’s Happy Home Tour is with one of my favorite bloggers. She is one of the most entertaining writers on the internet today on A Pleasant House.
Her singular style always amuses. She starts out by taking you on a journey one way and then you land someplace else! I fell under her spell and hope you will too.
Get to know Cheryl of A Pleasant House where she shares recipes, cooking, gardening, decorating and design tips. Her perspective on parenting is eye-opening and she blogs about a range of other always unexpected Lifestyle subjects. She has an elegant way of drawing you in and then your hooked.
You’ll be hooked as soon as you see inside her elegant 1875 Greek Revival. It is a very well-appointed home in the historic Garden District of New Orleans. A lot of her fans have come to think of her as the queen of her castle and that does not just imply a place. That’s why I’m going to say I bow to my Queen today. Have fun and enjoy the tour.
The front parlor is elegant and yet comfy. I want to sit down and stay awhile. Notice that with the soft lighting and neutral walls, curtains and furniture colors make the front parlor warm and welcoming. Plus the two beautiful french doors with transom windows. All the ceilings are 12.5 feet including on the second floor.
Cheryl said many people have died in this house, as was common back when the house was built. They were laid out in the parlor and are buried down the street in Lafayette Cemetery No. 1. A fun historical fact about the home is that in the “1980s Humphrey Bogart’s mistress, Verita Thompson Bouvaire, lived here. She rented a room upstairs from her girlfriend that owned the house. She evacuated for Katrina and never returned dying in Mississippi in 2008.”
Cheryl is expert at creating ambiance in her home with lighting. The house was built by a marble merchant with 2/3 fireplaces surrounded by his marble. I can’t step away without pointing out the beautiful chandelier.
Historically, the kitchen was built inside (often kitchens were outside due to fire) the house and is still about in its original location. Plus, even having a kitchen was a very modern convenience back in the day. Their master bedroom today used to be a series of pantries off the original kitchen.
I notice the island lights have the same square shape as the picture frames and cabinets doors creating a symmetrical design style.
They renovated the house!
Before we move on I want you to know the house was almost entirely renovated when they bought it, but Cheryl and her husband Ben did a lot of work to make it as beautiful as we see here today. You’ll see most of their work in the photos below.
They made it (intended play on words) a pleasant house by doing the following updates:
Changed all the light fixtures and water fixtures.
Brought all three fireplaces up to code.
Added a fireplace outside in the courtyard.
Changed out all the bath vanities.
Added two laundry facilities with one in the master bath and the other in an upstairs bath for guests. – nice queens with castles offer their subjects personal laundry areas.
A barroom off the kitchen – see below.
Changed all the colors.
Finished the interiors of all the closets.
Added a coat closet and a glass-front linen closet.
Carved out a ‘secret’ storage area under the stairs used to store luggage.
Completely renovated the two courtyards.
Something Cheryl cherishes are her children’s youth chairs hanging ready for grandchildren. The floors are unpolished tumbled marble. I am unsure if Cheryl painted the street lamp mural on the door. She did in fact stencil the wall pattern with paint.
All the rooms and furniture are beautiful including the library that was originally the master bedroom.
The most beautiful room.
The sunroom used to be a screened in porch. I love the shades and furniture, especially the red-flowered chair that reminds me of one my grandmother had and I always wanted. Again, we see more of the tasteful stenciled pattern on the walls.
The Bar room off the kitchen is another home improvement. The turquoise door leads us to………..
a view of the courtyard fountain that was a Christmas gift to Cheryl from Ben many years ago. Cheryl says “they’ve lugged it around ever since.”
When they moved in the stairs were open. Here is the clever under the stairs storage for luggage area they made that looks like it has always been there.
Heading up the stairs we see a piece of art on the wall that blends perfectly with the wall color.
The dark rich colored floors are Louisiana Pecan stained Ebony.
The upstairs 3 bedrooms were for “the help.” The help accessed their rooms from a separate stairway that went up the outside of the house onto a balcony which is now the upstairs hallway.
All the interior doors have these enchanting transom windows.
One of the bedrooms is the blue guest room. Love the lamp shade that matches the bed pillow and the art on the wall makes me think.
Green guest bedroom gives an inside view of the french doors and transom window.
Bath has jetted tub and open shower.
Master Bath vanities they replaced are gorgeous.
The house has 11 rooms, three full bathrooms plus this powder room.
Not seen is a full-width second-floor street balcony in the front of the house where “they watch the world go by and have a view of the city.”
Thank you, Cheryl, for inviting us into your home.
I can promise you’ll never be bored with all the original content on Cheryl’s fabulous blog A Pleasant House so head over and check her out.
If you’re new here, see last weeks Miller Manor Charming Home Story a Trash to Treasure Story.
