2015年4月3日 星期五

Couple buy historic 1840s Creole cottage slated for demolition and move it across New Orleans where they faithfully restore the home to its former glory

  • Gaby Tillero and Greg Ensslen bought the home after a church claimed they wanted to demolish it and expand their lot
  • The home was dismantled and stored for a year before the couple found a lot across New Orleans that would fit the home's dimensions
  • Tillero and her husband Ensslen now live in the home with their two sons, six-year-old Santiago and nine-year-old Javier, as well as Tillero's mother, Olga Tillero
  • The couple stayed true to the cottage's floor plan, while converting it from a duplex to a single-family home
  • They used salvaged and recycled materials to decorate the interior and exterior of the home  
 New Orleans couple bought a ramshackle historic cottage, moved it across the city and renovated it all the while using salvaged materials and respecting the home's original floor plan. 

Gaby Tillero and Greg Ensslen bought the the two-story 1840s Creole home from the Central City neighborhood after a church said they wanted to demolish it and expand their parking lot. The couple moved it to the Freret neighborhood where they then spent seven months renovating.

Tillero and her husband Ensslen now live in the home with their two sons, six-year-old Santiago and nine-year-old Javier, as well as Tillero's mother, Olga Tillero. 

Gaby Tillero and Greg Ensslen bought this 1840s Creole cottage style home in the Central City neighborhood of New Orleans almost two years ago
Gaby Tillero and Greg Ensslen bought this 1840s Creole cottage style home in the Central City neighborhood of New Orleans almost two years ago

The couple then dismantled the home, moved it to the Freret neighborhood of the city and renovated the home while respecting the floor plan and using salvaged materials to decorate the home
The couple then dismantled the home, moved it to the Freret neighborhood of the city and renovated the home while respecting the floor plan and using salvaged materials to decorate the home

To honor the home's original duplex floor plan while still creating a single-family home, Ensslen and Tillero put a massive wooden staircase between the kitchen and living room
To honor the home's original duplex floor plan while still creating a single-family home, Ensslen and Tillero put a massive wooden staircase between the kitchen and living room

The home is decorated with materials salvaged from other homes and salvage markets. The bookshelf on the right holding dishes was part of a house Ensslen restored in 1999
The home is decorated with materials salvaged from other homes and salvage markets. The bookshelf on the right holding dishes was part of a house Ensslen restored in 1999

This is what the Central City house looked like before Tillero and Ensslen bought up the house and moved it to the Freret neighborhood where it sits now
This is what the Central City house looked like before Tillero and Ensslen bought up the house and moved it to the Freret neighborhood where it sits now


The original staircase in the home separated the building into a duplex. In the renovated home Tillero and Ensslen honored the staircase idea by putting a massive wooden staircase separating the kitchen from the living room

'We bought the house to save the house - it was slated for demolition,' Ensslen told The Times-Picayune. 'I've always liked the Creole cottage style.' 

Ensslen, who's a historic renovation developer and organizer of the Freret Market and Freret Street Festival, and Tillero wanted to live outside Central City, so they bought the house before they had a lot to put it on. 

They ended up having to dismantle the structure and put it into storage.
'We had to dismantle it completely,' Ensslen said. 'It was a stack of lumber. We put it in a few dumpsters.'

The dumpsters were stored on a secured lot near the city's Industrial Canal, where they sat for a year until the couple found a lot that fit the house's dimensions. 
Once they sorted how to rebuilt the cottage's floor plan and collected materials for its interior, they purchased a lot. They rebuilt and renovated the house in seven months. 

One of the kitchen walls is decorated with a series of hand-crank egg beaters, which Ensslen began collecting in the 1980s when he moved to New Orleans
One of the kitchen walls is decorated with a series of hand-crank egg beaters, which Ensslen began collecting in the 1980s when he moved to New Orleans

All of the wood in the home was stripped of old paint and finished with linseed oil for a more golden touch in order to give it more character
















All of the wood in the home was stripped of old paint and finished with linseed oil for a more golden touch in order to give it more character


Once the couple found a lot that would fit the cottage's dimensions, they spent seven months renovating the home
Once the couple found a lot that would fit the cottage's dimensions, they spent seven months renovating the home

Source: the mail

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