As long as we’re keeping track of the rebuilding progress in New Orleans, I wonder: How do y’all pronounce the name of the city? As a not-very-well-traveled native of Burbank, I’ve always pronounced it "NEW-or-leans." And when I’m trying to be cute, I pronounce it "NOIR-lins." But when I’ve visited the area, several times in…
After I wrote about a green home renovation in New Orleans (see it here), I heard from contractor Tom Borland, who had made that home’s beautiful wood countertops. The counters are notable for the warm beauty that came from old, salvaged pine with super-tight grain. It turns out Tom was a SoCal builder who moved…
By Ariane Wiltse Oh, what beautiful music power tools make — the steady hum of a compressor crooning like a late-night jazz singer in a smoky haunt, the staccato beat of a nail gun, the trumpet of a power saw. At last, the ubiquitous sounds of New Orleans’ recovery have come home. After eight months…
There are two basic ways of thinking about old windows in post-Katrina New Orleans. On one hand, old windows are rich with history and architectural detail. On the other hand, they can be cracked, broken, rotten and leaking. It's the latter category that causes the contractors, workers, homeowners and volunteers who are rebuilding New Orleans…
Ariane Wiltse is restoring a Katrina-damaged 1870s home in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans, and she is sharing her journey with us. Here’s her latest installment:The Altar In the front room of my house, the room I tell visitors will one day serve as my library, sits a wood-burning fireplace with an Arts…
As much as I regret missing "60 Minutes," I will do so this evening in order to catch the two-hour season finale of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," which begins at 7 p.m. (6 p.m. CST) on ABC. This show is the culmination of a 50-state tour by the Extreme crew, and storm-torn southern Louisiana seems…
Watch amateur video from the final day of the build: Watch the day of the reveal.
The polls are now closed on this question: Would following the restoration of an 1870s Katrina-damaged home in New Orleans be interesting to readers of this blog? The votes: Yes: 89%; No: 11% The ayes have it by a landslide. Ariane Wiltse, the homeowner, is also setting up a blog so she can chronicle her…
I had the occasion to visit New Orleans recently and toured a Katrina-damaged home that had been restored in a green manner, which I wrote about in a previous post. I also toured the home pictured above, situated in the Holy Cross Neighborhood of the Lower 9th Ward, near the Global Green model home Brad…
Ariane’s story so far: May 11, 2008: Do you care about this? May 13, 2008: The polls have closed; the ayes have it May 21, 2008: An altar for the missing May 30, 2008: History salvaged from the side of the road June 3, 2008: The sweet sound of power tools June 25, 2008: From…