Custom building in New Orleans: a year in one house.

The hard part was the wall we did not own

This house shares a party wall with the residence behind it. That single fact governed the whole structural scope: the addition, the new framing, the way loads were carried and transferred — all of it had to be resolved without disturbing a building we had no right to touch, and whose owner was not our client.

It is the kind of constraint that does not show up in a finished photograph, and it is exactly the kind of thing that separates a builder who has done this before from one who is about to learn.

Historic districts change the schedule, not just the finishes

Much of Uptown and the Garden District sits inside a local historic district. Exterior work there is reviewed before it is permitted, and the review runs on the commission’s calendar. We plan around that from day one instead of discovering it in month three.

Elevation is set by your parish, not by a single state number

The flood-elevation requirement that applies to your lot is set locally, and several jurisdictions in Greater New Orleans require a margin above base flood elevation rather than the minimum. We pull the elevation certificate and build to what your jurisdiction actually requires. See how we raise and build our own homes, step by step.

On an old house, demolition is the real estimate

Until the walls are open, everything is an assumption. Framing, wiring, plumbing, rot, previous work done badly — it all shows up at once. What matters is having a contract and a contractor that can absorb that without the project stalling.

Additions are structural work, not square footage

Tying new construction into a century-old structure means new loads through old framing, matched elevations, and a roofline that has to read as original. Done well, nobody can tell where the old house ends.

We also handle historic renovation under the Vieux Carré Commission, new residential construction, commercial build-outs and FORTIFIED™ roofing.