St. Francisville Country Home
St. Francisville, LA — 2019
Nestled between a lake and stables, this remote residence is a country retreat home designed to showcase and savor the surrounding area’s remarkable views. The home has a unique design, with the appearance of a modest, traditional Acadian facade from the front, and the feeling of a contemporary, untraditional lake house from the back, including a vast window overlooking the ten-acre lake.
The space was designed to convey both the vernacular language of the house’s historic bones, including traditional cementitious stucco columns in the front, and a playful, contemporary language unbound by traditional form.
Centering the open main room is a custom steel-base dining table surrounded by antique leather-upholstered chairs.
Hand-hewn beams play a prominent role in the open-keeping area and kitchen, as does an old barn loft ladder that was incorporated into the design near the 16-foot ceiling. Adding cool contrast to the otherwise warm space are a 600-pound steel range hood and a steel bar cabinet
The overall idea was to create a cozy and warm environment that the family could really live in. It is comfortable and a little bit rustic, but it’s all about balancing the new and the old.
A saddle leather bed is the centerpiece of this guest bedroom and clerestory windows over the bed offer abundant light without compromising privacy or wall space in this smaller room.
Our studio dogs Linus and Lucy are relaxing in the mudroom where a shovel used for the groundbreaking of this home project is also on display.