St. Charles Avenue Residence

Introduction

Located in the heart of New Orleans, the home at 7618 St. Charles Ave. epitomizes the city’s unique history, culture, and art. This 4,000 Queen Anne mansion is so distinct it once served as the inaugural showhouse for the Southern Style Now Festival. For that occasion, more than 27 Southern designers lent their contemporary vision to transform and modernize the Victorian-style property with full respect to the time period and historic nature of the home. The massive renovation that so artfully merged tradition and innovation included the entirety of the property: main house, grounds, and guest cottage.

The  Story

Known for creating bold, modern interiors that are rooted in tradition, Lisa Mende of Charlotte, North Carolina, was chosen as the designer for the majority of the rooms in the guest cottage, a detached, fully livable dwelling behind the main house. She captured a colorful, Southern chic vibe throughout the spaces she designed—from the living area with its eclectic furnishings and decor to the newly reimagined cottage kitchen, as well.

Mende transformed the petite-sized kitchen into a functional and beautiful space. Although the footprint was quite small and could not be expanded, she reworked the area’s configuration and visually opened it by incorporating mixed materials including wood-look tile floor, a painted brick wall, textured tile backsplash, and stainless steel appliances. 

Notably, the new porcelain tile flooring made a dramatic difference. Mende specified Crossville’s SpeakEasy collection in the Silver Screen color. The planks offer an authentic, hardwood look in a 6”x48” size that mimics the real thing. With this American-made, superior quality porcelain tile, Mende was able to bring in the aesthetic of distressed hardwood yet get the exceptional ease of maintenance and lasting performance the busy space required. Long term, real wood simply would not offer the same durability and simplicity as the SpeakEasy planks. Mende’s choice to have the planks installed in a traditional stacked pattern configured length-wise into the living area effectively made the space appear larger.

For the kitchen backsplash, Mende chose Crossville’s Simpatico in a crisp white. She had these dimensional tiles installed behind the stove and up to the ceiling. The sculptural shape of the tiles offered in the classic, white colorway brings in visual interest yet is subtle so as to not overwhelm the small space . Mixing beautifully with the marble countertop, Simpatico offers a bit of modern blending with the traditional surfacing.