Edward Avenue home combines European elegance, Louisiana charm

• By STEVE WHEELER
• Advocate Real Estate editor
• Published: Jun 23, 2009

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Houses don’t always get second chances at life, but the 79-year-old home on the hilltop at 2928 Edward Ave. has found the fountain of youth, thanks to the expertise of its owners -- an interior designer and a landscape architect.

Featured on HGTV and winner of the Baton Rouge Growth Coalition’s Good Growth Award for renovation and landscaping, the home today is double its original size and filled with most of its original parts, just rearranged a little.

The dining room, kitchen and pantry, for example, are now the master bedroom suite. The oak floors and bookshelves of the old living room floor are now the oak floors and bookshelves on the second story. The original basement -- yes there are a few homes in Baton Rouge with basements -- has been completely restored. It’s a huge home office now, but it could easily be a game room, or even an apartment with its own entrance.

Most of the original materials in the home were carefully salvaged for use in the renovated residence, according to Lisa Landers, who along with Melissa Landers is marketing the home for Keller Williams Realty.

“The integrity of the era and the sense of history were maintained, yet a thoughtful respect for modern conveniences was added,” Landers said.

This lovely retreat is unique on several levels, literally. Rooms in both the upstairs and downstairs parts of the home are on different levels, with steps leading from area to area, providing a sense of depth and transition.

On the front of the home, a flagstone foyer was added to provide a transitional space from the original house to the new construction. From the foyer, guests can take two steps up to the kitchen on the right, or around the masonry wall and up to the expansive living room, where huge windows and French doors allow views of the rear courtyard and plenty of natural light inside. For entertaining at night, the home is superbly lighted with cans and accent lighting.

Flagstone slabs and pine flooring, some new and some from the original home, are used extensively in the home, including the kitchen. The large center island is Tunis Green slab granite, and there are matching granite tiles on the counter tops. A four-burner Jenn-Air cook top is on the island, and a Kitchen Aid refrigerator has panels to match the fabulous distressed cypress cabinets. A large window with a custom eyebrow transom watches over the front yard, and the nearby breakfast room has a picture window with an arched cornice.

In fact, window cornices and transoms are throughout the home, as are crown molding and antique glass doorknobs, preserving the elegance and charm of the original home.

The original thin-plank oak floors in the living room are now the floor upstairs, and heart pine floors now grace the living area. The wood-burning fireplace is centered behind the foyer wall, lining up perfectly with the front entrance. Arched entries to the living room are located on either side.

The home’s formal dining room has a 12-light window overlooking the pool, cabana and brick outdoor kitchen in back. The dining room steps down to the living room.

The rectangular master bedroom suite has beautiful wood windows, including a pair of 12-light windows at one end as well as two sitting areas. The master bath, which was once a screened porch, has accented travertine tile flooring, double vanities with Sahara Gold marble slab counter tops, a 6-foot whirlpool tub with a beautiful leaded glass eyebrow window above, and a walk-in shower. Plantation shutters are used here and in many other locations throughout the home. The master closet at one end, which has light-switched doors and a built-in dresser, will be doubled in size with yet another addition, Lisa Landers said.

The second floor has three bedrooms, a full bath and a Hollywood bath with two sink areas. There’s also a computer nook with built-ins, and a large den in the center.