Big Red

3301 Tchoupitoulas St.

New Orleans, Louisiana

2007
The renovation of a 4,000 square foot New Orleans landmark building on Tchoupitoulas Street into four residential condominium units took care to retain and highlight historic textures throughout.
Patricia Gay, Operation Comeback, Preservation Resource Center, client
4,544 sf
Collaborators:

Wayne Troyer FAIA

Jocelyn Wright

2007 Historic District  Landmarks Commission Merit Award for Historic Preservation

 

2007 National Trust for Historic Preservation & House & Garden Television “Restore America” Award

Preservation in Print:

“Historic District Landmarks Commission 2007 Awards”

Preservation In Print:

Operation Comeback Property Report

The Times-Picayune, 09 November

Photography:

Sara Essex Bradley

Project Type: Housing

Constructed sometime between 1909 and 1930 as a corner grocery store and living quarters for the Incardonia family, Big Red was vacant by the 1990s after nearly continuous commercial use on the ground floor. The Preservation Resource Center purchased the property at a city auction in November 2003.

This landmark, mixed-use building was badly deteriorated and close to collapse, but a careful renovation converted it into four stunning, similarly-sized residential condominium units.  Each unit features an amenity such as a balcony or unusually colored historic hex-tile floor.

The building’s first floor masonry and second floor weatherboard exteriors are painted a uniform deep brick color in acknowledgement of the nickname “Big Red,” supplied by neighbors over the years as the hulking building fell into ruin.