HOME AND GARDEN

The latest home and garden news and updates

RUSTY COSTANZA / THE TIME-PICAYUNE• THE HOME: A three-story brick overlooking the levee in Algiers

• THE OWNERS: Lekha and David Subaiya

• THE SPACE: The cabana wall where Lekha painted a Katrina-themed mural

• WHY THEY LOVE IT: 'I put my feelings out for the world to see,' Lekha says. 'I couldn't do anything about the storm or about future hurricanes, but I can control this wall.'

Blank canvas

It was an artistic challenge, plus it eliminated a too-plain expanse of cinderblock. Mostly, though, it was a form of therapy, Lekha Subaiya says of the mural she painted on the 14-by-8-foot exterior wall of her backyard cabana.

Although she hadn't picked up a fine-art paintbrush since her college days, Subaiya started the project in the winter of 2006. At the time, she was commuting from New Orleans to teach three days a week at New York University Medical School, her job as a pediatric anesthesiologist at Charity Hospital having blown away with Hurricane Katrina's winds.

So, my mother is the editor of the home and garden section of The Times-Picayune. Ergo, you'd think that I would know a bit about home decor.

Not. I go by a more throw-all-of-your-junk-in-your-room-and-hope-it-works-out approach to decorating. You might call my style random. Or, all-over-the-place. My organization techniques are beyond horrific. (My closet is filled with enough stuff for a free fall, sort of like a gymnast's crash pit.)

I wouldn't, therefore, consider myself the best person to write a column about dorm decorating. My mother insisted, however, that she wanted an upcoming freshman's perspective on college decor, and I was handy.

Personally, I think she wanted to con off writing for a week.

Katherine thinks I'm trying to get out of writing a column, huh?

OK, maybe.

But there comes a time when you have to let your kid fly on her own. Decorating a college dorm room definitely qualifies.

College students who are heading to out-of-town campuses this month are packing more than personal items. Many are taking along little pieces of NOLA as well.

"I'm going to bring my personal photographs of New Orleans scenes, " said Laurie Clotworthy, who will be a freshman at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn. "I have some of Magazine Street, Mardi Gras and typical New Orleans architecture. I'd like to get large prints of those, so I can hang them in my dorm room.

Although we are past the midpoint of our hot summer season, there is still time to add tropical plants to the landscape. They thrive in the heat, and prefer to be planted during the summer.

Ideally, they should be in the ground by the end of August, to give them time to become established before they have to endure the cold of winter. Tropicals planted in October or beyond are not as likely to survive freezing weather.

Local nurseries generally have a great selection of tropicals available at this time, including bananas, hibiscus, tibouchina, canna, elephant ear, angel's trumpet, palms, brunfelsia, split-leaf philodendron, bird-of-paradise and others.

One of my favorite groups of tropicals is the gingers. Native to tropical or semitropical regions, gingers flourish in the heat, rain and humidity of Louisiana summers.

Photos by Kathy Anderson / The Times-Picayune'The framing is finished, the roof is on, the exterior sheathing has been installed. You can really see what it's going to look like. I have had this house in my head for two years, and it is amazing to see it become a reality,' Gentinetta says.

NOTE: A month ago, framing was almost complete at the home that Karina Gentinetta and her husband, A.J. McAlear, are building in Lakeview to replace the one they lost to Hurricane Katrina. Since then, progress has continued, despite a hiccup that could have shut down the project for six weeks.

"It has been such a wonderful experience watching this house come out of the ground," Karina Gentinetta said of her new home, which is taking shape on Louisville Street.

Her only regret, she says, is that she didn't start it building sooner. Gentinetta had hired a local developer to oversee the fabrication, delivery and completion of a modular home. But after the modular manufacturer hired by the developer shut its doors, Gentinetta was left waiting, despite having advanced more than $90,000. Unable to reclaim the money, she sued the developer and modular company and moved ahead with a site-built home.

THE NEIGHBORHOOD: Lakeview, one of the neighborhoods hit hardest by the floodwater of Hurricane Katrina, is still in the process of rebuilding. The area is bounded roughly by Robert E. Lee Boulevard on the north, I-610 on the south, Orleans Avenue on the east and West End Boulevard on the west. In the city's early years, the land was owned by an order of Capuchin priests, then sold to Don Almonester y Roxas, a wealthy Spaniard who paid to rebuild St. Louis Cathedral and fathered the woman who built the Pontalba Apartments at Jackson Square. Later, Alexander Milne owned the land, which was uninhabitable because of its swampy nature. It wasn't until the early 1900s, when drainage of the area began, that streets were constructed, lots subdivided and the New Orleans Land Co. began offering property for sale. Most of Lakeview's original homes were built between 1910 and World War II and reflect the styles popular at the time, from Craftsman bungalows to cottages with a Mediterranean feel. Residents were drawn by the large lots, modern amenities (such as parking and service alleys accessing the rear of lots) and proximity to Lake Pontchartrain. Today, older homes are being renovated and new homes in a variety of sizes and styles are rising where others were lost to floodwater.

THE BLOCK: The 500 block of Harrison Avenue on the even-numbered side of the street, between Louisville and Louis XIV streets. The block is entirely residential and bisected by a service alley that offers rear yard access to homes on Louisville and Louis XIV. Across the street is the Touche Cafe (formerly Charlie's Deli), where locals go for hot breakfasts as well as plate lunches and po-boys. The Harrison Avenue Marketplace takes place every second Wednesday of the month just a few blocks away.

THE HOUSES: Six eclectic cottages, three on each side of the alley and all probably original to the block. All are stucco and two retain their red tile roofs. Though other identifying characteristics vary, every house has an arched-top entryway, an element that ties them together.

Stephanie Bruno / The Times-PicayuneThese houses, original to Lakeview, are bigger than they look at first glance because of two-story rear portions, screened porches and elevated wings sprouting from the single-story facades.

We are entering an active time of the year in the vegetable garden, when we begin to focus on late summer and fall vegetables.

This time of year, vegetable gardens include warm season vegetables (many of the same ones we plant in spring) and cool season vegetables. Visit local nurseries to see what vegetable transplants and seeds are available this month. You can also order seeds from seed catalogs.

With high food prices on everyone's mind, there seems to be renewed interest in home vegetable gardening. You can grow fresh, high quality, delicious vegetables at home, but you must be willing to spend time learning how to grow them if you expect to be successful.

InsideOut takes a look this week at an award-winning three-story double that offers a modern twist on the traditional camelback. This Mold House revisits the modular housing concept, and Varied Treasure tells you how to replace that odd piece of china or piece of silver lost to Katrina floodwaters. And Personal Space explores an artist's studio on Magazine Street that is as much about healing as it is about decor.

PHOTOS BY ELIOT KAMENITZ / THE TIMES-PICAYUNEArtist Anastasia Pelias spent two years renovating her Magazine Street home after Katrina.

THE HOME: A two-story Victorian on Magazine Street

THE OWNER: Artist Anastasia Pelias

THE SPACE: Her first-floor studio

WHY SHE LOVES IT: 'It's a very happy space. Good things, hopefully, are happening here.'

PHOTOS BY JENNIFER ZDON / THE TIMES-PICAYUNEA modular house on West End Boulevard is aimed at the higher-end client.

Sometimes, driving along bumpy Lakeview streets on my way home, I play a game. I'll spot a trim new house, with perfectly pitched roof, earth-toned wood siding, shutter-edged windows and shaded front porch bounded by white-picket rails, and try to decide: Stick-built or modular?

A new crop of houses is popping up in my neck of the woods, and surface similarities can make their construction origins hard to figure.

MISSING PIECES I: Chuck Bruno of River Ridge said he felt terrible when several pieces of his grandmother's 16-place setting of vintage Noritake china were shattered while he was packing to move to a new home. "I used (the china) all the time, and I was devastated, " he said. "I tried to look in a few stores and some antique shops, but the pattern was discontinued." An online search turned up North Carolina-based Replacements Ltd, which specializes in replacing missing pieces of china, silver and other collectibles. He contacted the company to inquire about replacing a gravy boat, two small butter dishes and a serving platter. After being told the requested pieces were in stock, he decided to visit the company's warehouse, since he planned to be in the Greensboro area the following month. "The experience I had there was one of kind, " said Bruno. He discovered that craftsmen could fabricate new pieces from old patterns, and opted to have a cheese server made for his set. "They used a salad plate, drilled a hole in it, put a foot on it and added a dome." Although he admits that he would have paid whatever price necessary to replace his sentimental treasures, he says the cost was moderate.

Discovery networks chose New Orleans for the launch of a new series on its newly rebranded Planet Green channel. Hip-hopper Ludacris and rocker Tommy Lee star in 'Battleground Earth,' a reality show that has the two musicians competing against each other in evironmentally oriented challenges. First up: building a pair of 'LifePods' in the Lower 9th Ward. TV columnist Dave Walker takes a look in InsideOut. Personal Space visits a Warehouse District loft, perfectly poised for tonight's White Linen Night festivities on Julia Street, and This Mold House examines a Lakeview familiy's experience raising their house with a slab separation process. New Orleans Handyman Craig Loewe discovers squirrels in his attic, and Green Thumb garden writer Dan Gill has advice on one last run of summer flowers.

KATHY ANDERSON / THE TIMES-PICAYUNEThe view from the balcony of the Boettners' Warehouse District condo is not to be missed.

THE HOME: A fifth-floor penthouse in Mills Row in the Warehouse District

THE OWNERS: Eddie and Mary Boettner

THE SPACE: Their kitchen/living room

WHY THEY LOVE IT: 'I love the open kitchen, because I can socialize while I'm preparing something, with everyone in the same room, ' she says. 'I love all the natural light, ' he says.

ELIOT KAMENITZ / THE TIMES-PICAYUNEA split-level Lakeview cottage, flooded after Hurricane Katrina, was raised using a slab-separation process.

August 2005 must have marked a real-estate high-water mark in New Orleans. So to speak.

But really, I run into so many people who had just bought new homes when Hurricane Katrina headed our way.

Witness the Collinses, a postcard-perfect family, mom, dad and three adorable kids ages 2, almost 4 and 6, who live on a particularly leafy block of Marshal Foch Street. Landscaped yard, toys strewn across a light-filled playroom, beautiful woodwork, great kitchen. Idyllic, you think.

Until you learn that they closed on their split-level 1950s-era Lakeview cottage on Aug. 15, 2005.

David Johnson / Planet GreenMotley Crue drummer Tommy Lee and hip-hop star Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges face off as the 'posse' leaders of 'Battleground Earth.' Despite the on-screen competition, the two have become friends. 'He's a similar soul,' says Ludacris of Lee. 'He's all about doing this for the kids.'

Given the carbon-hog power consumption of a typical concert tour -- those long bus rides, dazzling light shows and thundering amp stacks flat-out guzzle the juice -- having Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee and hip-hop star Chris "Ludacris" Bridges front a new TV series all about eco-sensitivity might seem like a slap at dedicated tree-huggers.

But both men are fathers of young children and eager to learn more about how they can reduce their own Gaia-defiling boot-prints. So here comes "Battleground Earth," a 10-episode series in which Lee and Ludacris travel the nation competing in reality-TV-style challenges intended to educate both themselves and their audience about practical green living.

I talk to many gardeners who feel that summers in south Louisiana are simply too long and hot for flower beds to stay attractive the entire season, which runs from April/May until October.

Indeed, look around and you'll see plantings already past their prime, ones that will not hang in there a few more months until it's time to put in cool-season bedding plants. Some bedding plants simply don't have the stamina or the heat tolerance to look good through our summer growing season. Insects and diseases also take their toll.

Ted Jackson / The Times-PicayuneBart Everson, his wife, Christy Paxson, and their baby, Persephone, pose with their freshly lead-remediated and repainted home at 215 N. Salcedo St. in New Orleans. The house was repainted free of charge thanks to a program offered by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN.

NOTE: Six months ago, Bart Everson's and Christy Paxson's post-Katrina renovation was more or less complete, baby Persephone had arrived, and Endymion had been welcomed back to Mid-City with a party in their basement. Just one major item remained on their to-do list, and now that one is almost done. Here's an update.

Early this year, when Christy Paxson was pregnant and Bart Everson was toiling away staining the window sash in his basement, Everson got to thinking about lead paint and the impending arrival of the couple's first child.

"New Orleans is known for having a problem with lead paint," he said. Lead dust has been shown to have adverse health effects on children who ingest it. "Some researchers even believe that lead poisoning is tied to the high rates of violence in the city. So it seemed to me to be a good idea to find out about our house."

THE NEIGHBORHOOD: Historically called Rickerville, a subdivision of Jefferson City (included in the Uptown Historic District). Rickerville, the most upriver segment of Jefferson City, extended from modern-day Valmont Street on the east to Joseph Street on the west, and from the Mississippi River on the south to about where Claiborne Avenue is today. Between 1845 and 1849, Benjamin Buisson and W.T. Thompson devised a subdivision plan for the land, owned by the Ricker family and others. Peters Avenue -- now Jefferson -- was the new subdivision's primary thoroughfare, and the streets flanking it were named for Leontine and Octavine Ricker, two of the owners of the original plantation.

THE BLOCK: The odd or lake side of the 5400 block of Coliseum Street, bounded by Jefferson, Octavia, Chestnut and Camp. The schoolyard of Benjamin Franklin Elementary School is across the street, and shops and cafes on Magazine Street are just a few blocks toward the river.

THE HOUSES: A trio of houses of varying size, type and style, including two sidehall shotguns and a highly original raised house in the Eastlake style, bordering on the Queen Anne style.

Photos by Stephanie Bruno / The Times-PicayuneA trio of houses in the 5400 block of Coliseum Street relate interestingly to one another, with architectural details that are both varied and similiar.

I watch the weather, trying to plan ahead for good days to take a Street Walk. But this week, the forecast threatens rain every day, so I choose a destination close to home.

I am rewarded, for the gray skies and threatening clouds of the morning give way to blue and sun by the time I find myself in the 5400 block of Coliseum Street, just a few blocks from my home.

It took us more than a year after Hurricane Katrina to complete garage roof repairs.

They involved replacing about 20 square feet of sheeting and shingles where a 60-foot pine tree had repositioned itself during the storm.

Before that, some plastic sheeting had provided a temporary fix to keep out the rain, but it failed to discourage a family of squirrels from nesting in my garage over the winter.

With the more pressing demand of extricating my wife, Barbara, and myself from our FEMA trailer, I had simply ignored the vermin. This proved to be a costly mistake.

Robert Gassiot and Michael Clement dared to be different in their renovation of a Camp Street sidehall shotgun. They added a metal 'tower' at the back, tucked out of view, that adds modern spaciousness while preserving historic charm. Take a look in InsideOut. Meanwhile, garden writer Dan Gill offers tips on sustainable gardening, Craig Loewe takes a second look at water (dis)colors on the north shore, and Personal Space visits a pair of young artists who found their dream home in an Upper 9th Ward shed. This Mold House previews a visit to Lakeview by HGTV's final two 'Design Stars,' and Long Road Home has some cool news to report about James Perry's Esplanade Ridge rebuild.

PHOTOS BY CHRIS GRANGER / THE TIMES-PICAYUNERobert Gassiot and Michael Clement added a two-story metal 'tower, ' just visible at the end of the driveway, to the rear of their historic Camp Street sidehall shotgun.

Sometimes first impressions can be misleading. Consider the case of a house on Camp Street, recently renovated by Robert Gassiot and Michael Clement. Head-on, it looks like a beautifully restored side-hall shotgun from the late 1800s. But peek down the driveway and a startlingly contemporary addition comes into view.

"It isn't really a camelback because it doesn't span the full width of the house, " Gassiot said. "It's more like a tower. We knew when we bought the house in 2006 that we needed more room, but ideas for the design of the addition developed over about a year."

"I have always liked the contrast between the modern and the historic, " Clement added. "Our house isn't a museum, and I like the idea that the tower and our furnishings show a process of evolution. I think the reason it all works is that we tied the old to the new with proportion and color."

"Will, for sure, " Katherine said as she keyed numbers into her phone.

"I like Katee, " I replied. "Vote for her, too."

Yes, we're among the millions of fellow dorky Americans who actually phone in votes for contestants on "So You Think You Can Dance" and "American Idol."

Call it guilty pleasure or electronic escapism, but, for me, reality shows still rock. (I read books, too. Really. Well, thrillers, anyway.)

When "Design Star" unveils its final challenge on Sunday, July 27, most viewers will be concentrating on the dueling contestants, decorators Matt Locke, 38, and Jennifer Bertrand, 33.

For New Orleanians, the families they're designing for might resonate more.

"When you're the family provider, and it's three years later and the work's still not done, it's hard not to feel like you're failing, " said Mike Gowland, a fire captain who lives a stone's throw from the 17th Street Canal and who talks eloquently about life in New Orleans post-K. (He's also Mr. September in the 2008 firefighter's calendar.)

KENNETH HARRISON / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE

I have always thought of gardening as a "green" activity. Indeed, the business that includes wholesale nursery growers, retail nurseries and landscape installation and maintenance companies has long been known as the "green industry."

Times are changing, however, and the term "green" today describes businesses and activities that focus on sustainability and lessen our effects on the environment. That includes finding alternative energy sources, conserving energy and using recycled or sustainable building materials and techniques.