Variety spices Bay-Waveland architecture, home tour
"Variety is the Spice of Architecture" is the theme of the Bay-Waveland Garden Club's 2016 Spring Pilgrimage Home Tour, noon to 4 p.m. March 19. The complementary tour will begin with registration at 11 a.m. at the Old Town Presbyterian Church, 114 Ulman Ave. in Bay St. Louis, where visitors can get maps and brochures and enjoy light refreshments.
The venues on the tour this year are:
Abode
Abode is the vacation rental property of Kevin Jordan. This historical building, which was the home of a dry cleaner's shop in the 1950s and 1960s, was heavily damaged in Hurricane Katrina. Jordan completely restored it into three rental units with an indoor pool. The media room was once the fur room, where local women stored their furs for the summer.
The inviting 3,500 square-foot courtyard is a tropical oasis of palms and plants. The open ceiling continues the outdoor feel of the courtyard, where guests can enjoy the pool, foosball, a grill and a shower.
The interior design featuring wood ceilings, plaster walls and colors the same as the exterior give the feeling of always being in a courtyard. Jordan incorporated his collection of doors and windows from other projects into this unique property.
Maxwell's House
At the other end of the architectural spectrum is Maxwell's House, the 138-year-old home of Charles Gray. Built in 1878, it has been beautifully restored.
This antique home is in good hands with Gray, who, as executive director of the Hancock County Historical Society, cherishes all things historic and the opportunity to share them with others.
Other features visitors will enjoy viewing in this property are wide plank flooring, an old New Orleans streetcar door used as a room divider and Gray's collection of purchases from his travels abroad as well as inherited pieces, such as his grandmother's 1776 Louis XVI sofa and chairs, which made their way from Virginia to Mississippi on a covered wagon.
Gregory home
The modern New Orleans courtyard-style home of Joseph and Debra Gregory, built in 2002, is in the picturesque Cedar Point area of Bay St. Louis. This two-story home boasts spacious rooms on both levels. The downstairs entry way leads out to a modern kitchen with a stunning stone island. A large master bedroom and office space also are on this level.
An inviting courtyard pool with a waterfall is the perfect place to unwind outdoors. And, if you want to unwind with a movie, a media room awaits you upstairs where you will find two more spacious bedrooms.
Family artwork will be displayed throughout the home.
Parson home
In Waveland is the Tiny House Nation home of Birmingham, Ala., Realtor Pye Parson. The 575 square-foot home is nestled in the arm of an oak tree. The tree is near enough to seemingly shake your hand at the top of the entry stairs, which lead into an efficient kitchen as the center of the home. A cozy loft is above the kitchen and to the south is a porch with a beautiful view of the peaceful wooded area and the beach. The main bedroom windows allow you to not only wake to the sounds of the native birds but to have a close up look at the morning greeters.
St. Clare Catholic Church
The church featured on the tour this year is St. Clare Catholic Church in Waveland. When Hurricane Katrina's winds finally died down on the evening of Aug. 29, 2005, the five buildings on the property were but a memory. For five more years the parishioners worshiped in a Quonset hut. The construction of the new church began in October 2009 and was completed in September 2010.
About the same time Mother Nature destroyed St. Clare, St. Isadore Parish in Cuba, Ohio, was decommissioned and awaiting manmade demolition. Eight 4-foot-by-9-foot stained glass windows from St. Isadore were donated to St. Clare as well as their 80-year-old Hinners pipe organ. The Stations of the Cross were donated by St. Mary's Parish in Junction, Ohio, which was also being closed at that time.
The statues of The Blessed Mother, Jesus' Most Sacred Heart, The Holy Family, Saint Joseph with the Infant Jesus, and St. Clare were recovered from the rubble and restored as well as the marble tops of the main and Tabernacle altars, weighing 800 and 500 pounds respectively.
The only structure to survive Katrina is the Shrine to the Blessed Mother, built and dedicated in 1960 on the front of the property.
Visitors are invited to view the St. Joseph Altar, which will be presented by the ladies of St. Clare Parish on the day of the tour.
In addition the their annual Spring Pilgrimage Tour the Bay-Waveland Garden Club's 47 members provide other services to the communities of Bay St. Louis and Waveland, such as registration of Live oak trees, poster contests in elementary schools teaching fire safety and appreciation of the environment, garden therapy at a local nursing home, Arbor Day plantings, flower shows and an educational program at their regular monthly meetings.
For more information on the tour, call 467-1068.
This story was originally published March 10, 2016 at 11:00 PM with the headline "Variety spices Bay-Waveland architecture, home tour ."