Open Architecture Network

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Mona Lisa Saloy's double shotgun home in New Orleans' 7th Ward was flooded by Hurricane Katrina. This was the house in which she was born and had been in the family ever since. Mona Lisa is a poet who was living in half of the home and renting the other half at the time of the flood. She had recently renovated the interior of her side but had kept the historic character of the house. After Katrina, she lost almost all of her possesions and had to gut the house. The next spring, Architecture For Humanity's Tracy Nelson and architect Maureen Ness worked with Mona Lisa to design the renovation to save the home. It was to be raised above the flood level and rehabilitated to its historic nature. During the process, Mona Lisa made the difficult decision to instead demolish the home and rebuild on the same site so the plans were not used.