The renovation of a historic Southdowns home honors past and present, as it is reimagined for the Bailey family
Modern home design is just not me—especially with an older home like this,” Kelly Bailey says of her family’s Southdowns home, originally built in the late 1940s. And for the recent renovation, it was the character and charm of the past that drove the decisions for the Baileys and local design professional Hillary Hooper.
“The home came with a personality, and we did not want to lose that,” Hillary explains. “They bought the home because they loved it, and they loved the charm of it. And the goal is not to change that, but to enhance it more.”
After purchasing the home in 2017, the family of five (Kelly, her husband Dane and their three young children) moved just a short distance from the other side of Southdowns to their new historic home, settled on an acre lot with expansive front and back yards—a combination that is few and far between in the neighborhood.
“We previously lived in an older home on the opposite side of Lee Drive that we just loved, but these acre lots rarely come up—only three people have lived in this home before us, or so I’m told—so we had to jump on it,” Kelly says. And with all the charm of a historic home along with a yard to rival those beyond Baton Rouge city limits, right in the heart of the coveted neighborhood, the purchase was a no-brainer.
After spending a few years making the house their home and getting a lay of their new land, Kelly and Dane decided it was time to make some changes to the space. At the top of the list was a covered garage. “Having young kids, I was just sick of getting soaking wet trying to get them in and out of the car,” Kelly says.
Hillary brought in Kyle Treloar of ALT Residential Design Studio and builder Brian Aucoin with Meridian Homes to take on the project, which ended up taking a little over a year from start to completion due to the addition of other spaces as the renovation progressed.
“As we began, they realized that other outdated spaces wouldn’t match the rest of their home, so it just kind of spiraled into a whole home renovation, with the primary bathroom, guest house and more getting added to the list,” Hillary explains. “We had a hand in pretty much every room in the home.”
To functionally accompany the space right off the garage, a colorful bathroom for the kids was added—so they can get straight in the shower after a sports game rather than tracking the field across the home, Kelly says—along with a mudroom complete with lockers for each member of the family. “The kids are still learning to use them,” Kelly says with a laugh.
In the downstairs bathroom, playful patterns and colors, along with luxury amenities, keep the house current. Primarily for the kids, the space also gets plenty of use from the parents now that it houses their in-home sauna. “We originally had our sauna out in the guest house, and moving it inside has made it much more convenient,” Kelly says.
Also adding convenience, more space and an impressive view of the large front yard, in addition to its obvious functions, is the new dining room, which Kelly calls a huge win.
“My husband was wary of this and if we would actually use it, but someone is always sitting there,” she says. “It’s where my son builds his LEGOs and where we eat dinner every night as a family. It’s great for entertaining, and it’s opened up the kitchen space so much.”
Prior to renovating, a dining room table stood where the lounge area is now—complete with playful yet nostalgic custom green gingham chairs and an antique commode and Louis Phillipe mirror—and Kelly says whoever was unlucky enough to be sitting closest to the fridge would likely get hit by the door any time it was opened.
“It just feels better,” Kelly says of the dining room addition, and no longer having a hazardous chair at the table. “Before, it felt closed off, and it didn’t seem like the room should end where it did.”
Moving the kitchen island and adding an additional lounge space to keep the cook company, the flow and ease of the spaces, while still being more of a closed floor plan, adds to the character. “It just provides more spaces for people to go,” Hillary says.
One thing Kelly was wary of with the dining room addition—and the rest of the home—during the design process was making sure the integrity of the house remained intact. “I didn’t want it to look like an addition,” Kelly explains.
“We wanted it to have the same old-style charm, but in a modernized version,” Hillary says. “It had to look like it had been there, and paid tribute to how the home was originally designed.”
Hillary says that this balance of timeless design that still feels current is all about choosing the right materials, colors and finishes, specifically, choosing those with warmth and depth. “The home is for a young family,” she explains. “The goal was to make the home feel inviting and cozy, rather than stark and sterile.”
Choosing natural finishes, like metals, unlacquered brass and other materials that would have been used back in the day—and that many people stay away from because they are more expensive and easily tarnish—was key to keeping that vintage feel.
“That’s where the character comes from, with these finishes that are authentic to that particular period of time,” Hillary says. “And luckily, Kelly is very in tune with this, understanding what nice finishes can do for your space. They create an ambiance. The heart and personality found in the natural metals and materials chosen can create an overall feeling.”
Honoring the needs of the young family while also honoring the character of the old home, a timeless blend of new and old lays the foundation for the future of the family members and the next era for the home.
