Explore this home and two other outstanding examples of New Orleans’ Mid-Century Modern design at the 2026 MidMod Home Tour & Happy Hour on June 17 from 5-8 p.m.
Three years ago, Curtis Herring was happy in his Broadmoor home. He wasn’t looking for a new one. He was just poking around on his phone one day, curious about a real estate app.
And there it was: a midcentury-modern beauty on a corner, shaded by the boughs of two mature oak trees in a neighborhood he had never heard of.
Designed by Tulane University-educated architect Leonard Dreyfus and built in 1962 for Moise Alaynick and his family, the clean-lined brick abode had a roof that peaked at 18 feet and a proud chimney a few feet from a pair of sleek entry doors with horizontal glass panes. There were no shutters, no frills to detract from the home’s inherent simple beauty. The only breaks in the brick façade’s clean expanses were three inset panels of vertical tongue-and-groove boards spaced across the front, within which oper-able sliding windows were set.
It had stood empty for two years. It smelled musty; the carpet in the bedrooms and hallway magnified the smell. A nonsensical two-sided wooden louvered closet divided the entryway and the living room.
But Herring saw right through it.
The original terrazzo floors were in fine condition. An interior designer by trade, Herring started placing his existing collection of contemporary, antique and custom-designed furniture in the living room, flipping things around in his head until it all fit.
His Barcelona chairs would go here, the Eames side table there, his Parsons cocktail table of burled olive wood at the center and, across from it, the curvaceous Flexsteel sectional sofa on which he had sucked his thumb as a baby.
“I knew right where my 12-foot Christmas tree would go,” Herring said.
He saw himself lounging in the large rectangular swimming pool, part of the home’s original design.
“It would be like living on vacation,” Herring, a native of Shreveport-Bossier, said.
He made an offer, sealed the deal and started packing.
Since moving into what he now feels is his forever home, Herring has made a few changes. He removed the carpet in the hallway and three bedrooms and replaced it with wood-plank flooring. He tossed the double-sided closet, retaining only the structural framing to create a streamlined, open display shelf for his ceramics collection. He widened the narrow kitchen peninsula to create a more spacious counter for casual dining. A white quartz countertop extends atop the peninsula and across a new buffet and bar area with cherry wood cabinetry.
He consulted with color expert Louis Aubert, only to settle on a gentle rust color he already had in mind for the exterior wood insets, soffit and fascia.
“It feels like it was meant to be,” Herring said. “I feel like I have always been here.”
