The street view of Jill Dupre and Josh Mayer’s raised centerhall cottage betrays the home’s spacious, airy and boldly artistic feel. A gracious front porch leads to a grand, eight-foot-wide hall with traditional double parlors to the left and a sunny home office and master suite to the right. The hall features an oversized barge board-framed mirror made from boards salvaged from their previous home in the Bywater, as well as a rickshaw that Josh brought back after working in Bangkok, Thailand for four years. The rickshaw serves as a symbol of their love of travel and of things always moving in and out of their lives. Josh often gives the kids rides up and down the hall in it, and they even took it out for Mardi Gras one year.
Jill Dupre, an artist and designer, has been curating her home for years and has a fresh perspective on color and scale. Her eclectic style includes elements of Bohemian, modern and historic design. She likes to use “colors and textures that don’t ‘match’ but are in harmony,” she said, and suggests that all homeowners always keep a little of themselves in their design.
The design allows the formality of a historic home to work for a modern family with teenage kids while also utilizing the entire square footage. The pool in the backyard is an oasis canopied by a huge live oak with ample room for entertaining.
The family’s impressive art collection includes many pieces won at fundraising events for nonprofits, and almost all were bought locally. Artist Rebecca Rebouché, a friend of the family, painted ‘The Family Tree’ in the den. To create these works, which are like portraits but use imagery instead of faces, Rebouché interviews the family and then incorporates their personalities, adding her own magical sense of who they are. Another favorite piece is ‘The Girl on the Street’ photograph by family friend Katherine Slingluff, which was the first piece of art Jill and Josh purchased for this home and is displayed in the living room. A third noteworthy piece is ‘Uncle Sam Rides the Rocket’ by local artist Skylar Fein, which hangs in the hallway. As a graphic designer, Jill is a big fan of graphic art and graffiti; this piece was won at a charity auction and brings her much joy.
Join us for the Shotgun House Tour on April 22 and 23 to see this home and other fine examples of New Orleans’ iconic shotgun houses.
Photos by Sara Essex Bradley
