Room of the Day: Revising History in a New Orleans Bath

For Machi Medrzycki, owner of the construction company MLM in Metairie, Louisiana, learning about history while working on the fabled old homes in the New Orleans area is half the fun. “You find out how the people who came before us lived and what they liked,” he says. “The old houses have real character.” While he was working with the owner of this early 1900s dwelling to convert it from two townhouses into a single home, construction laid the place’s history bare and, deciding it was beautiful, they left it for the family to enjoy.

The room was once a bedroom with a tiled floor.

AFTER: Although the 6-inch-wide barge boards remain, albeit cleaned and sealed, the room has been recast as the bathroom for the master suite. Medrzycki says these old planks were brought into New Orleans on Mississippi River barges and are not to be confused with the decorative panels that act as fascias on the gables of older homes. The homeowner found their rustic good looks irresistible and chose to leave them exposed.

Medrzycki points to the darkened plank on the right as an example of what he appreciates in old houses. “This was caused by a fire sometime in the home’s history,” he says. “Judging by the burn pattern, and because there had never been electricity in this spot before now, I am guessing it was a candle fire.” Now, the remnant of what must have been a heart-stopping moment of panic is a badge of honor.

Medrzycki built the vanities to the homeowner’s specifications and detailed and stained them in a way that makes them look like vintage furniture pieces.

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Room of the Day: Revising History in a New Orleans Bath