Within 25 miles of New Orleans, an estate with a large main home, guesthouse, manicured acreage and casual opulence is waiting in St. Bernard, complete with a large pool, private lake and abundant entertaining areas.
Touches of classic architecture are woven throughout the home. There are elements of Grecian style in the columns, French Provencal touches in the woodwork, Italian embellishments in the ceilings and more European influences in coffered ceilings and stained glass.
A circle parking pad is the entree spot for the elegant home in St. Bernard.
But an underlying Southern charm blends the diverse accents into a harmonious contemporary estate with relaxed Old World elegance in a pastoral setting of more than 30 acres, just minutes from downtown New Orleans.
The package, including the three-bedroom main house with more than 5,600 square feet, a two-bedroom guesthouse and all that acreage, is priced at $1.7 million.
Approaching the home, a water feature and broad walkway lead to the front porch.
Wrought-iron arched front doors are the entrance to the home’s ornate foyer, complete with gilded coved ceiling. The formal dining room is to the right, and the office is to the left.
A pair of arched wrought-iron front doors form the portal to the manse, leading into a hall with inlaid marble floors and gilded vaulted ceiling.
The formal dining room is an elegant space with many architectural details.
To the left, the formal dining room is accessed through double doorways with a leaded-glass transom. The floor-length windows on the front of the home bring in natural light to the generous space, framed in architectural details including an ornate ceiling medallion.
The office sits off the foyer, with views of the property’s front lawn.
To the right of the front hall, glass doors lead into what currently is used as an office, a handsome space with floor-length arched windows, intricately adorned cabinets and shelves and a recessed dome ceiling. The space could also serve as a formal sitting room.
The living room has a wall of windows overlooking the extensive offerings of the back yard. A wet bar is located to the right.
The hall leads to the living room, a showplace of glass overlooking the backyard. It has access to a wet bar and the additional rooms of the home. The grand space is anchored by a large fireplace with carved surround. The bar, tucked into the side wall, features arched columns, a stained-glass light and bar seating overlooking the room.
The breakfast room sits by a bayed wall of windows overlooking the robust outdoor covered patio. It’s also connected to the home’s professional-grade kitchen.
An island with seating creates a divider between the culinary center and the den of the large space.
The column motif is repeated opposite the bar into the casual dining area and kitchen, a continuous space that benefits from a bay of glass walls overlooking the back.
The kitchen, with marble counters and an abundance of glass-front cabinets, is demarcated by an island with additional seating, making it a cozy spot for conversation with the chef during meal preparation. Stainless appliances gleam in the light of the twin chandeliers that hang over the bar. A pantry has more cabinets and counters for food prep and staging.
The home’s great room is a dual-sector space with a formal sitting area at the front featuring a large stone fireplace. The rear sector has a solarium feeling with walls of windows overlooking the outdoors.
Past the pantry lies the home’s great room, a majestic space with two sectors topped by coffered ceilings. The sector to the front of the home features floor-length arched windows and a massive stone fireplace, while the sector to the back evokes a tropical feel of outdoor living with wall-size windows on three sides and access to the outdoors through two doors, both to covered patio areas.
On the other side of the home, the bedrooms enjoy a separate wing connected to public rooms by a hall with a convenient powder room.
One of the two additional bedrooms in the main house is a large space with ample light.
Two bedrooms sit at the front of the home, with access to a full bathroom at the end of the hall. The two-chambered bathroom features a vanity in one section, with the tub and shower in the second.
The primary suite has access to the rear patio through a pair of twin glass doors. It’s also large enough for a sitting area.
The primary suite is a window-filled space with room for a seating area. The room has double walk-in closets and features double glass doors leading to the main covered patio behind the home.
The spas of Europe seem to have cast their influence over the primary bath.
The bathroom conjures images of European spas, with a trayed ceiling and large soaking tub beneath an oversized window that is flanked by niches with cabinetry and twin vanities. A standing shower at the far end and a water closet complete the room.
Aquatic adventures await in the home’s large in-ground pool.
A pavilion with decorative touches and a vaulted ceiling makes a marvelous spot for outdoor meals or entertaining evenings.
The elegant ambiance continues into the outdoor spaces. A broad tile-covered patio, grounded by a large stone fireplace, has sitting and dining areas overlooking the lake, with its twin footbridges and island. It also looks over the large and stately pool, connected to a pavilion prime for enjoying al fresco dining or entertaining. Another side patio, off the great room, greatly enhances the amount of exterior entertaining space.
An open floor plan in the guest house offers plentiful space for a living room and dining room combination off the kitchen.
A short stroll away, down a gravel path beneath moss-draped oaks, is a guesthouse. Inside, a full kitchen opens onto the main room that serves as dining and living space. Two bedrooms share a full bathroom.
Twin footbridges connect the central island to the shores of the smaller of the two water features on the property.
Elsewhere on the property, stocked fish and crawfish ponds provide sport and dining delights.
The home is listed by Angela Discon, of Keller Williams Realty 455-0100, (504) 554-8267.