Project House Part 2
A Balancing Act: Demolition, Preservation and Styling
Demolition has begun on our Project House villas under the guidance of Sara McDaniel, who is salvaging as many aspects as she can while dreaming up interior designs.
WRITTEN BY AUTUMN KRAUSE
|TOP| CLEAR VISION. Demolition is a revelatory stage that shows what can be salvaged and what must go. Sara learned that the desks and telephone nooks in the villas have lead-based paint. “Because that paint is toxic, it’s too dangerous to save those pieces,” she says. But, driven by her commitment to preserving the villas’ style for generations to come, she’s been able find a woodworker who can build replicas and install them exactly in the same spots as the originals.
PHOTOGRAPHED BY HECTOR SANCHEZ
|LEFT| SMALL-TOWN CHARM. Project House Louisiana is located in Minden, Louisiana (population 13,000). It’s a bustling, friendly city with charm to spare.
|TOP, LEFT| BLUE + YELLOW. The blue and yellow tiles in this villa’s bathroom inspired the rest of the design. Sara has crafted a cheery and elegant Laura Ashley suite (see the mood boards on page 116) that plays off the tiles’ beautifully vibrant color combination.