Owner and Preservationist, Southkick | Rolf Preservation Works
If Michelle Stanard Duhon had her way, more people would listen to the needs of old buildings — and the advice of people trained to preserve them. As an owner and preservationist with Southkick | Rolf Preservation Works, Duhon helps clients navigate the complex world of historic structures.
“A lot of architects, owners, contractors get their hands on an old building and immediately start applying new construction methods and materials to it — because that’s what everyone knows,” said Duhon. “People love to put cement on historic buildings, latex paint … all in the name of making a building perform better. But a lot of times, it lacks background knowledge of how those changes are going to impact the overall performance of a historic structure.”
Duhon grew up in what she calls an “architecturally interesting” modern home in Dallas, but visits to family in Mobile, Alabama exposed her to a different aesthetic. “All these old houses and dripping Spanish moss … it always kind of spoke to me,” said Duhon. “I knew from an early age that I wanted to work with old buildings.” That desire led to a master’s in historic preservation from the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture, a program emphasizing hands-on conservation work, preparing Duhon for the field work — and construction site visits. According to Duhon, the need for hands-on preservation experts outpaces supply.
“Even people coming out of preservation programs aren’t necessarily interested in working with their hands, learning how to use tools. So, there’s not a very big community of us here that know how to properly repoint old masonry or repair plaster. This city is full of those materials, and those materials need to be restored.”
The increased demand has been fueled in part by historic preservation tax credits. That’s true in New Orleans and, increasingly, the rest of Louisiana. Statewide tax credits rose to 25 percent, and for rural areas (including the Northshore, Gretna and much of Metairie) to 35 percent. “So, we’re starting to see this huge amount of interest from areas just outside of New Orleans,” said Duhon.
Duhon advises patience (especially obtaining permits), putting plans on paper — and setting a realistic scope. “I think people make the mistake of thinking that a medium-level renovation exists. It really doesn’t. You’re either doing cosmetic work or you’re doing the full thing.”
Duhon loves solving the mysteries presented by old structures, like the puzzling addition to an Esplanade Avenue home that turned out to be its first bathroom, a technological wonder in its day. She is also committed to the “green” upside of adapting and reusing existing structures and the energy savings that entails.
While she acknowledges that preservation poses challenges, for Duhon the benefits are clear: “For me, my soul kind of lives off of historic art and architecture.”
