In New Orleans, we live as much outside as in. From a bird’s eye view, swimming pools, tropical gardens and iron work as ornate as lace decorate our neighborhoods, from the Bywater to the Black Pearl.
Fransen Mills is the top name in creating custom outdoor design in the city. The firm was founded in 1980 by René Fransen, a master of the art of landscape design, an expert horticulturist and a member of multiple city boards, including being president of Save Our Cemeteries and also the Longue Vue House and Gardens at one time.
While he sold the company to his business partner of 15 years, John Mills, in 2020 — René carries on a legacy he’s created, focused around a motto of, “It can be done.”
“It’s funny,” offers Fransen, “I noticed early in my career, that no one is happy with what they have. People in Mobile, Alabama want to look out and see New Orleans. People in the south of France might want Belgium. We have clients ask for all sorts of things, and I feel it’s our job to do the research and the work make those fantasies come true.”
The firm he began more than four decades prior has become synonymous with luxury outdoor visions, from custom swimming pools to water features, exotic foliage and visually striking flora. Fransen Mills employs five people, including two architects, and it takes only a handful of jobs annually, ensuring they can work to realize even the most challenging aims of their clients.
The diversity of their portfolio is admirable, with no project too petite. Fransen Mills has worked on pocket-sized French Quarter courtyards as often as the sprawling grounds of grand hotels. The portfolio includes a 2,000-acre estate in Mississippi, a working ranch in the Hill Country of Texas, and expansion plans for the Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat on the French Riviera. HGTV once featured Fransen’s work in an episode staring a historic Gothic Revival, and his own courtyard was photographed for the book, “The Secret Gardens of the Vieux Carré.”
Crafting interpersonal relationships is essential, as landscape architecture demands intense attention to detail, structural plans and inventive thinking. “We truly specialize in high-end design,” he continues, “but before we get to the visuals of plants and planting, our work is taken from a technical, architectural standpoint. We look at drainage and gradient. I need to see a landscape completely built before I can even think about the plants.”
For those looking to see his landscape architecture in action, make your way to the Four Seasons which showcases projects, from the lobby plants inside the Chandelier Bar, to the river-facing swimming deck. “We also created the pool deck at The Windsor Court,” he says, “and just received an award for our work at the Board of Trade.”
