As his miniature dachshund housemates, Dewey and Bubba, barked excitedly at his feet, Curtis Herring described the many joys of living in his New Orleans home.
“It always feels like I’m on vacation here,” the New Orleans interior designer said from the kitchen of his Lakewood North home of two years. “The wonderful terrazzo floors, amazing fireplace, nice pool … the neighborhood is so hidden and quiet. I don’t feel like I’m in the city.”
Lakewood North, that blink-and-you-miss-it subdistrict of Lakeview, is nestled between Veterans Memorial Boulevard to the north, the I-10 overpass to the south, Pontchartrain Expressway to the east, and the 17th Street Canal to the west. Herring’s corner-lot, midcentury modern home sits on a shady, oak-lined street. Before stumbling across the home on a real estate app, Herring, a Shreveport-Bossier City native, wasn’t familiar with the neighborhood.
Interior designer Curtis Herring with his two dachshunds, Dewey and Bubba.
PHOTO BY Jeff Strout
“I really didn’t know the neighborhood existed. But I grew up in a midcentury home — built in the late 1950s — and always knew in the back of my mind that I would eventually end up living in one again,” he said.
How he got there
Herring moved to New Orleans in the 1990s after graduating from Louisiana State University with a degree in interior design. For several years, he lived and worked in a traditional two-story Uptown Broadmoor home, building a successful business catering mostly to high-end residential and commercial work, including restaurants for John Besh, such as Pizza Domenica and Shaya.
In recent years, Herring kept his eyes on real estate listings and open house announcements, particularly in Lake Vista and Lake Terrace. In early 2023, his real estate app alerted him about a 2,050-square-foot, three-bedroom home in Lakewood North that had been on the market for less than a week.
When he walked into the home with his real estate agent, it was love at first sight. “We walked in, I saw the terrazzo floor, nice vaulted ceiling, open floor plan and so many other wonderful features. I said, ‘I gotta have it’,” Herring recalled.
The sale went through quickly, and Herring had a new home.
The midcentury modern home in Lakewood North was built in 1962.
PHOTO BY Jeff Strout
The home’s history
It was designed in 1962 for Moise Alaynik by New Orleans architect Leonard Dreyfus. A pre-World War II graduate of Tulane University’s school of architecture, Dreyfus learned alongside many of the South’s modernist design vanguard, including Albert C. Ledner and Arthur Davis.
Herring recently discovered that Dreyfus also had designed a stunning two-story international-style Shreveport home he had admired while growing up there.
Alaynik died in the early 2000s and his widow, Dorlene, remained in the home until her death a few years ago.
Making some changes
The Alayniks made very few changes to the house over the years, except for post-Katrina flooding repairs and updates to the kitchen and bathrooms.
Herring removed as double-sided closet between the hallway and living but kept its framing to create a sleek display shelf for his pottery collection.
PHOTO BY Jeff Strout
Herring removed the carpeting installed in the hallways and the three bedrooms and replaced it with wood plank flooring.
He also removed some of the louvered closet and cabinet doors, commonplace among midcentury homes. In one case, he removed the doors of a two-sided louvered closet, which divided the living room and entrance hall, and, using the frame and shelves, created a sleek display shelf for his pottery collection.
Other updates included widening a narrow kitchen peninsula to create a roomier, more practical “eat at” counter. For seating, Herring found two vintage rattan and chrome cantilevered Cesca chairs. The quartz countertop Herring installed runs along the breakfast room wall to create a new buffet/bar with cherry wood cabinetry, ideal for entertaining. Adding a pop of color above the buffet is a framed abstract on canvas by Louisiana artist Yvette Owens.
A circular walnut dining table, made by Alexandria furniture designer Glenn Armand, is paired with six vintage Bruno chairs. A 5-by-5 foot painting by Louisiana artist Gaither Pope landscape hangs nearby.
PHOTO BY Jeff Strout
Complementing a circular walnut dining room table, made by Alexandria furniture designer Glenn Armand, are six vintage Bruno chairs Herring snared on 1stdibs.com. A framed 5-by-5-foot landscape by Louisiana artist Gaither Pope hangs on a wall nearby.
Herring especially loves the dining and living area’s graduated vaulted ceiling that slopes upward from 10 to 18 feet. The living room features a three-piece Flexsteel sectional sofa that Herring’s late parents bought in 1957. “It connects me to my parents and my childhood home,” he said.
The room also has two dark brown leather Barcelona chairs and a Parsons coffee table with olive ash burl veneer.
A 3-by-9-foot triptych by local artist Allison Stewart graces one of the walls. Over the fireplace, a vibrant stainless steel sculpture by Colorado contemporary artist Pard Morrison nicely contrasts with the red brickwork. A Daniel Degroot wall sculpture that Herring rescued from a Bay St. Louis junk shop has pride of place on a wall, near the foyer that leads to other rooms and more artwork.
Herring installed quartz countertop Herring that runs along the breakfast room wall and extends on to create a buffet/bar with cherry wood cabinetry, ideal for entertaining. Adding a pop of color is a framed abstract on canvas by Louisiana artist Yvette Owens.
PHOTO BY Jeff Strout
Herring calls the hallway his art gallery, where he showcases works of creative friends, such as Nashville-based artist and printmaker Mike Martino, and framed originals by New Orleans artists Wayne Amadee, Jean Geraci and others.
Herring transformed one of the home’s original three bedrooms into his man cave, where he watches television, works on his computer and relaxes with Dewey and Bubba. In a cheery, sun-filled guest room, Herring keeps colorful heirloom quilts and vintage bedding.
The master bedroom has a nice backyard view, with a 16-by-34 foot in-ground pool that Herring completely overhauled. Outdoors, the ’60s retro beat goes on with high-gloss Hunter Green diamond-mesh metal patio furniture.
“I’m so happy living here, and you can’t beat the neighborhood,” Herring said. “It’s quiet, hidden and has lots of families. And Dewey and Bubba love it, especially when I take them for long walks along the 17th Street Canal levee.”