I own two properties that I am quite proud of.  One is my principal dwelling in the city of New Orleans located at 7613 Willow St., and it is within an easy bike ride to and from work.  The other is a weekend retreat located at 20 Log Cabin Lane about 45 minute drive from the city in the township of Pearl River.  Check out each one below.  I have a few pictures and words of description to give you a feel for where I live. 

City Residence
7613 Willow Street
New Orleans, LA.  70118

I bought this 'converted' double framed house in 1989.  A screened porch covers the entire front of the house.  It is located on a heavily live oak tree-lined street.  It's in a middle class 'mixed' neighborhood that I really like.  And, it's only a one mile easy bike ride from my office at the university.

A couple of years ago I had the place painted from the 'original' light raspberry color to a light blue-green color.  The lot is the typical small 80 ft by 120 ft, with hardly a side yard.  There is a lovely Live Oak in the very small front 'yard', along with a good size azalea and cherry laurel tree. When I bought the place, the back yard was entirely bare dirt from constant dog traffice and it had three trees (Southern magnolia, Japanese magnolia, Loquat).  I have tinkered with different ideas in landscaping the backyard over the years.  At first, I built a pond flush with the ground (see photo), but now the pond has been raised (to limit the breeding toads during summer) and is closer to the house.  This change in location makes room for the growing plants, patio, and large urn from my recent trip to Oaxaca.

The interior of the house has softwood pine floors, with two bedrooms and a den/family room where I spend most of my time.  I really do like the interior floor plan.  Just after I bought the place I converted one of the two bedrooms into a small master bathroom.  Below is a panel of photographs of the living/dining room area.  A couple of years ago, I built a wall to wall cypress bookshelves on a side wall to the living room to help handle my large collection of books. To me this really enriches this area.  Much of the furnishings I have picked up at 'collectable' places in this region.  The wall hangings are numerous and a statement about me and where I've traveled.
 

Country Residence
20 Log Cabin Lane
Pearl River, LA.

A few years ago, I bought this 'unimproved' piece of land on the waters of Morgan River, a tributary of the Pearl River.  During highwater, I own about 1.8 acres of land that is in about the shape of a very tall right triangle.  The hypotenuse is a border of flooded swamp, whereas the other long side borders the oldest homestead in the region, a log cabin built in the late 1920's.  The short side is a border of large non-native azaleas that belong to the original owner.  The property had no water and electricity but did have the shell of a garage, when I bought it.  Since then, I had a well dug, electricity put in, and the garage modified into a pleasant 'one-room' cottage.  A few years ago, I built a rather long pier through the swamp forest that ends in a raised deck on the edge of the Morgan River.  It's a great place to sit in the evening to watch the flights of birds going and coming to roost as the sunlight passes up the swamp trees across the river. It's also a great place to witness the seasonal changes in the forest.

The property has 51 species of woody plants on it, that includes 23 large tree species and 8 small tree species!  The elevational gradient is extreme for this area of the State causing this great diversity from a pine-sweetgum stand near the cottage, to cypress-tupelo swamp near the waters edge. Notably, there are a number of fairly large native azaleas and the spectacular star anise shrubs as understory.  With all of this diversity, something 'botanical' is happening virtually every month of the year.  In addition to the plants, a diverse population of salamanders, lizards, and snakes, as well as year-round and migrant birds exists on the property. With all of this said, probably the three best attributes of the place are, (1) its solitude, (2) its proximity to some great fishing, canoeing and nature photography, and (3) its setting for some fantastic social events with regional friends and guests.  Just up the Morgan River, the Audubon Society was given a piece of swamp forest that should now be forever protected and one of my immediate neighbors has recently purchased the huge tract of land immediately opposite the Morgan from my place to protect it from camp development!  Across the Pearl River, not 1/3 of a mile from the cottage, is the huge State owned wildlife management area.  All of this bodes well for continued tranquility!