Your tax dollars at work.
For the renovation, the first priorities were to add an elevator and
remodel a bathroom to switch out a tub for a shower. A wine cellar,
disguised behind an antique stained-glass window, would be another
project, and eventually the third floor would be turned into a large
closet, bathroom and a gift-wrapping area.
In the backyard, shaded by the leafy, 160-foot spread of a
more-than-300-year-old oak tree, the couple added a swimming pool, a
cabana, a slate patio and landscaping.
The outdoor area and the first-floor formal rooms provide plenty of
space for the couple's parties, which often revolve around Gayle
Benson's philanthropic activities, among them an effort to raise money
to renovate the Notre Dame Seminary. (She's also co-chairwoman of the
New Orleans Museum of Art Odyssey Ball, scheduled for Nov. 7 at the
museum, and chairwoman of the Ochsner Cancer Institute's Moonlight &
Miracles Gala Nov. 17 at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.)
Are they sure they are finished renovating? Because they can have this back if they can make room for it back by the pool maybe.
