“Our City, My Home” is our series on local homeowners where they tell us why they love where they live, what their neighborhood offers, and why New Orleans is the place to be!
Here is the story of Ashleigh, Andrew, and their family:
What neighborhood do y’all live in?
West Riverside
How long have you lived in this home?
11 years!
Why do you love your neighborhood?
We love how walkable our neighborhood is. This has been particularly important since we’ve had children. We can easily walk, bike, scoot, or stroll to Audubon Park, the Zoo, multiple playgrounds, Whole Foods, and many great stores and restaurants. Shout out to Juan’s Flying Burrito and Taqueria Corona! We really don’t have to get in the car on weekends if we don’t want to.
Was it the neighborhood you hoped for when buying our home?
We really lucked into this neighborhood. We rented this house before we bought it. When we first moved in it was a small double shotgun. We rented it for a couple of years, bought it from our landlord, and then proceeded to live in one half and rent the other half out for several years. When we were expecting our second child we decided that we needed more space. We searched for a new house but couldn’t bring ourselves to leave our neighborhood. So we moved out for nine months while we renovated and added on to our little shotgun to make it big enough for our growing family.
Do you know your neighbors & feel a sense of community?
Yes, one of our favorite things about our neighborhood is that many of our neighbors grew up in the neighborhood and continue to live here. In fact, our next-door neighbor grew up in our house! There are also many young families who live here, which is obviously important to us as we’re a young family ourselves. The pandemic really strengthened the sense of community too. Some of our neighbors have organized regular musical performances in the park for the past couple of years and that’s become a very fun and special pastime for us.
What’s your piece of advice for anyone looking to move to your neighborhood?
Housing has gotten way more expensive than when we moved here. Houses go up for sale and move quickly so you have to be ready to proceed quickly if you see something you like.
Are you from New Orleans?
I am from here but Andrew is from New Jersey. He came down for law school, which is where we met, and couldn’t bring himself to leave after we graduated. So here we are nearly 13 years later!
Tell us your favorite thing about your house?
Our kitchen is my favorite thing about our house. We spent a painfully long time designing it during the renovation and I do feel like it paid off!
What updates/improvements have you done to your home?
Officially, we converted it to a single and camel-backed it. However, it’s really almost new construction. When our contractors opened up the walls they told us it was basically “chewing gum and a prayer” holding it all together so we ended up gutting much more of the original structure than we had intended to. Just another fun construction story 🙂
Any upcoming home projects?
We’re finally getting around to making our backyard somewhere we’d actually like to hang out. We both have brown thumbs and have resolved to enlist some professional help to get things in order back there.
Any advice when home buying?
Hire a good real estate agent! We’re both lawyers and thought that we didn’t need one but, in hindsight, we could have benefited from the help and advice of a trusted professional.
Tell us some of your favorite things about New Orleans!
Obviously, the food and music are incomparable but it’s really the people who make New Orleans special. Austin, TX likes to say they’re weird but they really have no idea what weird is!
Ready to find a home in West Riverside? Text us!