Lagniappe
Heather Knight, 28
Co-founders, Chaux Vive
Unless you happen to be visiting relatives buried there, a trip to the cemetery generally doesn't top the must-do list for tourists in most cities. New Orleans, of course, is an exception, and the complexes of above-ground tombs here are a distinctive cultural attraction. Visitors to New Orleans' most historic cemeteries are seeing an increasing number of tombs that have been restored in a historically authentic manner, thanks to Chaux Vive, the architectural conservation and preservation firm founded by Lindsay Hannah, Heather Knight and another partner.
Chaux Vive means "quick lime" in French and is a reference to its founders' dedication to using traditional methods and materials, such as lime washes.
"We want them to look as they did originally but also have that patina of age, and we do that by using original materials," says Hannah.
She first came to New Orleans in 2001 with a team of students in the University of Pennsylvania's historic preservation program working to restore St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 through the Save America's Treasure Project. She was so enchanted with the city and its architecture that after earning her master's degree in historic preservation, she made New Orleans her home.
That 2001 visit was also when she met Knight, who was raised in New Orleans and has a master's degree in preservation studies from Tulane University School of Architecture. Knight has worked with local artisans such as master plasterer Earl Barthe to record their traditional methods and stories.
In 2002, they formed Chaux Vive. Their work in the cemeteries, though performed for private clients, helps preserve a public asset for the city. Chaux Vive also takes on restoration projects of historic homes and other buildings. The company recently restored plaster walls in the Mary Plantation house, an 18th century home in Braithwaite that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They also conduct education and outreach programs, making presentations for historic trusts and schools.
"Our approach is hands on and academic as well," says Knight. "Most historians are locked in archives, but we get to apply the history we know and help save these historic sites. We get to prolong the history through its physical structures."
Since Hurricane Katrina, Knight and Hannah have been hard at work assessing damage and making repairs to historic sites in the area. They conducted assessments of a number of historic cemeteries and submitted them to the nonprofit organization Save Our Cemeteries, surveyed hurricane impact on historic districts and properties in New Orleans and repaired damaged tombs in Lafayette Cemetery No. 1. In addition, they consulted on hurricane-damaged historic buildings on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi, including Beauvoir in Biloxi and the De La Pointe-Krebs House (a.k.a. the Old Spanish Fort) in Pascagoula. -- McNulty
