This charming painting shows the house without the library with bedroom above which was added to the south side of the house in 1890. Details such as the columns—Ionic on the lower gallery, Corinthian above—and the curved flagstone walk from the entrance on Seventh street are clearly shown. This rendering indicates that the present large drawing-room was, at that time, a double parlor, perhaps separated by an arch. The former servant’s ell, extending back from the dining room, was so deteriorated that when Mr. and Mrs. Leland S. Montgomery purchased the house in 1961, they demolished that wing and had the present kitchen, breakfast room and playroom added in keeping with the style of the original house. The Montgomerys also had the wooden front porch floor replaced with one of flagstones that came from the front walk.
Interestingly, the original owners of the house were named Montgomery, but no relation to the present owners. The leaded glass of the front door is etched with an “M”, placed there circa 1912 by the third owners of the house, whose name was Morgan.
Many interior embellishments of the house are original to the structure. In the living room the brass and bronze gas chandeliers, now electrified, are original as are the French cornices over the windows.
BILLUPS P. PERCY HOUSE
1236 First Street
Majestically situated on a large corner lot abounding in typical Southern shrubs and towering magnolia trees the Percy house is a fine example of the Greek Revival style. All the components of a classic Garden District mansion are here—double galleries, fluted Corinthian columns, iron grillwork, and a deep but simple cornice above the top porch.
A characteristic floor plan, as indicated from the arrangement of windows and the door in the façade, was to have all major rooms on the south side (the preferred exposure) of a long hall. The present owners of the home, Mr. and Mrs. Billups P. Percy have modified this arrangement by the addition of a library on the north side of the house.
One of the oldest structures in the Garden District, the Percy house was erected in 1847 by John W. Gayle for his young bride. It was passed to its present owners through several ownerships, including the Alfred Le Blance family who resided here for fifty years.
In the interior of the house are to be noted such familiar antebellum hallmarks as black marble mantels, plaster ceiling rosettes and crystal chandeliers. In addition to the English, French and Italian antiques in the house, an item of special interest is an oil portrait of the late William Alexander Percy, Mississippi poet, author of the autobiographical “Lanterns on the Levee” and the adoptive father of Billups Percy.