Christmas in Richard Sherman’s Creole Cottage

A tiled stair hall, with antique terracotta and copper holding holiday greenery, leads to the new masonry addition.

Beribboned garland, scarlet poinsettias, red-berried holly and elegant table settings incorporating vibrant traditional color are among the decorations that herald the Christmas season at dermatologist Richard Sherman’s 1836 Creole cottage in the Marigny. The classic display is both an homage to the nearly 200-year history of the house and a showcase for the exquisite array of furnishings and objects that Sherman has collected through the years.

Sherman bought the neglected property (a rare and important example of early Creole architecture) in 1999 and spent two years meticulously bringing it back to life.

Sherman’s collection of copper pots shines in the summer kitchen.

“I nicknamed the house The Ascension,” said Sherman, who fortified every architectural element of the house. “The roof, the overhangs, everything was sagging. Once all was put back together and strengthened, joists and beams and structural foundation, it appeared as if to have risen.”

In 2019, Sherman worked with John Wettermark of Wettermark + Keiffer Architects to design a two-story masonry addition that complements the original house and the rear garden. Kerry Moody, a design partner of Lucullus Antiques, created the holiday decorations that highlight the stunning renewal.

Poinsettias atop fluted pedestals highlight one of the parlors.

“What is so wonderful about Richard and the house in general and at Christmas is that he really does honor the traditional side of New Orleans décor and celebration,” said Patrick Dunne, founder of Lucullus. “That is always what has guided Richard. He has gone for the real deal.”

“We’re lucky that we get to work with people who really understand what we’re about and want that, too,” said Moody.

As with his previous renovations (and also the construction of his garden-pavilion-inspired Magazine Street office), Sherman immersed himself in the project, studying the house’s history, becoming fluent in the hallmarks of Creole cottage architecture and sourcing salvaged materials and decorative details (including antique hand-forged iron hardware) that are true to the period. His research revealed that the cottage was built by an unmarried Creole couple who also built the two houses on either side. The properties came full circle in recent years as Sherman owned all three for a time. (He restored both neighboring cottages, naming one The Resurrection and the other The Epiphany.)

A French provincial table and chairs are used for dining in the summer kitchen. The epergne centerpiece includes fruit and holly.

The original portion of the house is typical of early Creole cottages with “brick between post” construction, a gabled roof with dormer windows and copper overhangs. The raised cottage sits flush to the sidewalk and has a center hall that leads toward the light-filled rear of the house overlooking a back porch (added by Sherman during the renovation), a private garden and a recently erected brick outbuilding for garden and outdoor storage.

The addition features a masonry façade, a second-floor gallery, a staircase and an arched ground level entryway, all modeled after authentic Creole cottages. Careful attention to scale, color and reclaimed materials provides continuity between the old and new parts of the house and the patina of age.

Wreaths, swags of garland and potted evergreen adorn the masonry façade of the addition.

The addition’s striking kitchen combines patterned tile floors with exposed ceiling beams. A focal point of the rectangular space is the marble surrounded cooking niche backed with pale blue tiles and flanked by a pair of turn-of-the-20th-century iron torchéres. A French provincial table and chairs provide ample room for dining. Because the sunny kitchen sits on the level of the garden and has French doors, it is perfect for prepping and serving alfresco gatherings as well.

French antiques from the 18th and 19th centuries anchor much of the interior decoration. Sherman mixes them with modern designs, traditional and contemporary paintings, collections of china, blue opaline glass, assorted vessels, culinary antiques and other well curated treasures — ranging from a fully reticulated lobster made by a samurai to a pair of sculptural car fenders that Sherman had mounted and displays on one of the home’s four original box mantles.

Blue opaline glass and swan motifs are part of the elegant dessert place settings in the dining room.

“Fate, luck and the hunt have allowed me to acquire many magnificent pieces of art and objects, including some incredible junk store finds, which I equally hold dear,” said Sherman, who began collecting when he came to New Orleans for medical school. “If I make up my mind about a project, I’m in a 100 %. It becomes my focus and my passion. I research it and look at the details. I want it done right. I always say, ‘You won’t get what you want if you don’t participate.’”