Fairgrounds Camelback

The owner of a 1940s vaguely Craftsman shotgun double had minimal room left in the rear yard for a low-cost addition that would afford him extra guest quarters and, as large as possible, a space for a model train workshop that required a long perimeter of countertop. The rear yard was also shared with a tenant occupying the other half of the shotgun double structure.

Overlooking the Fairgrounds (Jazz Fest) in the Esplanade Ridge neighborhood of New Orleans, the program included a guest bedroom, half bath, a model train enthusiast’s workshop, which sits on the second floor, and a semi-private cedar-wrapped porch for a long-term rental in the other half of the shotgun double.

Just under 13 feet of length was left of the buildable footprint to add a new structure for the program. Other than new mechanical equipment and piping, the owner wished to leave the existing structure alone as much as possible.