Social Living: At Home in the Familiar
At Home in the Familiar
By Liesel Schmidt
Peeking from behind an expanse of grey planking that serves to obscure the main floor and offer a sense of seclusion, privacy, and sanctuary, this New Orleans-style courtyard home in Covington was a dream come true for EROS owner Erin Schaumburg and her mother.
“It all started when I bought a home in Tchefuncte ten years ago, while I was pregnant with my fifth baby boy,” says Erin. “It’s a beautiful, gated community, and I loved the family atmosphere and the friendliness of everyone who lived here. At the time, my mother was frequently staying with me because she lived in New Orleans. We would often go home hunting in the neighborhood, but almost everything was a renovation that required too much work. One day, we happened to come across this amazing home with an open floor plan. As soon as we walked in the doors, we knew…”
Boasting three sets of French doors that mimicked Schaumburg’s childhood home, the women knew that the change wouldn’t be too drastic—even after being in New Orleans for 50 years in the same home raising her children—because the floor plan of this home was so similar. “We both looked at each other and immediately knew that she would purchase this house,” says Erin.
And so began a passion project for Erin and her mother. “With me having just opened EROS in Madisonville, it was the perfect project,” says Erin, who learned her unique, creative design style from her mother. “Pretty much every time my mom comes into my store, she admires everything! It was a great opportunity for us to work together, creating a traditional New Orleans-style home with all the French antiques and my Bohemian flair. My mom has 29 grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and two on the way, so she wanted this home in Covington to be a place where everyone would come and gather, where we could all cook and hang out and create new memories. I knew my mom would be sad to leave our childhood home, so I urged her to not think that she was letting go of old memories but to focus on the fact that she was going to make new ones.”
Built in 2016, the home is 3,728 square feet, comprising five bedrooms and four baths—plenty of space for the large family that often visits. The gardens, however, seem to be the homeowner’s favorite part of the property. “The front courtyard when you enter the home is magnificent,” says Erin. “Mom’s flowers are always blooming year-round. She loves her garden, and her garden loves her back.”
After purchasing the home, shutters were added onto the back of the house, along with a large deck running the length of the house into the gardens. Inside, the formal dining room features the dining room table that Schaumburg remembers from her childhood. The mirror above the buffet and the additional dining room furniture are from an antique store on Royal Street.
