An Old Metairie mansion wants $2.6M

Metairie is French for “small farm”—and that’s what the rural area just outside New Orleans’ city limits consisted of until 1915, when a new streetcar line spurred development. The 1920s and 1930s saw the development of a rarified, garden-centric neighborhood called Metry Club Gardens. Its founders described the enclave, now known as Old Metairie, as an “Exclusive Residential Park.”

With its well-manicured formal garden and pool and spa pavillion, this 5,480-square-foot manse at 424 Iona Street cleaves to the founders’ original vision. It could easily be mistaken for one of the area’s original century-old homes, thanks to its walnut flooring, triple crown molding and custom carved wood panels, but it was built in 2009.

The front door opens to a chandelier-hung, marble-clad foyer with a curved staircase that looks like a great setting for prom photos. A dining room and sitting room flank the foyer. Beyond that, find a spacious open kitchen and living area, where three sets of glass doors connect the interior to what amounts to a second exterior home: there’s an outdoor kitchen, outdoor bathroom (with a glass-block partitioned shower), and outdoor living and dining areas (plus a basketball half-court and the afore-mentioned heated, ceramic-tiled pool).

All in all, the manse has five bedrooms and eight bathrooms. It’s asking $2,625,000.

Via: Sissy Sullivan Hansen of RE/MAX N.O.