Completely renovated, this 1930's historic building on Bayou Lafourche, is the perfect place for a weekend getaway or to enjoy Thibodaux’s downtown shops, restaurants & bars, and New Orleans is only an hour away. Relax on the 3-tiered deck complete with a ‘splash pool’ overlooking the bayou & downtown. Walk across the bridge to find great restaurants, quaint shops, and fun bars! Its on the Mardi Gras parade route as well! Have fun in the safe, family-oriented, college town of Thibodaux, La.
BridgeSide,
‘On Bayou Lafourche’, is an old building, built in the 1930s, right across Bayou Lafourche from downtown Thibodaux, La. It started out as a ‘haberdashery’ by a local businessman. Over the years, the building was a motorcycle shop, a music store and then a three-apartment complex, until it sat unoccupied for some 10 years or so.
This is where Lisa and I come in. we moved here in 2019 after transforming the OJ Mire General Store (built in1928 and vacant for some 40 years) into our personal home. We love saving older homes and buildings and giving them new life in today’s world. When we moved here, we fell in love with this beautiful old building that had a hole in the roof, was home to pigeons and vagrants and was just begging for someone to give her another chance. After a year of trying to contact the owner by mail and social media with no luck, I decided to try one more time on social media. I reached out to anyone who might know the owner…. Sure enough, her niece saw my request and gave my info to her aunt and the next day we met.
The building was in bad shape. People stole the wiring from the walls and AC units, rainwater from the hole in the roof had just rotted everything down. But Lisa and I see ‘what could be’ when most people see ‘Oh Hell No!’. lol
The building has come a long way since we bought it in June of 2020! The interiors are completely renovated and the exterior as well. Here are some of the changes we have made:
1) The original entrance was from the front. This is highway 308 and the highway department made a turning lane for the bridge, which made the front entrance too dangerous, so we created a ‘faux’ front door and the entrance to the downstairs apartment is off the deck in the rear.
2) The rear deck was replaced and we added a second & 3rd level with a ‘splash pool’! It has become a local talking point! lol
3) The basement-yes basement was originally accessed by a hatch near the rear (entrance) door. We moved the access near the back wall next to the antique faux fireplace, that we found in Alabama. It can now be used as a ‘safe room’, a wine cellar and/or a gun closet. The basement had a door that went out of the back of the building, and we imagine it was used to receive supplies, back in the day, when the river was used by small riverboats for all sorts of business activities, from shipping freight to offering services by doctors, dentists, and veterinarians as well as other services to the public.
4) The building also has a 3 bedroom rental unit upstairs. We gutted the downstairs property to the brick walls and upstairs property down to the 1x6 tongue & groove wooden walls and ceiling upstairs. EVERYTHING is new!!
5) We installed a loadbearing beam, in the attic upstairs, so we could provide an open floorplan and we installed a load bearing beam downstairs so we could remove the drop ceiling, downstairs, and recapture the original 10-foot ceilings. Of course, this presented a problem for the AC ventilation downstairs. We chose to go with the 'commercial' look for the ventilation system that you see today. We like it better and painting it softened the look & feel and makes for a beautiful, finished product. We left the new beam open under the original 8x8 beam just above it!
6) Back in the day, the downstairs interior walls were just 'stucco' against the 2-brick thick exterior walls. The original windows can be seen from the outside with ‘faux’ shutters installed. We closed in those windows and installed all new sound proofing / energy efficient windows.
7) The back wall was cut open to provide the space for the new rear windows. This makes the whole place special and provides a great view of Bayou Lafourche as well as downtown Thibodaux!
8) Upstairs has all new energy efficient windows as well. The ceiling upstairs is the original 1x6 'tongue & groove' pine, natural finished and left just as it is! Both units have all new wiring, appliances, and HVAC units as well.
***We hope you enjoy your stay in one of Thibodaux’s old beauties……Please leave us brief review of your stay with us….
Thanks,
Rod & Lisa
Guest access
This unit has everything you'll need to enjoy your stay. Free parking on site. You'll have your own 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment and day bed, in an awesome location and with great views of historic Bayou Lafourche and downtown Thibodaux.
Other things to note
Parking is on site, on either side of the building. The entrance is in the rear, off the deck.
