Lake Charles' Shell Beach Drive

As we toured the homes in the historic section of Lake Charles, LA, presented in yesterday’s entry and the first four homes below, I noticed that during the course of the tour I began to compose the photos to include a larger portion of the live oaks, magnolias, and sub-tropical gardens that surround the homes.

c. 1920

A superior example of a rare house type in the South, this is a camel-back California stick craftsman bungalow with prominent brackets and extended beams. In addition to its unusual style, it is built of brick and stucco.

The Samuel Woodring House, c. 1907

Originally built in the Queen Anne style, this massive show house was remodeled sometime after 1918 to add the fluted columns and the wraparound porches.

The Edmond Chavanne House, c. 1905

This American four square had been constructed originally with no porches, but by 1911 the owner decided to add double porches on three sides supported by fourteen large square pillars.

The George Taylor Rock House, c. 1893

This three-story house combined Queen Anne style massing with Colonial Revival trimmings.

Shell Beach Drive skirts the Lake on the south shore and once was the continuation of the Old Spanish Trail. Before the opening of the Calcasieu River Bridge (I-10) on the north edge of the Lake, transcontinental drivers were treated to some of the most sumptuous architecture and gardens on this drive. Many properties have boathouses that reflect the styles of the houses.

The Krause-Burton House, c. 1925

Massive columns support a classical portico on this Roman Revival mansion with extensive grounds and gardens. Palladian windows are featured on the symmetrical front façade, giving this red brick, Gatsby-era mansion a truly River Road Plantation air.

The George Law House, c. 1920

Beautiful naturalistic grounds and a Lutyens-style pergola along the façade give this this three-story pine and cypress villa a distinctive English country-manor look.

The Matilda Geddings Gray House, c. 1923

This Greek Revival house was designed to showcase art treasure collected by the owner, the daughter of John Gray, who relocated to Southwest Louisiana after the Civil War devastated his fortunes. He settled on what was to become one of the richest oil fields in the country.

The Rudolph Krause House, c. 1927

This Scottish-Tudor-Balmoral style mansion with rusticated stucco and brick, leaded glass, and half timbering would perhaps be more at home in the highlands of Scotland than in subtropical Lake Charles. And the views from its windows are spectacular.

The Fletcher Wilmore House, c. 1905

The American Foursquare with double porches and ventilator cupola reflects its original welcoming look. The house offers great views of the water.

The John L. Farque House, c. 1907

A raised Louisiana cottage with a wide center hall and front galleries, this design reflected the successful coastal traditions of elevating living space above the damp and of aligning windows and doors to allow for cooling lake breezes.