This Old House

New Orleans | Return to New Orleans, Post Katrina (29x17)

Air date: Jan 24, 2008

For the second project of the season, This Old House travels to New Orleans, Louisiana, to help a fourth-generation resident of the Lower 9th Ward return home, while following stories of rebuilding and recovery throughout the city. Host Kevin O'Connor visits Musicians' Village with founder Harry Connick, Jr. to see how he, along with childhood friend Branford Marsalis, are providing new housing for the city's musicians through Habitat for Humanity. In historic Holy Cross, along the banks of the Mississippi River, homeowner Rashida Ferdinand shows Kevin why she loves her c. 1892 flood-damaged shotgun single and artist's studio, and how she plans to restore and expand them after a two-year vacancy. Master carpenter Norm Abram meets up with her builder to assess the challenges of building in post-Katrina New Orleans, while homeowner Marna David shows Kevin how she managed to renovate her own shotgun single in Holy Cross, twice, once before the storm, and once after.