New beginning for Michael Parker and downtown neighborhood
Published 3:46 pm Monday, December 11, 2017
It seems fitting for Lake Charles native Michael Parker to begin Act II of his life at Charpentier Place, one of the area’s newest developments in one of its oldest neighborhoods. He is a prime example of refired, not retired.
The houses mimic classic exterior architecture and are constructed of modern materials with the latest energy saving products.
“The houses remind me of New Orleans architecture, which I love,” Parker said.
Parker’s sister, Pat Burcham, helped him get the New Orleans look inside the house.
Adley Cormier, one of the LC historic preservation commissioners, said the Charpentier Place development is brilliant for its placement, defining essentially the edge of residential Charpentier from commercial Charpentier.”
The apartments are close to churches, restaurants, groceries and other retail and services located in downtown Lake Charles.
When Parker returned home after a teaching career in Dallas, he did not resign himself to a rocker on the front porch of his townhome, (though it is one of his favorite spots at his new place). He is teaching at two Calcasieu parish schools and he plays an active role in the Lake Charles theater community.
“I was renting on DeBakey when I saw these townhomes going up,” Parker said. “I asked myself, do I really want to buy something at my age?”
Parker is 70. Real estate agent Larry Turner suggested that he might as well pay the same amount every month for a home he would own.
“When I walked in, I fell in love,” he said. “I told a friend, guess where I live – on the old lot where we all played baseball.”
The former McNeese drum major remembers marching the parade route that would have passed in front of his new home.
Today, when he sits on his front porch drinking a cup of coffee, he is greeted by passers by with well wishes for the day.
“One day a guy on a scooter came by and said, I want you and your home to be blessed,” Parker shared. “People don’t do that everywhere.”
Michael Parker is glad to be home.
“It’s a God thing,” he said.
He’s found his place, in the community, as a teacher and in his beautifully decorated home in Charpentier Place.
Classic beauty with a touch of New Orleans flair characterizes this living room.
The galley kitchen meets Parker’s needs for cooking and dining.
This sitting area, separate from the living room, is the domain of Parker’s Maltese.
Michael Parker liked the outside of the Charpentier Place double gallery. When he walked inside, he fell in love.
One of the places Michael Parker likes to hang out is on his front porch. The New Orleans-looking ironwork on the door immediately caught his eye. The porch faces the street he marched down as a drum major for McNeese.
Parker left most of the decorating decisions up to his sister, Pat Burcham.
Parker took piano lessons from Goldie Higdon when he was in the 6th grade. The First Baptist Church paid for his lessons. When he was in the 7th or 8th grade he was the church’s pianist.