Rita LeBleu

rlebleu@americanpress.com

I think these photos are great. I will ask if we can jump the story.

Good Fellows meets Brady Bunch style

The Ron Richard home

When local real estate professional Lori Richard found out 1008 Kirby Street was listed, she immediately told Ron Richard about it.

“I want you to see it, but you have to promise me to keep an open mind,” she said.

The house was trimmed in turquoise. The yard held a number of dead trees. Electricity was strung to an outside light on one of the trees. The house was the only one-story on Kirby Street, obviously much younger than all of the two-story structures built in the early 1900s.

The Frank Assunto family had occupied the house for over 60 years. According to his obituary, Assunto was born in Lake Charles and was at home, surrounded by family when he died January 2016. During WWII he served in the Navy. After returning from the war, he opened a car business. He was the founder of the Men’s Discount Shop, invested in real estate, and was the trustee of The David Greenberg Trust. He loved to share memories of fishing, boating and traveling the world with his five children and their families. He always had fun at his weekly game of poker with his friends, and he loved Christmas.

“It was 1954 inside that house,” Ron Richard said.

The house was also much larger than it looked from the street.

“I thought it was probably a two, maybe three bedroom, 1,800-foot bungalow,” Richard said.

The house has two wings, creating a “U” shape. The bottom of the “U” faces the street. The 5,700-square-foot house has six bedrooms, four inside baths and one outside half-bath.

“It had two master suites,” Richard said. “I used the space of one of them to create two bedrooms and a study for the girls.”

This master suite was also the panic room, a safe room into which the Assunto family could retreat in case of a break-in or other danger.

“The room had bars that came down to block the door, flood lights inside and out, as well as a button to call the police and fire department,” Ron Richard said.

A safe was found hidden beneath the closet floor. The hermetically sealed window glass is thicker than the glass in Ron Richard’s office, the old Calcasieu Marine/Hibernia/Capital One Tower building.

The kitchen was state of the art for the 1950s, “Jello” tile, built-in cutting boards and stainless steel surfaces. Lattice metal work framed the arches.

Richard did more than keep an open mind about the property. He immediately saw potential.

The Richards were living in Big Lake, and spending time at the ranch in Singer, but Ron needed a place closer to his Lake Charles offices.

The Richards made an offer. The Assunto heirs took a look at the offer, and then asked Ron a question. Would this become his family’s home?

He responded, “This is going to be home base, Maison Richard.”

They were satisfied with his answer. The Richards’ offer was accepted.

The closing went swiftly for Lori, the real estate agent and Ron, the attorney and the owner of a title company. They sped back to the house to take a closer look at the space.

“Lori grabbed the wallpaper, the heavy canvas-backed-type and began to pull,” Ron said. “Behind it was this beautiful wood shiplap.”

They pulled up a corner of the carpet, and found one-inch solid wood flooring in great shape.

What already seemed like a good purchase started to seem an even better one.

Even though the house was technically move-in ready, it took a year-and-a-half to put a modern farmhouse/Godfather Part 2 spin on the Brady Bunch interior. Ron literally bought one of the tribute books to the award-winning movie and used scenes from it for certain rooms, furniture and décor. The Tub Docteur helped update the bathrooms and kitchen in a more affordable manner than tearing everything out and starting from scratch. Changing Spaces helped with design. Ron Richard credits his mother for influencing his taste.

The Richard family has plenty of space to spread out and get away from the other. Yet the communal spaces – open living, kitchen and dining — keep them connected.

The spaciousness helps keep the children at home, able to invite their friends over for socializing. Ron’s mother lived there for a while after his father passed away, this being easily done with so much space available. Maison Richard is large enough to accommodate work get-togethers. It is also a house where family still gets together for Sunday dinner.

Returning from a family vacation at Christmas, Ron and his children arrived home to find his sister and her friends preparing dinner. While eating, Shannon Halwes, an emmy-nominated editor, made the off-the-cuff remark to Ron that she loved the house because it felt like “Goodfellas meets the Brady Bunch”. With all of the children in the house and their art hanging everywhere, the description was perfect.

The property at 1008 Kirby is a family home once again.

(Outside) or (Outside 1)

Maison Richard

(Backyard)

The Ron Richard home allows plenty of room for kids to spread out, have friends over and enjoy games at home.

(Kirby)

White painted shiplap is the backdrop for the mid-century modern vibe in this Kirby Street home.

(dining)

This is just one of the few large dining areas/tables available in the 5,700-square-foot property.

(master)

The house was move-in ready. However, Richard opted to freshen up the space with paint, new flooring and other features. Shown here is the master bedroom.

(ceiling)

This area’s ceiling was replaced with a dramatic black “paneled” ceiling treatment, which is made specifically for replacing drop-ceiling tile. Note the brick on the back wall and the paneling. Both received a few coats of a soft “greige.”

(very yellow)

Harvest gold and yellow is alive and well at Maison Richard, but not as yellow. Before Richard moved in, even the cabinets and some of the appliances were yellow.

(1) and (2)

Many things make this house distinctive, but among those things are the abundance of kid’s art and Richard’s hat collection.