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MARIETTA'S HOUSE: A GRANDMOTHER'S COTTAGE
Text by J. E. Bourgoyne
Photographs by J.G. Tyburski
Margaret Media, Inc., $22.50

I've known J.E. Bourgoyne for a number of years. He was an outstanding employee of the Times-Picayune when I first met him, and he still is that same outstanding individual. Outside the Times-Picayune, people know him as the proprietor of one of the best and most elegant guest houses in New Orleans. Located on Bourbon Street, this home in the 800 block of Bourbon Street has been elegantly restored, and it offers a home away from home for many travelers coming into the city.

Now Bourgoyne has another home to promote. Marietta's House is a just-released book that makes a beautiful addition to any library. It deserves to be a part of your collection too. Told as much in photographs as in words, it is my friend's poignant look at his grandmother's home in Old Turnerville, a part of the Plaquemine complex in Iberville Parish. It is told by someone who loved the pioneer woman who created this home and nurtured her family for three generations.

Visiting the home in person or viewing it through the lens of photographer J.G. Tyburski you literally step back in time. Even though this is a story about childhood memories in Louisiana, it has appeal for anyone, anywhere. Bourgoyne has dedicated this loving tribute of the past to Julie Marietta Gelpi Loupe (1894-1982) and Adam Oniel Loupe (1890-1944). He has included many pictures of his ancestors including Marietta's father, Arthur Gelpi, a member of a Spanish family that made a fortune in sugarcane.

The Gelpi family had homes in Barcelona, New Orleans and Havana. Oniel's grandfather was Balmio Dugas, a sugar planter near the community of Smoke Bend on Bayou Lafourche. He was bitten by a mad dog and developed rabies which led to his death. Emily Balmio was Oniel's mother.

Joseph Loupe, Oniel's father, served in the Confederate army. In their old age, Joseph and Emily lived with Oniel and Marietta.

Marietta's house is on the west bank of the Mississippi River, located just 20 miles south of Baton Rouge and 100 miles above New Orleans. You turn left before you cross the bayou (and the old draw bridge) in order to enter this historic area. The home is open by appointment only as is another neighboring 1800s residence known as Miss Louise's House. Old Turnerville is now a part of Plaquemine, but it still retains the mood and the atmosphere of days gone by.

In the hands of a talented writer like Bourgoyne, the story of a home comes alive once more. In fact, his first story was published when he was only 12 years old, but what most people don't realize is that this is a man who was at one time a trapeze artist. From daredevil heights to becoming an awarding-winning writer, Bourgoyne is at the top of his form in this stunning look at his grandmother's home.

All of this is really made possible through the photography of Tyburski, a New York City native and now a New Orleans resident who is the official photographer of the Historic Bourbon Street Foundation.

Surviving levee breaks, hurricanes and floods, Marietta's home is alive once more thanks to the magnificent words of a beloved grandson. Be sure to check this one out. It is $22.50, and you can get it at major bookstores or directly from http://www.margaretmedia.com.