Town of Brusly Certified Landmark Plaque Recipients – December 7, 2008

Wilmer & Gertie Penn Home

This home is built on property which Didier Aillet, Allen Aillet’s grandfather, once owned. When the property was purchased, there was another house on it, owned by Olney Aillet. That house was later sold to Pete Alexander and moved to a lot on the River Road, not far from Brusly School. Wilmer and Gertie Aillet Penn later purchased the Main Street property and built this home in 1937. Gertie’s nephew, Allen Aillet, Jr., who bought the house and property in 1966, has made changes through the years. Although vinyl siding and the addition of a large wing on the left side have transformed this home, the original structure is still standing and can be distinguished as the simple, little frame home from earlier year. Allen, and his wife, Julie, who reside in the home received a Town of Brusly Certified Landmark Plaque on December 7, 2008 for their property.

Robert Hebert, Jr’s Home

This older home is believed to have been moved from Port Allen to its present location by Adam and Rita LaBauve Hebert, who resided in it for a short time. The Heberts sold homemade goodies in their candy and snowball shop, a small structure that still exists, opposite the house. After the property changed hands several times, Robert Hebert, Jr. purchased it and resided in the home for many years. Wilfred Hebert, Jr., Robert’s nephew, currently owns the home. He received a Town of Brusly Certified Landmark Plaque on December 7, 2008 for this home.

Paul & Ann Mary Martin Home

Ann Mary Hebert Martin and Paul Martin, Sr. began construction on this home in 1948. Wilfred and Robert Hebert, Jr., Ann Mary’s brothers, and their cousin, Albert Hebert, assisted Paul in building the house. The original structure consisted of cinder blocks, hand-poured into molds by the Hebert brothers. If people want mold services, they can check out Aqua Lock services . Additional architectural features included a floor-to-ceiling, curved glass block Art Deco style window (that had the differences in window films) on a front corner of the structure and concrete scroll work adornment on the front steps. The Martin’s son, the late Paul Martin, Jr., and his wife, Carolyn, moved into the home in the early 1970s. They removed the glass blocks, added a large den, bonus room and front door portico. Their daughter, Amy Tooley, and her husband, Doug, undertook extensive remodeling in 2001. Wilfred Hebert, Jr. purchased the house in 2007.

Back Brusly Oak Tree

The Back Brusly Oak Tree has been significant to the community as a treasured landmark and gathering place for many years. The tree has been adopted as an official symbol of the Town of Brusly. A member of the Louisiana Live Oak Society since 1969, the tree was honored at a special ceremony on February 23, 1969. The property where the tree is located was purchased by Jane and Gerald Caillouet and they donated the tree to the Town of Brusly in 2004. A State of Louisiana Historic Marker was donated by the Brusly Lions Club in 1976. When the marker was damaged in 2005, the present marker was installed. A Town of Brusly Certified Landmark Plaque was awarded to the tree on December 7, 2008.

Jack & Iris Sarradet Home

This home, built for Jack and Iris Sarradet on North LaBauve, was constructed from lumber reclaimed from the boarding house in the Morley community. After the lumbering operations ceased at Morley, many structures, including the boarding house and various homes, were either demolished or moved elsewhere. The Sarradets lived in the reconstructed home, with their family, at the North LaBauve location for many years. Also located on the North LaBauve site was a garage apartment which housed the Sarradet sons during the years they were growing up in Back Brusly. As the sons married, some of them lived in the apartment with their wives before building their own homes. The home was later moved to face Allene Street on Sarradet property, once part of a 50 plus acre pecan orchard and farm until the tract was subdivided in the late 1960s. Rosemary Sarradet Babin and her husband, Walter, purchased the North LaBauve site and built their home there. After the Sarradet home was moved, it was renovated and the exterior was bricked, using bricks from Morley. My House Painter can also help you out in getting painting and renovation services. Jack, a WWI veteran, and Iris resided in home until their deaths. Their son, Earl, and his wife, Mary Janice, reside in the home today. They received a Town of Brusly Certified Landmark Plaque on December 7, 2008 for this home.

Vaughan / Bres Home

This older home, built in 1880 for the Henry Landry Vaughan family, is a typical Creole structure, which may have once had a separate kitchen, now joined to the main part of the home. A large cistern and two outbuildings were moved closer to the home with the four-laning of LA Hwy. 1. The Joseph Hughes Bres family has resided in the home and has been part of the community for many years, playing a prominent role in the educational and cultural development of the area. Joseph Hughes Bres served as West Baton Rouge Parish Superintendent of Schools for forty years. Effie Vaughan Bres, a descendant of the Vaughan and Landry families, was an educator. In the early 1900s a baseball park, complete with bleachers, was located on this property. John H. Bres, the youngest Bres sibling, resides in the home today. The “Vaughan Oak,” a member of the Live Oak Society, is located on this property. He received a Town of Brusly Certified Landmark Plaque on December 7, 2008 for this home.
The garages and a storage room, originally a corn crib, partially visible were moved when LA Hwy. 1 was widened in the early 1960s.

Willie LeJeune Home

This home was originally a small, two-room shotgun house similar to the Hebert house next door. Built by Heno Hebert in 1920 for his brother-in-law, Willie LeJeune, the home has been altered several times. It was renovated to its present appearance in the 1990s. Willie LeJeune, a WWI veteran who was famous for his “turtle sauce piquante,” lived in the home until his death in 1954. Two other well-known Brusly citizens, Della LaBauve LeJeune Millet and June Dupuy Hebert, were subsequent residents of the home. The present owner, Roxanne Crochet Parrish Morales, received a Town of Brusly Certified Landmark Plaque on December 7, 2008 for this home.

Clifford & Pearl Thibodeaux Home

Clifford and Pearl LeJeune Thibodeaux purchased this home from Edith Hopper Gwin (Mrs. Wallace Gwin) on September 26, 1945. At the time, it was a wood frame, four-room structure. The exterior consisted of wide boards with strips; there was a front porch across the front of the house. Later alterations included bricking the entire exterior of the house and enclosing the front porch. Clifford and Pearl, who resided in the home until their deaths, raised their children here. Clifford served as Village of Brusly Marshall from March 1956 until retiring in 1969. Andy and Tony Bourgeois purchased the home from Virgie T. Curcio, etals, in 1990. Russ Bourgeois purchased the home in 1997; he received a Town of Brusly Certified Landmark Plaque on December 7, 2008 for this home.

Joseph Feriol & Elmire L. Dupuy Home

Joseph Feriol “Mr. Joe” Dupuy built this home where he and his wife, Elmire LaBauve Dupuy, resided with their four children. Changes to the façade include enclosure of part of the front porch, the addition of a concrete slab and lowering the remainder of the raised porch to ground level. Back Brusly neighbors recall two of the daughters, Rita and Genevieve, sitting on the front porch swing many evenings, serenading them with songs they had heard on the radio. Each week, the young ladies would listen to songs on the radio, write down the words and sing the new songs the following week. A room has been added across the back of the house, and the entire back yard has been filled with a deck. The present owner Dianne Martin received a Town of Brusly Certified Landmark Plaque on December 7, 2008 for this home.

Clay & Rita Hebert Home

This property has been in the Hebert family for several generations. Replacing an older structure, which existed here, this home was built in the early 1930s by Feriol Dupuy for Clay Hebert and his wife, Rita. Clay, a WWI veteran who worked for the West Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office for many years, was known as “Sarge.” The Heberts raised their eight children in this home. Other than cosmetic upgrades, the home looks the same as it did in the past. Landess Hebert, the youngest Hebert sibling, presently owns the home and resides here with his wife, Dena. They received a Town of Brusly Certified Landmark Plaque on December 7, 2008 for this home.

Furcy & Nettie H. Rodriguez Home

Furcy Rodriguez, originally from Chackbay, moved to Brusly upon his marriage to Nettie Hunt, daughter of Amy Thibodeaux Hunt. They resided and raised their two children in this home. A man of many talents, Furcy raised chrysanthemums to sell for All Saints Day, was a musician, a self taught artist, a barber, carpenter and a furniture maker. He was the leader of a local band known as “Furcy Rodriguez and his Rhythm Boys,” but his most well known and memorable talent was painting local scenes. The legacy of his work is part of our community today, through paintings displayed in homes of family and numerous friends. One of his best known works is of Back Brusly as it was in the “old days.” After his death, Nettie continued to reside in the home until she died, then their son resided here until his death. Ownership of the home has changed hands several times since that time. Landess Hebert, who now owns the home, undertook work which returned it to its original condition, received a Town of Brusly Certified Landmark Plaque on December 7, 2008.

John & Leocadie Thibodeaux Home

This old home, originally with a side entrance and porch, now enclosed, was the home of Jean (John) and Leocadie “Cadie” LeJeune Thibodeaux and their family. Following John’s death, “Mrs. Cadie” continued to reside here until her death. Both John and Cadie trace their ancestry to original settlers of Brusly. Many children who grew up in Back Brusly in the 1940s and 1950s remember this home as “Mrs. Annie’s” house. Annie Thibodeaux Bourgoyne, her husband, Erwin “Chic” Bourgoyne, and Annie’s sister, “Miss Gertie,” resided here until the late 1950s. Annie, who loved flowers, filled her yard with so many flowers that her home was hardly visible from the street. Landess Hebert who purchased the property, restored the home to its present condition and currently uses it as rental property. He received a Town of Brusly Certified Landmark Plaque on December 7, 2008 for this home.

Edith & Jimmy Owens Home

Edith Blanchard Owens resides in this home built by Philip Rills, Sr. in 1948 for her and her husband, Jimmy. Edith and Jimmy raised their children, Jim, Sissy and Gerry in this home. The property on which the home is built belonged at one time to the Duralde Alexandry and Dennis Blanchard families. Henry Bell and his family lived in a small house on this property prior to the time that Edith and Jimmy built their home. Mrs. Edith received a Town of Brusly Certified Landmark Plaque on December 7, 2008 for her home.

J. Harvey Blanchard, Sr. Home

A.W. Wallace, a resident of Cinclare, built this home for his daughter, Octavia. When Octavia and her husband, Austin Wilson, moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1920, J. Harvey Blanchard and his wife, Beatrice Levert Blanchard, purchased the home and then raised their family here. The exterior of the home, originally weatherboard, painted white, has changed with the addition of vinyl siding. J. Harvey Blanchard served as Mayor of Brusly from 1927 – 1947. The home, now owned by Edith B. Owens, received a Town of Brusly Certified Landmark Plaque on December 7, 2008.

Sanford & Marjorie H. Labauve Home

The Richard Alexander, Sr. family occupied this home when it was located on Antonia Plantation. In 1928, Richard Alexander tore down the house and hired Omer LaBauve, Sr. to reconstruct it at its present location. It remained in the Alexander family until purchased by Sanford “Polly” LaBauve and Marjorie Hebert LaBauve who raised their family in it. The family received a Town of Brusly Certified Landmark Plaque on December 7, 2008 for this home.

Herbert Jackson Home

The exterior of this bungalow, circa 1919-1920, once the home of Herbert Jackson, Sr., is completely changed. At one time, the house and property were part of the Jackson family estate. The house was transformed into a store in the early 1980s, and later used as a doctor’s office. Property owners, James and Laverne Sorrel, who own the property, operate the Romper Room Day Care Center, housed in the structure. They received a Town of Brusly Certified Landmark Plaque on December 7, 2008 for the building.