LEFT: Entryway at Kingsway

house, floor-to-ceiling
Swarovski chandelier.
RIGHT: Music room double
parlor with African fertility bed,
original terrazzo tile floors.

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KINGSWAY
Great Beauty with
Great Meaning

Merging New Orleans vintage with modern

chic is rarely done well. But for real estate
developer, Sean Cummings, his Esplanade
mansion, Kingsway, reflects the best of
Old-World and New Age.
Text by LIBBY ALLEN
Photography by EUGENIA UHL
Interior design by LM PAGANO

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KINGSWAY IS DESIGNCENTRIC. NEW ORLEANS IS

SIGNIFICANTLY ABOUT TIME
AND PLACE, AND WE GET A
LOT OF THAT HISTORY, AND
THE CONTEXT BECOMES
EVOCATIVE OF THE PLACE

The history of New Orleans is wrought with colorful characters.

The story of our beloved city was (and is) interwoven with
entrepreneurs and outlaws, crooks and royalty, establishing itself
as a city that has long since entranced the rest of the world. New
Orleans eclectic ambiance is one of its defining attributes, and the
architecture of the city is no exception. Now, in a post-Katrina
New Orleans, architectural design and function hold new
meaning. It has become paramount to create a bridge from classic
to modern, while keeping the temper of New Orleans intact.
Kingsway House on Esplanade Avenue is a beautiful example of
how an urban artifact can emerge as a modern archetype.
Built in 1848, the 11,000 square-foot space was once occupied
by restaurateur, Count Leon Arnaud (who founded Arnauds
restaurant in the French Quarter) and subsequently his daughter,
the illustrious Germaine Wells. And in a more modern era,
producer Daniel Lanois began Kingsway Studios there, where
some of the most famous names in music history recorded.
Celebrity and New Orleans provocateur Nicolas Cage owned
the coveted property until just before Katrina.
The building was bought by Sean Cummingsa local developer
and entrepreneurin 2004. In all of Cummings projects, his
style encapsulates the rising motif of New Orleans design: it is
the perfect union of vintage and modern. His vision for Kingsway
not only embraces the buildings rich personal narrative, but offers
a unique perspective on the co-existence of tastes, ranging from
traditional to trendy, tailored specifically to New Orleans culture.
Kingsway is design-centric. New Orleans is significantly about
time and place, and we get a lot of that history, and the context
becomes evocative of the place, Cummings said. You end up
with what I think is an interesting contrast, and in many ways, a
fuller and richer expression of New Orleans.
Kingsway is a grand space. Echoing its musical history, the house
seems to serenade your entrance through the expansive front
doors, with a stunningif not overwhelming13-foot, floor-toceiling chandelier. The extravagant ornament was apparently
the largest that Swarvoski had ever produced for a mere two
weeks, until it was outdone by a slightly more fabulous chandelier,
commissioned by a Shanghai shopping mall.

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LEFT TOP: spectacular first-tothird floor continuous central,

grand stairway BOTTOM LEFT:
second-floor office and living
room suite, with original oil
painting by David Harouni and
authentic 45 star flag RIGHT:
elegant first floor "red room", with
oil painting by David Harouni

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LEFT: First-floor bar with original geometric tile and red stucco walls. TOP RIGHT: First-floor double parlor billiard room with African king's chair
and purple clothe grande billiard table. BOTTOM RIGHT: Serene bronze buddha overlooking courtyard and relaxation pool.
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WHAT I TRY TO DO IS TO
CREATE A CONSONANT
INTERIOR THAT TELLS A
NARRATIVE, A SPECIFIC STORY.
WE ARE ALL CONNECTED AS
SPIRITUAL BEINGS.
Everything about Kingsway seems so deliberate, so intimate, so
sexy; it is a place uncommonly beautiful. Balance and composition
rest everywhere. Even the powder room is fitted with two toilets,
because women like to pee together. And whether a living area
is composed of calming white or covered entirely in sensual red,
everything fits perfectly; vintage and modern are enmeshed with
exquisiteness. Even the crown molding on the ceilings seems to
offer a story hidden beneath a century of variegated ownership.
Yet you can still hear its narrative whispered through the
revitalized walls.
The art chosen to decorate the house is a footnote in Kingsways
story. From Mitchell Gaudets hand-cast hands in offertory, to the
Joshua Mann Pailet photograph of Bono and The Edgewho
recorded at Kingswayit is the perfect reflection of the houses
history.
The collaboration between Cummings and interior designer,
LM Pagano, brought forth the story of the house, which is
distilled from its many design elements, resonating with the citys
amalgamation of cultures.
Its important to tell not only stories of the European/Romance
countries that influenced New OrleansSpain, France, and
Italybut of the influences from West Africa and the French
Caribbean as well. LM found a king's chair from Ghana and a
beautiful fertility bed from Senegal, and both of those are in the
music room of the house and prominently cast in the ensemble of
furniture, Cummings said.
Perhaps Cummings most obvious tribute to Kingswayand all
of his projectsis craftsmanship.
"What I try to do is to create a consonant interior that tells a
narrative, a specific story. We are all connected as spiritual
beings, and so what LM and I have tried to do is to rope in the old
and the new and to tell the story of the gumbo of humanity that
has created this place, that has drawn people here for generations,
often inexplicably. And we do that through design."
This house is, as Cummings might say, exalting to creative
people. Its effect soaks into you as if by osmosis and seems to draw
inspiration from every old plank of wood, every antique tile. It is
a place connected seamlessly through function and ambiance.
Kingsway is a celebration of authenticity, of history, and of the
new New Orleans.

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