My Houzz: Rustic Charm in Rural Louisiana

Charlie and Kent Davis acquired a sprawling 50-acre piece of property along Louisiana’s Tchefuncte River in 1976. For years the husband and wife, world travelers and owners of Davis Gallery in New Orleans, have regularly retreated to this outdoor-lover’s paradise on weekends with their two children, other family members and friends. They camped on the land until they raised the funds to build the main cabin. After decades of love and labor, they have not only a cabin but a guest barn, wood-fired sauna and fabulous garden. “The home was fashioned board by board with few resources excepting hard work and enthusiasm,” Charlie says. “It is simple but efficient, and every moment spent there never fails to delight.”

Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: This is a second home for Charlie and Kent Davis.
Location: Amite, Louisiana
Size: Main house: 2,500 square feet (232 square meters); 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms; guest barn: 1,000 square feet (93 square meters), 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom
Year built: Main house: 1982; guest barn: 1985

In 1981, Charlie sketched the rough design of the home on a piece of paper and took it to a friend, Charlie Slay, a carpenter and builder who helped him refine the drawing and build the house. Other friends and family also helped the couple build the home, which was finished just a year later, in 1982.



The concept for the design was incorporating nature into the house. As a result, the exterior is made of redwood, and the home features large porches that extend along the front and back sides of the first and third floors, looking out to the vast fields and forest. Another charming and nature-incorporating feature that Kent and Charlie love is the rustic tin roof; raindrops from the frequent summer showers create a calming hum throughout the home.



The main floor of the cabin is open, consisting of a living space, a kitchen and an eating area. “The interior is simple, with a slant toward cypress furniture made by or traded with friends,” Charlie says. The natural, homey quality of the interior comes from both the rustic wood and the nature-inspired color palette that Kent and Charlie chose. The first floor has a very high ceiling that allows in natural light and increases air circulation, keeping the home cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

For over 30 years, a woodstove in the living room was the sole source of heat. “The entire house was heated by a Norwegian Jøtul woodstove that was shaped like an Easter Island head in honor of the famous explorer Thor Heyerdahl. We use so little electricity that for years, our electric company thought the house to be a horse barn,” Charlie says.

The couple didn’t have air conditioning, either. They enjoyed spending their time outdoors and were fearful that if they installed A/C, they’d be more inclined to stay indoors. Fortunately, they found that adding an HVAC system two years ago hasn’t really changed the way they enjoy the land.


Two bedrooms, one on the first floor and one on the second floor, are used as guest rooms for Kent and Charlie’s children and grandchildren. Charlie found the longleaf pine overhead beams at a salvage yard in New Orleans,


The home is three stories high and has an open wood staircase that acts as the centerpiece of the house, leading the eye up through the different levels. The bald cypress doors and interior trim came from a dismantled convent in New Orleans. The bookshelves hold countless books, resources and field guides for these two outdoor fanatics.


The eating area on the main floor is open to the living room, and also overlooks the screened-in porch on the back side of the home and the forest beyond. Dining room chairs, a midcentury modern mix of wicker, tubular chrome and wood, are in keeping with the home’s rustic style while bringing in a modern edge.

Chairs: Cesca, Marcel Breuer



Charlie originally didn’t want a kitchen in the cabin. He loved being outdoors and cooking their family meals on an open campfire. After some consideration, however, they decided to install one, and now they enjoy having this amenity, especially in the winter, when it can be too chilly to cook outside.


This late-19th- or early-20th-century Great Majestic wood and gas stove is the centerpiece of the kitchen and a backup heat source in winter. Charlie bought it from a friend and reassembled it here. He thought it would be a great addition to a country-style kitchen.


The first-floor bathroom features wood trim and a bathtub that overlooks the side yard. The large window allows the morning light to stream in.


The view from this covered porch off the master bedroom at the top of the house is one of the best. At night the field is beautifully starlit, thanks to its being far away from a major city.


The master bedroom, on the third floor, is flanked by two porches. “From the top bedroom, you can view the stars or watch fireflies at night,” Charlie says. “A screened porch, doors and windows allow entry of the night sounds of cicadas, coyotes and owls. Because we are in the basin of the Tchefuncte River, there is a never-ending parade of wildlife.”


Over the years Kent and Charlie have also collected countless African artifacts, most of which are kept in their home in New Orleans. However, their country home does feature a Bamana wooden bellow from Mali, West Africa. If it were complete, it would have two leather diaphragms for the hands as pumps and two iron pipes to blow air into the fire.


Hanging throughout the home are the works of contemporary artists, like this piece by Wayne Amedee.


Kent and Charlie regularly eat their meals on this back screened-in porch, which is just off the kitchen. It’s an ideal location for enjoying the view of their land.

One of the best conversation pieces on the porch is a large hanging dugout canoe that Charlie bought for just $10. He enjoys taking the canoe down to the small and isolated river and spending the day paddling and taking in the natural landscape, wildlife and fresh country air.


The back deck is used primarily for grilling and entertaining guests. “Hurricane Katrina was kind to the house, not kind to the back deck and deadly to our forest,” Charlie says. “I think we lost about 1,000 trees, and after 10 years only now have the woods begun to look normal.”

The two grill a lot on a 1970s Japanese Kamado (seen in the corner). This rare ceramic grill, a precursor to the Big Green Egg grill, is wonderful for cooking meats. Charlie, a North Carolina native, loves to cook Carolina-style barbecue.


Before the home was built, this was where the couple cooked all their meals. They still enjoy cooking over an open fire here in the summer.


Outdoor lounging is one of the many perks of being in the country. This hammock is the perfect place to curl up with a book or take a long afternoon nap.


A separate barn-like building provides guest quarters and covered parking. “We built a 1,000-square-foot guesthouse and workshop in 1985 in the shape of a North Carolina tobacco barn, because I used to work in the tobacco fields there when I was a teenager,” Charlie says. “This we air-conditioned so that our friends would actually stay on summer nights.”


The guest barn has a large upstairs bedroom with an attached porch and a bathroom. It also has a lofted bed, which is a perfect space for kids and additional guests.


Under the right wing of the guest barn is a 1970 Land Rover. When Kent and Charlie got married, they sought an adventure. They purchased this Land Rover from the factory in England and drove it around the world for over two years through most of Europe, through the Soviet Union and across the Sahara desert.

The couple also spent a year traveling through Africa, from Morocco to South Africa. It was during this trip that Charlie and Kent discovered their love of African culture and people, and began collecting African artifacts. This in turn sparked the idea of opening a gallery of African art in New Orleans. Charlie changed his career from herpetologist and zoo director in North Carolina and Virginia, and the two have been gallerists for the past 41 years. Since then Charlie has returned to Africa more than 150 times. “I stopped counting after 100,” he says.


Charlie and Kent do the house and land maintenance themselves, which means that the annual expenses for the property are low. “With approximately 50 acres of land to maintain from the ever-encroaching vegetation fed by Southern heat and rain, we work very hard to keep the land as it was, part field and part hardwood forest,” Charlie says.


He adds, “I have a large fenced garden that is somewhat protected from the deer population, in which I raise tomatoes and many summer vegetables as well as winter crops such as collards, turnips and chard. Blueberry bushes thrive in the red clay acidic soil.”


Wild chanterelle mushrooms grow behind the home. Kent says that when her kids were younger, they would gather up the mushrooms, which go for over $20 a pound, and sell them to the many restaurants in New Orleans. Kent enjoys cooking with fresh vegetables, fruits and mushrooms harvested from their land.






“The property is unique in that it spans along about a half mile of riverfront and at one point rises to a bluff about 60 feet above the river,” Charlie says. “That bluff has been famous over the years for finding arrow and spear points, and it presumably was a settlement for Mississippian Native Americans thousands of years ago and most recently the Choctaw.” Charlie pulled out this large piece of driftwood from the river below and painted it red as a marker of the ancient Native American settlement.


Kent, pictured at right, says, “When Charlie was a boy, his mother told me, he used to write letters to Santa Claus saying that all he wanted for Christmas was an acre of land.” Now Charlie, left, and Kent have much more than that, and they never pass up an opportunity to get away from the city life and live in their own isolated paradise, even if it’s just for the weekend.

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