Many interior embellishments of the house are original to the structure. In the living room the brass and bronze gas chandeliers, now electrified, are original as are the French cornices over the windows.
Majestically situated on a large corner lot abounding in typical Southern shrubs and towering magnolia trees the Percy house is a fine example of the Greek Revival style. All the components of a classic Garden District mansion are here--double galleries, fluted Corinthian columns, iron grillwork, and a deep but simple cornice above the top porch.
A characteristic floor plan, as indicated from the arrangement of windows and the door in the façade, was to have all major rooms on the south side (the preferred exposure) of a long hall. The present owners of the home, Mr. and Mrs. Billups P. Percy have modified this arrangement by the addition of a library on the north side of the house.
One of the oldest structures in the Garden District, the Percy house was erected in 1847 by John W. Gayle for his young bride. It was passed to its present owners through several ownerships, including the Alfred Le Blance family who resided here for fifty years.
In the interior of the house are to be noted such familiar antebellum hallmarks as black marble mantels, plaster ceiling rosettes and crystal chandeliers. In addition to the English, French and Italian antiques in the house, an item of special interest is an oil portrait of the late William Alexander Percy, Mississippi poet, author of the autobiographical "Lanterns on the Levee" and the adoptive father of Billups Percy.
ALBERT J. RUHLMAN HOUSE 2336 St. Charles Avenue
This early Louisiana cottage, believed to date from the 1840's, looks today much as it did when the little railroad on Nayades Street brought wealthy business men from their offices downtown out to their palatial Garden District homes.
The façade of the house is symmetrically lovely, distinguished by the wooden railing in a diamond-shaped design, so seldom found today. Typical of the best features of homes of this period are the wide center hall, high ceilings, double parlors, cypress woodwork with hand-hammered door knobs, heart pine floors and handsome window glass. Window and door frames are in the so-called keyhole design.