Echoes From The Attic and Poems, John A. Walker Home, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana
Submitted to the USGenWeb Archives by Don Johnson, Mar. 2001
Typed by Belford Carver
Written by by Edna F. Campbell
Copyrighted by Edna F. Campbell
With special thanks to her family for permission to use her works.

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PRIMITIVE HOME IS DREAM COME TRUE

The search for their dream house ended for Anita Billet Walker and her husband, 
Dr. John A. Walker, when they discovered a typical country house in a shaded 
tract of land on Wadesboro Road near Ponchatoula.

"It was love at first sight," said Anita, "as we closed our eyes to the unkept 
appearance and needed repairs of the two story structure and visualized the great 
potential in its Gothic architectural designing."

A yen for the simple way of life, a fondness for the past and a natural instinct 
for old houses prompted the creativity in the restoration and furnishings 
specifically oriented toward a primitive country home.

"I have always harbored an innate love for old houses and I had no desire to live 
in a modern home.  I have lived in both the old and the new.  I feel strongly that 
one's home should reflect the owner's personality.  For me an old house has 
special appeal and ingredients of character.  I enjoy living in the country.  I 
love to awaken in the mornings and listen to the birds singing.  I suppose persons 
who grew up on a farmsite do not have the awareness of natural surroundings as 
those of us who have spent our lives in large cities," said Anita, a native of New 
Orleans.

She received her education from Sacred Heart Academy and Sophia Newcomb College.  
She met her husband while he was attending LSU Medical School in New Orleans.  Dr. 
Walker, a native of Shreveport, also attendedthe University of Notre Dame in South 
Bend, Ind.  After becoming a general practitioner and family doctor, they moved to 
Ponchatoula.

In May of 1976 they purchased the present home, but because of the time-consuming 
restoration, they didn't occupy the home until the spring of 1978.

"A span of two years went into the planning and rebuilding of the house.  I made 
endless trips to the demolition site in New Orleans in order to obtain just the 
right type of cypress wood work for the intrusions in the restoration, in my 
intent in creating the original trends," said Anita.  "Our aim was to make the 
house retain as much as possible of the same look as it had when built."

"The setting had some bearings on our selection, partly because of its proximity 
to historic Rosaryville which is situation on a 1,700 acre tract of land.  This 
includes a permanent noviate of the Dominican Sisters of the Congregation of St. 
Mary.  It is now home for some 20 retired nuns.

The Walkers felt assured that with Rosaryville's large landsite adjoining their 
land, they would not be crowded in with industries or subdivisions.  They have 
also found the nuns to be ideal neighbors.

The Walker home is closely linked with Rosaryville, as it was built in 1890 by Dr. 
Theothile Heig, a native of Germany and professor at the Catholic establishment at 
Rosaryville, which was first a Priory.  Dr. Heig's daughter, Mary, was married to 
Vincent Gomez who also was affiliated with the Priory.  Mrs. Gomez now lives in 
New Orleans and visits occasionally in the vicinity where she delights in 
trekking the paths of her childhood homesite.  She has been given credit for the 
planting of many of the trees and plants on the old Heig property.

The slate blue architectural gem, homesite of the Walkers, is characterized with 
a generous inlay of gingerbread white trim.  The trim is repeated on the upstairs 
balcony, the entrance foyer and the wide spreading front gallery.

(From ECHOES FROM THE ATTIC, X, 1979, by Edna Campbell)

(Pic of home)