Among the marvelous mansions lining historic St. Charles, one building truly stands out. Affectionately dubbed “The Wedding Cake House”, this 3-story 13,000 square foot building resembles a tiered wedding cake, thanks to its minute flourishes, Corinthian columns, and uniform white paint (which is rumored to be sugar sweet).
Built in 1896 for local grocer Nicholas Burke, rebuilt in 1907 after an electrical fire, and freshly renovated, The Wedding Cake House is an outstanding example of the Colonial Revival style and a tourist favorite.
Unfortunately, Hurricane Katrina devastated much of Louisiana and 5809 St. Charles was no exception, leaving their slate roof and copper gutters in dire need of repair, exacerbated by incorrect work from a prior contractor. Thanks to our expertise and corrective work, The Durable Slate Company serves as the exclusive historic roofing company responsible for maintaining the Wedding Cake’s many gorgeous historic roofs and associated structures.
Over the years, we have been responsible for extensive repairs and new installations on the main house and other buildings on the property. For the main house, we have repaired the slate and copper flashing, installed new compound radius copper gutters, which were then painted white, reflashed all of the chimneys, and installed new copper flat roofs and magnificent “Napoleon Hats” to both the main roof and lower copper roofs.
The guest house and separate garage received new four color Vermont blend slate roofs, copper roofs, and copper gutters. The outdoor pool showers received custom copper siding for a premium but lasting look.
Looking forward, The Durable Slate Company will continue to make protective and aesthetic improvement to The Wedding Cake House, including repairs to their masonry chimneys and the gradual replacing of their copper roofs and flashings.
