Predestined Jennifer and Lee McMillan celebrate their Art Deco dream home on Audubon Boulevard
BY EVA FEDDERLY
F
Right: In the living room, Eclectic Homes suggested a high gloss emerald green paint for the ceiling to compliment the reupholstered Louis the XVI arm chairs and the yellow and blue wallpaper with chimerical blossoms. “I never would have thought to do that, it’s such a showstopper. The dark green color, ties it all together,” Jennifer McMillan said.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SARA ESSEX BRADLEY
rom the beginning, it was meant to be. Jennifer Farris flew home from her New York City apartment for some New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival jams and jubilee. During the visit, her friend Ansley Marshall introduced Jennifer to her future husband, Lee McMillan III. “Two weeks later, we ended up walking down the aisle together,” Jennifer laughed, noting that they were serendipitously in the same wedding party. “I was good friends with the bride and he was friends with the groom.” Jennifer and Lee McMillan got hitched, moved to Manhattan’s Upper East Side, and had two beautiful children, daughter Randall, 9, and son John, 5. In 2019, the family of four moved back to New Orleans. During the height of the pandemic, the McMillans wanted to buy a home. They were floating between long-term Airbnb rentals and needed to feel settled. They also wanted the perfect nest. The McMillans’ friend who had played Cupid at JazzFest, became the family’s real estate agent. “She gave us each other and our dream house,” Jennifer said. In June 2020, Marshall discovered a blighted Art Deco property built in 1920 behind Tulane University. Originally built with red brick, the previous owner and developer had wrapped the home in white stucco, and maintained the original iron work and windows. “The home was basically just a shell,” Jennifer remembered. “But it had its original marble fireplace and an exquisite pool with hand painted Israe-
li tiles. The backyard felt like walking into hotel in Palm Springs. It was us.” Jennifer, a third generation New Orleanian, grew up around midcentury modern antiques, her mother Patti Farris’ favorite. Lee, whose family has also lived in New Orleans for multiple generations, was raised in the company of English and French antiques in the family’s Uptown home. “Our travels and places we lived and grew up shaped how we wanted our new home to feel,” Jennifer says. “Because of our life in New York, Tokyo, and our travels, we gravitate towards modern architecture and floor plans, things that are more unusual.” With the family’s eclectic mix of midcentury modern furniture, Murano glass and vintage finds from Palm Beach staple Circa Who, Jennifer turned to Eclectic Home’s mom-daughter design duo to freshen up her family’s new home. Jennifer’s mother has long been a patron of Eclectic Home and Jennifer had already purchased a handful of furniture pieces from the Oak Street showroom. It was a no-brainer. In June 2020, Eclectic Home designers Penny Francis and daughter Casi St. Julian launched the McMillans’ project. The designers took care to edit the family’s heirlooms and pieces they picked up along their travels. “Some items did not make the cut, others were repurposed or refinished,” Francis said. They recovered several antique and midcentury chairs and paired them with new custom upholstery with bold prints and rich hues. And Francis challenged Jennifer to embrace color and bold design. “Every home I’ve done has always been grey or taupe. Everything is always subdued,” Jennifer said. “When I started working with Penny, I
