Page 136 - South Mississippi Living - May, 2016

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BAY ST. LOUIS
Converted gas station becomes chic cottage in Bay St. Louis
Nstory by Lynn Lofton photos by Janice Hall
ot all living spaces start out as houses. Creative people often see potential in unconventional structures. Such is the case with the former service station that’s been completely repurposed by Holly Lemoine-Raymond in Old Town Bay St.
Louis. It’s one of several projects she completed last year, including an Airstream camper, her real estate office and a condo. She wanted the old gas station and her husband, Leo Raymond, wanted the camper, so she tackled both, and both projects turned out great.
A ball of energy, Lemoine-Raymond did much of the work herself by recycling materials, repurposing castoffs and seeing ordinary things with an innovative approach. “It’s all recycled stuff or things I already had. There’s nothing expensive,” she says. “I like the industrial look, and with every project I do, I try to use something old and something local.”
She also likes to use discarded wooden pallets. They’re used to cover some walls of the converted space, including the bathroom and sliding barn-style doors. “The hardware for the doors cost more than anything,” she said. “I also used some old doors and windows found locally.”
Decorative wooden trusses add character to the high ceilings. A metal industrial type floor lamp was the starting point for Lemoine-Raymond’s inspiration and stands in the corner of the main room. At the windows
are drop cloths recycled from the painting project. They >>
136 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • May 2016
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THIS OLD TOWN BAY ST. LOUIS home was repurposed from a former service station by local Realtor Holly Lemoine- Raymond.