Semi-annual fee maintenance fee is now $498.62
Included newsletter reads:
JEAN LAFITTE HOUSE FALL WINTER 2017-2018
So much has been going on at the Jean Lafitte house over these last few months I thought it best to take some time and bring back our Old School Newsletter like the Good Old Days that started with our opening back in 1983. Next year is our 35th Anniversary of the opening of the Jean Lafitte House. When we first opened I had a single phone for the whole property to use, we had no parking lot, and we didn’t even have a staircase for the back building! For a young and green 30 something developer it was a struggle; but I stuck it out with our original owners, many of whom who are still with us today. For those first owners on board, many of their timeshares now have been handed down to children and now even some grandchildren.
OUR NEW COURTYARD
As many of you know, we are under a program to make our property ADA compliant. The toughest part of that task is behind us with the removal of the old bumpy lumpy courtyard surface replacing it with a smooth wheelchair compliant surface. Pulling up the stone meant the border of the pool came up as well. In my effort to keep maintenance fees down over the years, the pool has not been resurfaced since the 1990s. It was time with the plaster showing age and the equipment and plumbing needing attention. The pool plumbing has been replaced, the filter updated, and the whole filtration system has been moved from under the big tree to under the staircase. This will further reduce noise in the courtyard making for a more comfortable time around the pool. The wooden lattice work around the base of the staircase for years has been replaced with genuine old New Orleans ‘soft red’ bricks. It looks great. We will be posting pictures of the improvements online soon. The new pool surface is a deep blue epoxy marine paint that gives the pool a most luxurious look. To better comply with our liability insurance, around the pool we have put up a beautiful cast iron fence to make the pool safer and avoid the worst type of accident.
AROUND THE PROPERTY
The most significant improvement as well as the most visible improvement to the JEAN LAFITTE HOUSE would be our new top-to-bottom paint job. Inside we took a ‘no rooms left behind’ offensive to locate and repair every surface dent, blemish, or hole in our living rooms, dining areas, bathroom and bedroom sheetrock; and then painted the repaired surfaces. Same program on the outside. All the paint on the front of the building and balconies is new as well as all the walls around the Courtyard. Also new coats of stain on all the front building staircase wood.
With the stretching of maintenance fees contributed by owners for operations, as JEAN LAFITTE HOUSE developer I personally signed a sixty [60] month $50,000.00 lease line of credit so to provide funds for the purchase of all new couches for every suite, new end tables and coffee tables for every suite and new dinettes all around. The dinettes are a perfect design to provide just enough space for family dining with the large single sided leaf up seating four to six comfortably.
IN THE ROOMS
As we turned the corner on painting all the room interiors it was obvious that it was time for new furniture as well. With the stretching of maintenance fees contributed by owners for operations,
UP ON THE ROOF
We have replaced the roof on the front half of the front building. Over time, leaks had been developing in too many corners. Our roofers who we have been using since Hurricane Katrina did a stellar job for a fair price.
KEEPING THE LAUNDRY MOVING
Probably the biggest challenge for our housekeepers and cleaners to keep our property clean was our group of worn washers and dryers, some of which were over ten years old. We have always used our machines until they drop, beyond repair. Imagine the shape of your own washer at home if you had to do four to six loads of laundry today and every day for a decade. With the passing of time, almost concurrently, our washers and dryers started failing, causing delays in room clean ups. Now we have three new washer and dryer sets which keep our linens and towels clean and in order.
WE REMEMBER A word for our long time owners we have lost along the way. We miss them when their week comes around and they are no longer around to hang out with us. God Bless you all for your trust and time with us year after year