Susan and Don Charlet know better than most people that everything old can be new again.

The Corbel, the Charlets’ home décor and architectural salvage store that opened in 2001 on Highway 61 in Jackson and relocated to downtown St. Francisville last year, has long been a go-to source for antique doors, old stained-glass windows and other one-of-a-kind pieces. So when the couple set out to build a brand-new empty-nest residence of their own, they knew they wanted a style that would suit its St. Francisville Historic District setting—and they knew just how to achieve it.

The starting point was a small lot nestled next to the home of Don’s aunt and uncle. The location is just a two-minute drive from North Commerce, a collection of the Charlets’ commercial ventures, including The Corbel, other retail stores, an event venue, a boutique hotel and other businesses.

“We wanted the house to look like it had been there forever,” Don says. “We were really attracted to the downtown area; it was just the right spot for us.”

This was the 13th house that Don, a custom home builder, constructed for his family, so he and Susan had finetuned their preferences over the years. “We definitely did not want anything big,” says Susan, noting that their three children were all out of high school when construction commenced in 2020. Adds Don, “It was very much a design-build because we had such a small spot to build on, and we wanted it to really fit into the Historic District. So it was challenging.”

Operating under the style vision of a “French downtown cottage,” Don oriented the main living areas of the house to spill out onto a rear courtyard surrounded by a 10-foot brick wall. Inside, he incorporated special touches, including 18-foot ceilings, antique doors and steel windows, and a full masonry plastered fireplace. “Those were design details that we really liked and that we wanted to be part of the design,” he says.

Drawing on the resources of The Corbel and its stock of old architectural objects, the Charlets combined contemporary features such as light fixtures and cozy seating with antique pieces even older than the 1807-founded town of St. Francisville itself. “We like a mix of old and new, with a French influence,” Susan says.

The kitchen was designed around two pairs of tall glass-paned doors that first had their home in Paris three or four centuries ago. Today, the doors—complete with their original French cremone bolts and the original glass—stand on each side of the stove and are stocked with all the cooking and dining essentials of a modern family.

Every room holds vintage details like these. A pair of reclaimed windows from an old building in Boston hang high in a corner behind the dining table, their inlaid circle design reflecting the round shapes that repeat on their stair rail and on antique interior doors. Sunlight streams into the bathroom of the primary suite through a Gothic arched stained-glass window representing Christ the King.

To see one of the most unusual reclaimed touches in this home, you have to look down. When the Charlets purchased a batch of ceiling and floor joists from an old building in north Louisiana a few years ago, they were told that it was antique cypress, but when they got the wood back to their shop and began milling it, they realized there was another type of wood mixed in—red gum. Don and his crew were able to save the patina when milling the wood, and they carefully laid each varied-width board in the couple’s new home and applied a gray wash finish.

“We had never bought red gum before,” Don says. “It was a lot harder and more dense than antique cypress, but it was a beautiful wood with a great patina. So this is a very unique floor.”

The Christmas season adds another layer of interest to the Charlets’ old-meets-new decorating scheme. For 2023, Susan’s vision of an unfussy, natural holiday was brought to life with help from Amber Thorne, who packed in plenty of fresh greenery along with velvet ribbons and burlap stockings along with the family’s traditional fresh Christmas tree. “I don’t like a lot of ‘stuff,’” Susan says. “I don’t want a bunch of glitter and gold. I like it to be simple.”

In preparation for their home to be featured on the Christmas in the Country Holiday Tour of Homes last year, Susan opted to omit the typical kids’ homemade ornaments from the tree and instead went with a mix of clear and opaque ball ornaments layered with brightly colored velvet ribbons. “That was a lot different than what I normally do,” she says.

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Especially at Christmastime, this house is also designed for entertaining. Don and Susan often welcome friends over for casual evenings involving big pots of gumbo and drinks out in the courtyard. “We’re not throwing big fancy parties,” Susan says. “We enjoy more intimate get-togethers.”

Holiday meals with extended family are also on the agenda, with menus typically including more gumbo, plus other delicacies, including fried turkeys, prime rib, seafood stuffing and Susan’s popular carrot beignets. Don tackles some of the cooking duties on the back porch, where he has two Big Green Eggs, a burner and other outdoor culinary essentials. “We placed the outdoor kitchen adjacent to the indoor kitchen so it would be easy to entertain and cook at the same time,” he says. “So it’s a fun place to be, and the design really lends itself to entertaining around food.”

Most important during the holiday season is this time spent with family, Susan says. The couple’s two sons, Cage and John Luke, live in St. Francisville with their families, while daughter Mallory and her husband live in Baton Rouge. And the house also accommodates plenty of overnight guests, ranging from friends from Tennessee and Georgia to family members from Texas. On any given December day, these loved ones might be found lounging on the back porch bed swing or gathering around the fireplace.

“It’s important to us to slow down a little bit this time of year to enjoy the season,” Susan says. “December is really a month of celebrations for us, with lots of birthdays and our anniversary as well. It’s always special to spend so much time together.”