Whether intentionally or not, a home becomes a showcase of our interests. For some, that’s through paintings and artwork. For others, items from an array of hobbies or pursuits serve as a collection of sorts. For Dr. Hypolite Landry, who served as East Baton Rouge Parish coroner for 27 years, his home perfectly embodied the latter.

Described in the 1980 homes-focused issue of The Register as “a bachelor with varied interests,” he collected what he loved: antique cars, flying memorabilia, mechanical contrivances and a plethora of musical instruments in a nod to his musically inclined family. The great room of his home on Jefferson Highway was adorned with large propellors, a parking meter and an antique gramophone, along with about a dozen instruments, including a pipe organ he had built into the home, a drum set, an accordion and various horns. His vast instrument collection spilled over into the primary bedroom, where a cello, guitar and bass violin—all playable and often played—served as dècor.

While certain design aspects, like the carpet surrounding the sunken tub, put a timestamp on the home, how Landry filled it made the space unique to his eclectic personality and interests. A gifted musician, record-breaking pilot and man of many talents, his home reflected just that. And outside was a continuation of his hobbies—with a stable for horses, where he drove on a motor scooter to care for them every day.

Whether through curated art collections or casually arranged belongings, the walls of a home do, in fact, talk. It’s fair to say you don’t really know a person until you see how they live—perhaps explaining why touring homes is captivating enough to have remained a central focus for this magazine, many others and a beloved MTV series for decades and counting. After all, who isn’t intrigued by a pipe organ in the living room?