Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.
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50 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 5.15 TOP GUNS I n the Talking Heads song "Once in a Lifetime," David Byrne sings, "You may fnd yourself living in a shotgun shack." In Louisville, that has always been true. Built from the end of the Civil War until the 1920s, this Southern architectural legacy originated in the Creole suburbs of New Orleans. Te simple design consisted of a three-room cottage, with a living room in the front, bedroom in the middle and kitchen of the back. Made of wood, brick or stone, the design traveled up the country's waterways. (Te "shotgun" moniker comes from the idea that a bullet could traverse the whole of the house, front door to back, without ever touching a wall.) In Louisville, shotguns got their start as rental properties near manufacturing plants and butcheries. Lined up side by side, the long box shape allowed the homes to be densely packed into neighborhoods such as Butchertown, Portland and the Highlands. Te design facilitated airfow during hot summer months. Legend has it that spirits found the open design easy to move through. Elvis was born in a shotgun, but by the time he brought rock 'n' roll to the masses, those masses were abandoning shotguns and city living for that suburban American Dream. According to Preservation Louisville, which has a Save Our Shotguns project, after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, our town had more shotguns than any other city. Today, many folks are choosing to live more simply, to live closer to restaurants, to reduce their carbon footprint. Some are choosing to live in shotguns. Here are three diferent takes on the shotgun's revival. The new mix When DJ and Walden School language arts/English teacher Kim Sorise bought her 1,200-square-foot shotgun in Schnitzelburg in 2005, she knew she was in for a challenge. Te house, built in 1908, had over the century been a working- class dwelling. It reminded her of her Detroit roots. "I ask my students, 'What is a home?' when we read Te House on Mango Street," the 42-year-old says, "and our collective response is that a house is a dwelling: a shelter with a roof and a door. A home is created for the purpose of love, safety and building community. It is where our hearts can live if we let them." Sorise's open kitchen has tiger-striped bamboo fooring that pops and includes a special alcove for her beagle Fred. Te music room has enough storage that it also can be used for entertaining. Handmade cabinetry is sourced from vintage skateboards. She has flled her By Jon Lee Cope • Photos by Ted Tarquinio Three approaches to shotgun-house living.