Jule Lang juggles her time between interiordesign commissions and her latest per

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Jule Lang is one busy woman. She juggles her time between interiordesign commissions and her latest personal project, the21st-century "sustainable" retrofitting of her century-old FaubourgMarigny house. Then there's her involvement in the not-for-profitSt. Roch Project, a multifaceted effort to revitalize that nearbyneighborhood, as well as the countless volunteer hours she gives toa host of other community arts and preservation organizations.
In fact, she's so devoted to her downtown community that you wouldthink she has lived in the area forever. Not so. She's an Uptownerwhose empty-nest life passage has moved her far away from thestreetcar line and St. Charles Avenue mansions.
"I used to live near Audubon Park," Lang said. "But my sons gotolder and have their lives up in New York. And, while they visit mequite often, it became obvious that I didn't need a big house anymore. So I decided to downsize, because no matter how big thehouse, once the wives and the babies come to visit, I stillwouldn't have enough room for everyone."
The spring before Hurricane Katrina, Lang rented an apartment inFaubourg Marigny to see if she liked living there.
"I wanted to check out the neighborhood first," she said. "Ofcourse, I loved it. So when the landlord told me he was selling myapartment after the storm, I looked around to buy a house righthere."
She found her new home in June 2006, made a few cosmetic changesand moved in two months later.
"This area is also a sliver by the river, so this is high ground,too," she said of her quietly painted home, located three blocksfrom the Mississippi River and flood-free after Katrina.
--- Something old, something new ---
These days, Lang is surrounded on all sides by Caribbean-coloredcottages, whose aesthetic styles are far different from the statelyhouses in her former neighborhood on the other side of CanalStreet. It's a change she savors: Lang says she loves her longfront porch and the intensely urban feel of Marigny.
"I mean, down here, your home is right on the sidewalk," she said."So, naturally, we do a lot of stoop sitting and wine sipping inthe evenings. This is just a real 'neighborhoody' neighborhood --not in a nosy way, just wonderfully friendly."