Howard Monies House

The Howard Monies House was built in Elmhurst Park by United States
Navy veteran, Howard Allen Monies. Howard and his father, Marcelino
Monies, owned a successful sheet metal business in the area for most of
the 20th century. Several church steeples and crosses in Acadiana were
fashioned by Monies Metal Works. Howard’s father was born in Barcelona
in 1880 into a family of several generations of artisans who worked with
metal. Howard was born in Lafayette in 1908, and he married Agnes Avant
in 1929. Their house was originally built with wood siding. Brick veneer
was added within ten years of construction, a customary modification of
that time. The Howard Monies House was one of the last historic homes
built in Elmhurst Park during its period of historic significance. American
Ranch style home construction in the United States was prevalent between
1940 and 1970. The significance of this house also includes copper and
bronze adornments that were hand made by Monies. Examples are the
gutters and down spouts, awnings, bay window trim, and rooftop weather
vane. Ranch style metal front porch supports were designed to mimic
tree-trunks with vines that are typically found on a working ranch house.