The name A. Hays Town is famous among the southern design community as the architect whose distinctive design style truly embodied the spirit of classic Louisiana architecture. In his almost 80 year career, Town excelled in the commercial industry before moving to the residential side where he established his own design style that shaped the identity of Louisiana homes.

A. Hays Town was born in Crowley, LA in 1903 and spent the majority of his life growing up in Lafayette, LA. After graduating from high school, he attended college in Lafayette and earned a degree in engineering before moving to Tulane University in New Orleans and completed his Bachelors in Architecture. Town's first job out of college was working in Jackson, MS for architect N.W. Overstreet. Quickly, Town's talent grew and he became Overstreet's right-hand man and later his partner and master designer. In 1939, Town made the decision to move back home to Louisiana and opened his own office. His firm took off and he designed the Union Federal Savings and Loan building and the Louisiana Department of Highways Office building. Moving into the 1960s, Town decided to shift his focus to residential design. He used his personal home in Baton Rouge as a canvas to develop his own design style. This style often included a distinct color palette and custom detailing. He also liked to reuse old building materials to blend with the new materials making the home seem like it had been around for generations. Town continued to work into his nineties, and at the time of his death in 2005, he had completed over one thousand homes. Towns influence still lives on today as builders and architects try to mimic his design style of incorporating the old with the new.

All of A. Hays Town homes follow Town's distinctive design style while still each having their own identity. In Town's designs, the exterior details held just as much importance as the interior details. Below are the most common characteristics of an A. Hays Town home.

- Slate Roofs

- Large Porches with Overhangs furnished with swings, rockers, and reclaimed church pews

- Tall, 13′ Ceilings with Wood Beams

- French Doors with Operable Shutters

- Large Window Walls

- White-Painted Interior Brick

- Arched Doorways

- Brick Floors

- Wide Plank Pine Floors

- Cypress Doors and Cabinetry

- Fully Landscaped Interior Courtyards

Here at Ourso Designs, we have been fortunate enough to work on an A. Hays Town home on multiple occasions. Our most recent one was a master bathroom remodel located in the Jefferson Bocage neighborhood. We even had access to a copy of the original plans drawn by A. Hays Town himself.