In a small area of the Lower Ninth Ward, uncertainty about whether residents will rebuild the hundreds of homes destroyed during Hurricane Katrina has morphed into a debate over how it should be done.

Before the hurricane, this hardscrabble neighborhood was dotted with long “shotgun” style homes, an architectural design prominent throughout New Orleans. Now, through the efforts of a nonprofit organization with ties to Hollywood, towering contemporary homes redecorate the neighborhood.

Many in the community see the new homes as a welcome improvement, crediting the investment and public attention the project has generated to a corner of the Ninth Ward typically called the worst in New Orleans. Others view the new designs as an affront, saying that architects have imposed an outsider’s vision of progress instead of asking residents, who’ve lived in the area for generations, for their input.

Valeria Schexnayder, a Lower Ninth Ward resident, scowled while looking at one of the new houses and said, “That’s not New Orleans style. That’s California style.”

The debate has neither halted construction, nor affected the friendships among the neighborhoods that are largely populated with elderly and retired residents. However, it offers a glimpse inside the rebuilding of the city and a look at how good intentions are changing the face of New Orleans.

The new homes were built by the Make It Right Foundation, an organization launched by the actor Brad Pitt in September 2007 to rebuild homes in the Ninth Ward devastated by Hurricane Katrina. After he toured the Ninth Ward in December 2006, he was frustrated by the lack of progress the government was making with the rebuilding.

The foundation, which did not respond to repeated requests for comment, plans to rebuild 150 out of the hundreds of homes the storm destroyed. Pitt enlisted the help of 21 architects to design affordable, durable and green homes that preserved traditional New Orleans style. The construction centers on Tennessee Street, with additional houses scattered along neighboring blocks in what’s dubbed the “Brad Pitt neighborhood.” Fourteen houses have been completed, and 17 are currently under construction.

Residents give the contemporary designs mixed reviews.

Robert Lynn Green Sr., one of the first residents to return to Tennessee Street after the waters receded, has been on board with the foundation since the beginning. Green was living in a FEMA trailer and planning to rebuild his home when he met two Make It Right workers touring the neighborhood in August 2007.

Green, whose mother and young granddaughter drowned in the 20-foot floodwaters, decided not only to be a part of the program, but to help spread the word to his neighbors.

“Talking to them it seemed like a good idea,” said Green. “I stopped trying to rebuild my own house and joined in because if I’m going to try to convince my neighbors to be a part of a program, then I have to be a part of it myself.”

Residents who participate select the design of the new homes from 21 offerings. Green selected a raised house with a two-story shotgun base and ample kitchen space where he can cook his signature meals for his family. He acknowledged the departure from traditional New Orleans architecture, but said the community has to change with the times.

Green admitted that if given the opportunity to design his home at the beginning of the Make It Right process, his house would look different. But he prefers the Make It Right houses because the “green” features save him money on water and electricity. His electricity bill is $56 a month, down from the $170 he paid in his FEMA trailer and the $300 he paid in his original house.

A short walk from his home lives Schexnayder. Unlike her friend, Schexnayder opted not to participate in the Make It Right program even though she was qualified. According to Make It Right, a prospective resident had to live in the Ninth Ward during Katrina and be able to contribute to the cost and maintenance of the house — about a third of the prospect’s income.

Schexnayder doesn’t believe the new designs pay homage to traditional New Orleans architecture at all. She has even bought the lots on both sides of her home to prevent “those funky-looking houses” from being built next to hers.

“If they would have just put up normal houses, people would have been here, back home,” she said.

Besides the obvious design differences, Schexnayder cites small bedrooms, wasted space and a lack of design input as her main issues with the Make It Right Homes.

Schexnayder’s original home floated down her street during the flood and was destroyed. Her new home, a slightly modified shotgun design, was rebuilt after she told the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, about the problems she’d been having with the Road Home, a state relief organization, during a tour Pelosi took through the Ninth Ward. Photos of Pelosi and Schexnayder are displayed proudly in the Schexnayder home along with a wreath Pelosi gave her.

Along with the aesthetic debate, the question concerning the “Make It Right” foundation’s effect on the community is also a hot topic among residents. One of the most noticeable changes has been the Ninth Ward’s addition to the tourist attraction list, with guided bus tours through the neighborhood. Opinions on the tourist presence vary among residents.

Green said he’s OK with the influx of tourists because it stimulates the economy.

“The tour bus driver has a job; the gas station attendant has a job,” said Green. “It builds a bigger economy than people actually realize.”

Schexnayder, though, is vehemently against tours of the neighborhood. She feels the tours are disrespectful and ignore the residents’ pain. In addition, the area does not receive proceeds from the tours.

Home values in that area have always been some of the worst in the city, said real estate broker James Simmons, and the program hasn’t had a noticeable effect on property values.

Residents pay Make It Right an average of $150,000 for a single-family house But according to Simmons, even though the Make It Right houses are green and modern, because of the neighborhood they’re in, on the open market they would be listed at only $130,000 to $140,000. Other houses in the neighborhood, not built by Make It Right, are listed at approximately $100,000. Though Simmons said Pitt’s project is “just a drop in the bucket,” but said the actor should be commended for “stepping up.”

Although neighbors like Green and Schexnayder don’t always see eye to eye on Make It Right’s role in their community, they both want the same thing, to see their neighborhood restored and thriving again.

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