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Satchmo's House Opening to the Public
Oct 9, 6:28 PM (ET)
By DEEPTI HAJELA
NEW YORK (AP) - Trees of green? Check. Red roses, too? You bet. OK, how about skies of blue? Well, the kitchen cabinets are blue, just like the fridge and the clock.
The Queens house where jazz great Louis Armstrong lived and died is opening to public tours next week, giving visitors a glimpse into the life and style of Armstrong and his wife, Lucille.
Armstrong married Lucille, his fourth wife, in 1942. She purchased the red brick house in the Corona section of Queens in 1943 and decorated it, all without Armstrong, who was often on the road.
The first time the trumpeter saw it was when he returned home from a road trip. At first, when the taxi he was in pulled up to the house, he didn't believe he was at the right address, said Michael Cogswell, director of the Armstrong archives at Queens College.
"He came inside, fell in love with the place and lived here for the rest of his life," Cogswell said.
Lucille Armstrong spared no expense in decorating the house, and she continued to redecorate often over the years until her husband's death in 1971. She lived there until her death in 1983, and the house was then given to the city to be administered by Queens College.
Tours begin Oct. 16, and what visitors will see is the house furnished as the Armstrongs left it. That means the original gold-plated fixtures imported from Europe in the first-floor bathroom, the silver paper lining the master bedroom matched to the window blinds, the foil-covered walk-in closet where some of Lucille Armstrong's dresses still hang.
The 1960s kitchen is done in blue tones, with a Sub-Zero refrigerator and custom-made stove with six burners, two ovens and two broilers, as well as the original (and still occupied) wine bottle holder.
Louis Armstrong's den holds his desk and a tape deck he used to record hours and hours of conversations.
"We literally have hundreds of hours of tape of Louis and the guys sitting around swapping dirty jokes and band stories and so forth," Cogswell said. Visitors hear some of the tape - snippets of conversation, instrumental music, the clink of utensils at the dinner table - while in the living room, the dining room and the den.
Funding for the $1.6 million renovation, came from city and federal sources. The basement has been turned into a visitor's center, where some of Armstrong's memorabilia is displayed.
Over the years, the Armstrongs became a fixture in the neighborhood.
"When the ice cream truck would come by, Louis would buy ice cream for the kids in the neighborhood," Cogswell said. "He was very much a part of the neighborhood; he was a regular guy on the block."
Cogswell said the house in Queens was a reflection of the wealthy Armstrong's down-to-earth spirit.
"It's a real tribute to Louis' humanity and generosity that he lived in a relatively simple house in a working-class neighborhood and was very content there," Cogswell said.
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On the Net:
Louis Armstrong House and Archives: http://www.satchmo.net
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CHAT
ROOM aka THE FUN HOUSE] [
RESTROOMS]