Liz Salles has operated her gift shop for the past 35 years in a former “haunted” cat house. The Jefferson House on South Jefferson Avenue in Covington was the former home to Frances Young, an eccentric but well-known cat lover that kept as many as 50 cats at a time in the cypress and pine house.

Salles said the home, built by Young’s parents in the late 1880’s, was one of the first Acadian-style homes built in Covington. Salles told the history as follows.

Young had tuberculosis as a child in New Orleans, and her parents moved her to Covington for her health. The home had plenty of cross-ventilation to assist with the child’s breathing problems. She was often seen sleeping on the porch in a hammock to get fresh air.

Liz Salles stands inside the Jefferson House in Covington, once home to Frances Young and her 50 cats. (Staff Photo by Debbie Glover)

After her parents died, Young tutored students and began collecting cats. She was known as an intelligent women, a “real lady in the Southern sense.” Where and how she received her education is not known. She was also known as “The Cat Lady of Covington.”

Salles said in her older years, Young sold the house to Jessie Mclain with the stipulation he could not resell the house until her death and must maintain her beloved cats during her lifetime. She went to a nursing home and lived there for seven years until her death in 1972.

Young also sold the antiques in her house to feed the cats. The house was never painted on the inside or the outside, simply the raw cypress and pine planks stood.

During Young’s time in the nursing home, the cats lived upstairs and were fed and watered every day. Apparently, Salles said, it was a known “hangout” to be fed and many of the original cats brought their friends to the house to live during Young’s absence.

Meowing and noises during the night gave the house a “haunted” reputation that old-time Covingtonians still remember. One eccentricity of the house is the downstairs newel post of the banister that was used by the cats as their scratching post.

The scratches, still visible, are symmetrical on the post. No one side of the post is scratched more than another — it’s evenly scratched all the way around, including the outside, which is a step above the floor, and in between the posts and the next post on the banister.

Salles bought the house in 1972, and it had to air out for a year to get the cat smells out. She removed the wood, and after getting rid of the smell put the wood back into the house, using the same square nails. The house is still all original, she said, although she has painted the outside.

Salles said some of the cats were still around, and she fed them and cared for them, but she put a limit on the number she would take care of. They also remain outside. Salles, then a widow, opened the Jefferson House in 1973, supporting her two children, Elise (Schell) and Michael, who were small at the time. Schell still works with her mom in the shop, and they sell everything from antiques, bric-a-brac to bridal gifts with a registry.

The original building still exists with a “slave quarter” in back that housed a tea room for 17 years. It is now a gardening area. The gazebo was built in 1976 by Salles’ husband, Warren, in honor of the U.S. bicentennial.

The shop is celebrating its 35th anniversary in May, and in addition to the anniversary sale, Salles will be giving a donation to the Humane Society in Frances Young’s name.

“At the time, there was no Humane Society,” Salles said. “Actually, there was, and it was Frances Young herself.”