{"id":336143,"date":"2026-09-02T17:41:02","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T17:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/336143\/"},"modified":"2026-09-02T17:41:02","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T17:41:02","slug":"selling-high-end-manhattan-real-estate-helped-john-musso-develop-an-eye-for-creating-his-own-curated-baton-rouge-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/336143\/","title":{"rendered":"Selling high-end Manhattan real estate helped John Musso develop an eye for creating his own curated Baton Rouge home"},"content":{"rendered":"

On a tree-lined street in the Bocage neighborhood\u2014amidst grand stately manors that are generations old and new construction that razed the past for the lots alone\u2014sits an unassuming midcentury house with a treasure trove of style hidden just beyond the front door. It took creative vision to recognize the potential, and real estate veteran John Musso<\/a> has that in spades.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bones were there. That\u2019s what my experience in New York real estate taught me,\u201d says Musso. \u201cI\u2019ve learned how to see past dated d\u00e9cor. I know how a space can completely change with light, color and furnishings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Musso, a Baton Rouge native, developed his knack for spotting potential while selling some of the most coveted real estate in Manhattan. Disillusioned by the auditing and tax track he had pursued during his years at Millsaps College\u2014and a stint at the London School of Economics\u2014he turned away from 90-hour workweeks and set his sights on selling and leasing residential property. He ultimately found himself on a team with The Corcoran Group, a luxury real estate company, representing properties on the Upper East Side. He then answered a job opening on Craigslist that changed his trajectory and expanded his experience even further.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u201cI was inspired by the art I saw in the apartment of the head of design for Kenneth Cole,\u201d says Musso of the vibrant paintings he creates. \u201cIt was fun and colorful.\u201d The walls of this sitting room are lined with his personal work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe job was posted under \u2018Real Estate,\u2019 but I had no idea it was for one of the top-producing teams in the country,\u201d says Musso, referring to a position at the renowned Douglas Elliman group. \u201cMy accounting and finance background actually got me hired because New York transactions require an extensive financial review and board package for every buyer. This includes three years of tax returns, bank statements, investment statements and more. Every single cent must be accounted for and presented to the building\u2019s board for review before the building authorizes the buyer
to close.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Every nook offers an opportunity for design, including this cozy yet colorful space in John\u2019s front sitting room. His own art lines the walls.<\/p>\n

At Elliman, Musso became part of a team that achieved $650 million in residential sales and gained access to homes that most others would never have the opportunity to view. He attended private home parties, perused potential real estate offerings and negotiated with clients all over the world. He had an active social life and a solid and satisfying career. And then the pandemic hit.<\/p>\n

\u201cNew York City completely closed during COVID,\u201d Musso says. \u201cEspecially real estate. No one was going into anyone else\u2019s home. It shut down the real estate market in that area for almost two years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Musso retreated to his family\u2019s condo in Florida, where sheer boredom and social distancing gave him the opportunity to create. He bought canvases and paints, then watched videos on everything from how to mix colors to the art of torching resin. Soon he had walls of self-created, colorful art. He moved into an industrial, concrete loft in Miami with the thought that he would one day return to New York, but the New York he knew was evolving into something else entirely. His friend group was dispersed throughout the United States and abroad, and the real estate market was changing as well. The world he knew before the pandemic was gone. He could return to Manhattan, but it would never be the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cI lived in a 600-square-foot pre-war building on Central Park West. And all that time, I knew only one neighbor,\u201d says Musso. He considered the closeness he shared with his parents and extended family and friends and decided to leave the concrete loft in Miami behind for a more traditional abode in Baton Rouge. \u201cToday, I have a relationship with many of the neighbors around me. It\u2019s a completely different experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"A sectional sofa from Room & Board in New York found a new home as the anchor of Musso\u2019s Louisiana living room. The leather chair is from Brazil.<\/p>\n

Musso took his urban experience, his keen eye and his vibrant art and transformed this standard midcentury house into a welcoming, personal retreat. Every piece of furniture and every accessory has a story, and it makes family gatherings and neighborly drop-ins even more interesting. His years away from Louisiana have shaped the way he sees homes and design.<\/p>\n

\u201cLondon sparked my appreciation for art, New York refined it through years in luxury real estate, and Miami gave me the time during the pandemic to begin creating my own artwork,\u201d he says. \u201cThose experiences have influenced not only my home, but also how I market real estate. I truly believe thoughtful design and presentation create an emotional connection with buyers and help homes sell.\u201d<\/p>\n

Musso got his Louisiana real estate license and joined Coldwell Banker One<\/a>\u2014encouraged by its 93-year-old owner Betty Phelps, who also happens to be a neighbor. These days, he\u2019s back in the world of real estate, surrounded by friends and family, and he has gained a whole new perspective.<\/p>\n

\u201cExperiencing different cities, cultures, art, design, and luxury real estate gave me a unique lens,\u201d Musso says. \u201cBut being back home near my family is what makes it all worthwhile.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article was originally published in the September 2026 issue of 225 Magazine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On a tree-lined street in the Bocage neighborhood\u2014amidst grand stately manors that are generations old and new construction…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":336144,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[75,84,83,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-336143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}