NATCHEZ &045;&045; If home is where the heart is, then Harold and Lisa Moise are truly at home in their split-level house on Gloucester Road in south Natchez.

&uot;We love it. Considering it was built 40 years ago, it’s still contemporary,&uot; Lisa Moise said.

The original owners hired contractor Charles Johnson to build the home in the early ’60s.

&uot;They got the idea from the homes being built then on False River in New Roads, La.,&uot; Harold Moise said of Kadi and Cathy Meng.

The Moises bought the home after they married eight years ago.

The unique design of the house was instantly appealing to Harold Moise, a civil engineer.

&uot;I don’t know if there’s anything else like it in Natchez,&uot; he said.

The 3,900-square-foot house includes a wraparound upper deck overlooking a shady back yard dominated by a towering oak tree.

Plenty of natural light filters in through sliding glass doors and windows along the upper deck.

It illuminates old bottles on display in the window sills from Salvo and Burden Candy Co.

The soda bottling company was once operated locally by Lisa Moise’s grandfather.

Now the manager of a cardiovascular lab at a local hospital, Lisa Moise knew the Meng family when she was growing up in Natchez and was already familiar with the home.

She and her husband value the private view the property affords.

&uot;When we moved in, some of my friends suggested that I needed to hang curtains, but I said ‘There’s no way I’m going to cover those windows’&uot; Lisa Moise said.

But the home did not come without some work to be done, from waterproofing the lower level to painting the house’s exterior.

And the Moises have done most of the work themselves.

&uot;We’ve done major projects on the house and lawn every year since we’ve been here,&uot; Harold Moise said.

&uot;Our next big dream is a pond in the back with a stairwell going down. We’ve already got the plans drawn up,&uot; he added.