Capo v. Blanchard

1 La. App. 3, 1924 La. App. LEXIS 5
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 6, 1924
DocketNo. 9322
StatusPublished
Cited by666 cases

This text of 1 La. App. 3 (Capo v. Blanchard) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Capo v. Blanchard, 1 La. App. 3, 1924 La. App. LEXIS 5 (La. Ct. App. 1924).

Opinion

CLAIBORNE, J.

This is an action of boundary.

The plaintiff alleges that by act of A. J. Cuneo, Notary, dated December 1, 1920, he purchased from A. Centanni the following property:

A lot with all the buildings, etc., thereon situated at the corner of Iberville and Telemachus, in the square bounded by Bienville and Cortez, measuring 24' 67 1'", or more, front on Iberville by 91', or more, deep and front on Telemachus Street; being part of Lot 1 on a sketch dated November 28, 1892 annexed to an act of sale by Albert Paul to L. Bage and measuring 34' 1" V" on Iberville by 120' deep and front on Telemachus; being the same property which had been acquired by Centanni from the succession of Dr. Joseph A. Blanchard on February 20, 1913; and which Dr. Blanchard had purchased from Albert Paul on September 21, 1894.

That the defendant herein, the Misses Blanchard, acquired the adjoining lot towards the lake as heirs of their father, Dr. J. E. Blanchard, who had purchased from Albert Paul by act dated July 17, 1894; that their lot is described as follows:

A portion of ground with the buildings thereon measuring 36' more or less front on Iberville Street, beginning at a point 25' 1" 1'" from the corner of Telemachus by a depth of 91' more or less, being composed of Lots 1 and 2 on a sketch dated November, 1892, above mentioned; Lot No. 1 measuring 34' 1" 1'" front on Iberville Street by 120' deep and front on Telemachus Street; and Lot No. 2 measuring 27' front on Iberville Street by 120' deep; and the portion of ground is composed of 9' front on Iberville Street of Lot No. 1' and 27' front on Iberville Street of Lot No. 2, as appears by a sketch annexed to an act of J. D. Taylor dated July 17, 1894;

That no fence was ever erected on the boundary line separating the property of petitioner from that of the Misses Blanchard; that petitioner’s property extends twenty inches towards the lake beyond the frame of the building erected upon the lot, but that the defendants claim these twenty [5]*5inches as their property; and. in the rear of the property from the rear end of his building to the back line, the defendants have erected a shed extending over these twenty inches of petitioner, thus depriving petitioner of a strip of ground measuring twenty inches front on Iberville by 91' deep; that it is necessary that the boundary line be established in order to build a fence, and that the shed ■ be removed, from petitioner’s property; that petitioner recover rent for the .occupancy of his property at the rate of $2.50 per month with interest and all costs, including surveyor’s fees.

The defendants filed the following exceptions :

That the plaintiff and the defendants derived their title from a common author, Albert Paul; that upon plaintiff’s land he erected a store; that upon defendant’s land he erected a building as a residence and the shed in the rear; that he established the side wall of the store nearest Cortez Street as the boundary line between the two properties with a servitude of drip for the overhanging of the roof of the store building, and he incorporated the vacant space of ground between the dwelling and the store as part of the residence; tha these conditions were fixed by Albert Paul prior to 1894 and have existed ever since and constitute a “destination de pére de famille”; that the plaintiff is estopped from contesting the conditions and servitudes established by Albert Paul; defendants further pleaded the prescription of ten and thirty years in favor of the servitudes.

By consent, the exceptions were referred to the merits.

For answer the defendants reiterated the allegations of their exception.

.There was judgment for the plaintiff as prayed for, but rejecting the prayer for rents, and dividing the surveyor’s fee between the plaintiff and defendants one-half each.

The defendants have appealed. The plaintiff has answered the appeal and prayed for rents and for the entire surveyor’s cost.

•The locus in quo, as established by the evidence is as follows:

The building on plaintiff’s lot forms the corner of Iberville and Telemachus Streets; the wall of the building towards the lake is of brick and forms the only boundary or division of the two lots on that side for about two-thirds of its depth; there is no fence on the property line of the two lots. At the end of the wall, and in line with it, is a fence extending to the rear of. the two lots about 12 or 15 feet. In the rear of defendants’ lots 'is a shed extending over the twenty inches claimed by plaintiff; over the shed is a room. The side of this shed towards Telemachus Street is in line with the lake side wall of the corner building and with the fence, and covers the twenty inches claimed by plaintiff. This corner building and the shed in the rear were both built by Albert Paul, the former owner and comomn author of both lots owned by the plaintiff and by the defendants prior to 1894.

The trial court appointed a surveyor, who made a survey and sketch of the two lots with the improvements thereon on April 11, 1923. He testified that he surveyed the two lots according to the titles of the plaintiff and of the defendants and their author; that his survey agreed absolutely with a prior survey by Brysson Valias, Civil Engineer, made September 4, 1922; that according to those titles he gave the defendant’s lot 36 feet 7 inches, or seven inches more than their title calls for; that he gave plaintiff’s lot 24 feet 6 inches and 1 line, exactly what his title calls for; that he located the line of plaintiff’s lot 1 foot [6]*62 indies from .the wall of his building towards the lake; that these 14 inches strike the eaves of the roof of the building; that a plumb bob dropped from the edge of the eaves falls upon the 14-inch line. There is an iron picket fence in front of the Blanchard property. It terminates with an iron post 14 inches before it reaches the plaintiff’s, Capo’s, building; it terminates at the property line as fixed by the surveyors; the end of the iron fence, the edge of the eaves, and the wooden stake, are exactly 24 feet 6 inches and 1 line from the correct corner of Telemachus; between Capo’s building and the defendants’ property there is no fence; the brick wall forms the division; there áre two windows in this wall, with blinds originally opening upon the outside; Albert Paul never lived in either property; he rented both; the 14-inch space was used by the defendants as a flower bed; the improvements upon Capo’s lot enroached upon the correct line of Telemachus Street 8 inches and 4 lines.

Under this state of facts it is evident that the defendants have no title of any kind, as owners, to those 14 inches. In deed, they admit it in their pleadings and in argument. Their only contention is that they have acquired a right of servitude over those 14 inches by prescription, exactly what precise servitude is not stated. The only question then is, have they acquired such a right by prescription?

The defendants have not occupied the premises during thirty years, therefore the prescription of thirty years cannot avail them. C. C. 852 (848).

What is the servitude claimed by the defendants?

It is that the common author, Albert Paul, dedicated the 14 inches of ground to the used' of the dwelling, and that such dedication amounts to a “destination de pére de famille”, which attaches to, and forms part of the two properties actively and passively.

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Bluebook (online)
1 La. App. 3, 1924 La. App. LEXIS 5, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/capo-v-blanchard-lactapp-1924.