Ocean Springs roofs, under the live oaks

Ocean Springs is the Coast at its most personal — Walter Anderson's town, a walkable downtown of galleries and porches, and neighborhoods where century-old cottages sit under live oaks older still. Roofing here is character work: steep little gables, tree canopy that never quits, and streetscapes where a clumsy roofline would be noticed by everyone at the farmers market.

We treat the eighty-five minute run as the cost of working somewhere worth it. The oak canopy sets the maintenance rhythm — limbs, leaves, and shade-fed algae — while the Gulf sets the stakes: this is Katrina country, where wind-rated installation is simply the standard.