Antebellum Homes of Louisiana
The antebellum period ranges from 1830 to 1862 and many of these antebellum homes have hipped or gabled roofs, a symmetrical fa�¯�¿�½ade, evenly spaced windows and Greek pillars and columns. These beautiful homes also have elaborate friezes, balconies, covered porches and a central entryway. Inside these homes, there is usually a grand staircase and a formal ballroom.
A tour through Louisiana can also be a trip back in time, to the antebellum days. Louisiana has enough of these grand homes to create a tour specifically related to them. This trip back in time will take us to 21 of Louisiana’s Antebellum and/or Plantation Homes, listed as completed, with the oldest first.
Destrehan Plantation
The oldest antebellum home on this list is Destrehan, completed in 1790, which is located on the banks of the Mississippi River, only minutes upstream from New Orleans. This plantation home has survived colonial and civil wars as well as the perils of time and now has been restored to its once beautiful state. Destrehan was built by a free mulatto name Charles, for Robin deLogny, who only lived in the house 2 years before his death. Mr. deLogny’s daughter Celeste and husband Jean Noel d’Estrehan bought the plantation in 1810 and added twin wings. The home remained in the d’Estrehan family for many years and was eventually remodeled in 1840 to Greek revival by Louise and husband Judge Pierre Rost. In 1861, the Union Army seized the house, the Rost Home Colony was established, and the newly freed slaves learned trades. After the Civil War ended, the house changed hands many times and eventually stood abandoned and stripped of any valuables. The River Road Historical Society formed to save the house and in 1971, the house and 4 acres were deeded to the Society. Since 1971, the house has been restored and furnished with period furnishings and art as well as items that once belonged to the D’Estrehan family.
Visitors to Destrehan can enjoy daily tours featuring staff dressed in period costumes as well as demonstrations of period crafts and early construction techniques used in the daily running of a plantation.
Destrehan is located 8 miles from the New Orleans International Airport on LA 48.
Magnolia Mound Plantation
Completed in 1791, with its early French and West Indies architectural influence is located in Baton Rouge. This plantation house, which began as a settler’s house, was once part of a 900-acre plantation with frontage along the Mississippi River. This mere settler’s house was enlarged and renovated in 1802-1805 to its elegant beauty of today. Magnolia Mound is furnished with Louisiana-made objects including furniture from Louisiana’s colonial period, French pieces that belong to the family, inventory records and accounts from the days when this was a working plantation, English and French decorative items such as ceramics and crystal.
This beautiful piece of Louisiana history is currently still very much a part of the community through its educational programs, workshops, lectures, festivals and many other special events. A visitor to this plantation house will learn more about the lifestyle of the French Creoles whose culture is still prevalent in southern Louisiana.
Magnolia Mound Plantation, located at 2161 Nicholson Drive in Baton Rouge, LA.
Kent Plantation
This French colonial architecture was completed in 1796 and is another of Louisiana’s oldest standing structures. This plantation house, which is located in the Alexandria area on the original land grant given to Pierre Baillio II from the King of Spain, offers visitors a look back at the French, Spanish and American cultures that have influenced Louisiana.
Kent plantation strives to inform its visitors about the history and culture of central Louisiana in the time between 1795 and 1855. While here, a visitor can learn about herbs and early gardens, visit a blacksmith’s shop or even learn how to make Louisiana Cane syrup. This plantation is located at 3601 Bayou Rapides Road, Alexandria, LA 71303. From US165 continue to Highway 496 in Alexandria, LA, then on to Bayou Rapides Road.
Myrtles Plantation
With its double dormers and lacy grillwork along with a 120 foot veranda, was built in 1796, in the St. Francisville area. A visitor here will often have the opportunity to step back in time into a glamorous setting complete with stained glass, crystal chandeliers, marble mantels and exquisite French furnishings. A sense of peace and tranquility is commonly felt here even though this beautiful antebellum home has been labeled as one of “America’s Most Haunted Homes”.
Myrtles Plantation is located in the Legendary Plantation Country on U.S. Highway 61, 30 miles North of Baton Rouge between New Orleans, Louisiana and Natchez, Mississippi. This plantation offers visitors historical tours daily from 9am to 5 pm, and mystery tours Friday and Saturday evenings.
Laura Plantation
Completed in 1805, allows the visitor the opportunity to enter the unique culture of the Creole world. Visitors to this location will enjoy a tour engulfed with intimate and compelling stories and real-life accounts of the 7 generations of Creole owners of Laura Plantation while touring the beautiful manor house, the French Gardens and even the historic outbuildings. Tourists are encouraged to stroll the grounds after the tour is complete and get a feel for the times of when the West-African folktales of Br’er Rabbit were recorded here.
Guided tours begin every 20 minutes beginning at 9:30 and ending at 4:00.
Laura Plantation is located at 2247 Highway 18, Vacherie, LA70090.
Oakley House
Completed in 1806, is the tall airy house known for its famous visitor, John James Audubon. Built in the St. Francisville area, this plantation house with its West Indies influenced architecture is beautifully furnished with late Federal Period furniture along with its simple decorations including Adam mantels and delicately decorated exterior gallery stairs and simple cornice frieze.
Guided tours are available daily and special living history events, programs and demonstrations are available throughout the year. Oakley House is located in the Audubon State Historic Site, at 11788 Highway 965, St. Francisville, La. Directions to this location from Baton Rouge are to follow US 61 north to LA 965, turn right and follow the signs.
Frogmore Plantation
Completed in 1815, is a raised basement plantation, sitting on 1800-acres. Frogmore has 18 restored buildings, a steam cotton gin and a rich history of the Natchez planters and slaves. Frogmore Plantation is located at Frogmore, Louisiana, which is between Jonesville and Ferriday, LA., on Highway 84 and about 50 miles from Alexandria, LA. This plantation is available for touring by groups only and requires a reservation.
Greenwood Plantation
Built in 1830 by William Ruffin Barrow, was once a 3000-acre cotton plantation in West Feliciana Parish. After the civil war, the Barrow family was forced to sell Greenwood Plantation and it changed hands several time until 1915, when Mr. and Mrs. Frank Percy bought it. The Percy family opened the plantation home to the public from 1940 to 1960, when it was struck by lightening and destroyed. In 1968, Walton Barnes bought the plantation home and 300 acres. After many years of researching and restoring the plantation home, Mr. Barnes and his sons had it near complete restoration in 1984. At this time, a French-Canadian filmmaker contracted to use Greenwood in “Louisiana”. The filmmaker finished the reconstruction of the gardens and the home furnishings during the making of the movie.
Greenwood is now open to the public once again. Directions to Greenwood from I-10 in Baton Rouge: Take I-10 north towards Natchez to exit 8B. Take exit 8B onto US Highway 61 North and continue for about 25 miles to intersections of LA Highway 66. Drive 4.5 miles down Highway 66, turn left onto Highland Road, and drive 3 miles to Greenwood’s gate.
St. Joseph Plantation
Completed in 1830 as well, is situated in the shadow of Oak Alley Plantation. Both of these plantations are located on LA 18 in Vacherie. This 10-room mansion sits on 2800 acres, which are located half-mile wide from tip to tip facing the road and reaching almost seven and a half miles to swamp land in back with the Mississippi River flowing 1000 feet away.
St. Joseph Plantation, built by a French doctor in 1830, later sold to Joseph Wagespack in 1877. Wagespack and two cousins, the Troxler sisters occupied this plantation, named after this owner’s patron saint. Wagespack purchased the plantation, Felicite, located next to St. Joseph and in 1901 joined the two properties to create a family corporation. Each family member was given a share of stock in this newly formed family corporation to pass down to successive generations.
Today, the house is being restored by the family corporation in honor of the ancestors who fought and worked so hard to keep the plantation running through freezes, depression, crop failures and the war. The family members are doing the actual restoration when the task allows it.
Tours of St. Joseph Plantation are available daily from 9:30 to 4:30.
Woodland Plantation
Completed in the 1830’s, is the plantation home featured on Southern Comfort Bourbon labels since 1934. Built by Captain William Johnson, one of America’s first chief river pilots, this antebellum home is considered to be a Creole cottage with Greek revival features. Visitors here will find broad porches, French doors and furnishings of fine antiques that are period dated.
Woodland Plantation is located 40 minutes south of New Orleans. From New Orleans take LA Highway 90 Business West to the Mississippi River Bridge. Take exit 9B, travel 4.5 miles to the second bridge at Intracoastal Waterways, cross the bridge and turn left on Highway 406. Travel 2.9 miles on Highway 406 to Highway 23 south for 23 miles to Woodland Plantation.
Evergreen Plantation
Of all the plantation complexes found throughout the South, Evergreen Plantation, completed in 1832, is the most intact. This plantation currently has 37 buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. Evergreen has been honored with the country’s highest historic designation and ranks with Mount Vernon and Gettysburg for agricultural acreage landmark status. Even with all this recognition, today Evergreen remains a privately owned, working sugar cane plantation.
The Evergreen Plantation tour exposes its visitors to plantation culture as it was for over 250 years, including its dependency on slave labor and later freed African Americans and the architectural significance of the existing buildings. This historical plantation is located on the Mississippi River, between New Orleans and Baton Rouge on LA Highway 18, in Wallace, Louisiana.
Chretien Point Plantation
A 12 room mansion was completed in 1831 and sits on 20 acres located on the banks of Bayou Bourbeaux. This plantation home was built for Hypolite and Felicite Chretien and offers bits of French Colonial, Early Classical and Adam architecture. The staircase in this home was the inspiration for “Tara’s” staircase in “Gone with the Wind”. The civil war touched this home on October 15, 1863 when a battle was fought on the grounds here and the Union forces occupied the lower floor and lawn. A brief glimpse into this past is clearly visible today by the bullet hole that remains in one of the front doors.
Chretian Point Plantation is beautifully furnished with period antiques as well as family antiques, such as a portrait of matriarch, Felicite Neda Chretien or a portrait of Celestine Cantrelle Chretien.
This plantation is located at 665 Chretien Point Road, Sunset, Louisiana, 10 miles north of Lafayette, Louisiana on Highway 356.
Shadows-on-the-Teche
Completed in 1834, was built for sugar planter David Weeks and his wife. Today this antebellum house is property of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Visitors here can learn more about life on a nineteenth-century southern Louisiana sugar plantation. This white-columned brick building represents over 150 years of history. A visitor here will have the opportunity to see the house and surroundings as well as a large collection of paper documents, original photographs and furnishings that once belonged to the Weeks family.
The Shadows is located at the intersection of Highway 14 and 182 in New Iberia, La., only 30 minutes from Lafayette on highway 14 or 182 and a 1 �½ hour drive from Baton Rouge by taking I10 to US 90 to Highway 14.
Rosedown Plantation
Completed in 1835, was built for Daniel and Martha Turnbull and named after a play they had seen on their honeymoon. The land that Rosedown Plantation sits on was not acquired through Spanish land grants as were many other plantations, but was acquired by Daniel Turnbull in a collection of 7 purchases from the 1820’s to the 1840’s. These purchases ended up with 3,455 acres of cotton land.
Wendell Wright built Rosedown in the Carolina Tidewater form, which is an extended I-house. This house has the typical columned fa�¯�¿�½ade found in many of the antebellum homes, along with double front galleries. Most of the wood used to build this fine home was harvested and processes at the plantation.
Today Rosedown Plantation consists of the main house, 13 buildings and 371 acres and is preserved by the Office of State Parks. Guided tours are provided on the hour beginning at 10am and the final tour begins at 4pm. This plantation is located at 12501 Highway 10, St. Francisville, LA.
Inglewood Plantation
Completed in 1836, was originally owned by the Mulholland family and was managed by Mr. Mulholland’s nephew, Charles Flower. Mr. Flower is thought to have bought or inherited the plantation some years later. This home consists of a central rectangular structure that is comprised of six rooms. Two symmetrical wings are connected to the central rectrangular structure by a gallery supported with slender columns. This two story plantation home sits in a grove of live oak trees, some over 250 years old. Visitors here will have the opportunity to see heart pine floors, original to the house as well as seven mantles and the elaborate molding in the dining room. Inglewood is furnished with pieces of the period.
Inglewood would change hands 4 times from 1878 to 1927 and today remains with the family of Christoph Keller, descendants of Charles H. Murphy who purchased it in 1927. The plantation is still in production today, producing cotton, corn and pecans and also has set aside 1500 acres as a designated nature preserve.
The Inglewood Plantation consists of Hard Times house, its carriage house, a slave cabin, a smoke house and privy, two barns and a sharecroppers cotton barn. Also located here are a brick commissary, a pre-civil war schoolhouse and a sharecropper’s cabin. The Big House is a private residence. This plantation is located 3 miles south of Alexandria.
Oak Alley Plantation
Completed in 1839 for the Jacque Roman family. This grand house with its classic Greek-revival architectural style has an even grander setting, the quarter-mile canopy of giant live oak trees, some of which are over 300 years old. Traveling down this alley of beautiful, giant oak trees on the way to the grand Oak Alley Plantation big house, allows the visitor to revert to the days of old, when carriages were the mode of transportation when arriving here for grand balls and such.
Oak Alley Plantation is located on the Mississippi River, between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. To get to Oak Alley Plantation from New Orleans, take I-10 West to I-310 South exit #220. Continue on I-310 across the Destrehan/Luling Bridge to exit #10 to Donaldsonville on Highway 3127. Travel down Highway 3127 for 23 miles to intersection with Highway 20. Turn right on Highway 20 and travel 3 miles to Highway 18, turn left on Highway 18 and travel 3 more miles to Oak Alley Plantation.
Houmas House Plantation
General Wade Hampton bought Houmas House Plantation in 1810 and construction on the Mansion began soon after. General Hampton’s daughter, Caroline and her husband, Colonel John Preston, took over the plantation in 1825 and finished the mansion in 1840. During this time, the plantation began its sugar production along with its land holdings, which grew to over 300,000 acres. In 1857, Houmas House Plantation was sold to John Burnside and the sugar production continued here. Later, Houmas House Plantation was sold to Colonel William Porcher Miles who continued the sugar production. In 1940, Dr. George B. Crozat purchased the Mansion, which was in disrepair. Dr. Crozat renovated the property, giving it a”Federal” look and taking away some of its Greek Revival style by painting the entire mansion, inside and out, white, removing the crown moldings and ceiling medallions and simplifying the interior and exterior forms and finishes.
Visitors to the Houmas House Plantation will have the opportunity to step back into history when visiting the plantation, by enjoying the furnishings of the period and the works of art all in the grandeur of the Mississippi River.
Today, Kevin Kelly, who had a lifelong dream of owning the property, owns Houmas House Plantation, which is located between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, on Louisiana’s historic River Road. Use exit 182, on I-10 to Highway 22 to Darrow, LA., turn left on River Road follow it to the entrance of Houmas House Plantation.
Ashland Plantation “Belle Helene”
Ashland, completed in 1842 by Duncan F. Kenner for his wife Anne Guillemine Nanine Bringier, represents the massive, simplicity and dignity, which generally epitomize the Classical Revival architecture with its eight giant pillars across each fa�¯�¿�½ade.
In 1865 at the end of the Civil War, Kenner returned to Louisiana from a trip to gain support of the Confederacy from England and France, to find his plantation in ruins and his slaves freed. He immediately began to rebuild his plantation and re-employed many of the freed slaves. At his death in 1887, Ashland Plantation was even larger than it had been before the Civil War.
Ashland was sold in 1889 to John B. Reuss and renamed “Belle Helene” after his granddaughter, Helene Reuss. Members of the Reuss family lived in the mansion until the 1920’s. In 1946, a restoration effort had begun due to the mansion falling into disrepair.
Today the plantation belongs to the Shell Chemical Company, who is making great strides in its restoration. Ashland is not open to the public, but group tours can be arranged. This plantation is located just 1500 feet from the Mississippi River, located just off State Highway 75, north of Darrow, Louisiana.
Madewood Plantation
Completed in 1846, for Thomas Pugh, by New Orleans architect Henry Howard is pure Greek Revival architecture with a miniature Parthenon while reflecting East-Coast architectural trends.
This Southern plantation would pass through several families, such as the Godchaux family and the Baker family, whose fortunes were made off the sugarcane fields here. Later, the Thibaut family bought the plantation then sold it to Mrs. Harold K. Marshall in 1964. Madewood’s current owner is Mrs. Marshall’s son, Keith.
Today, Madewood is a complete bed and breakfast establishment, which can offer its guests the opportunity to step back into history. Rooms are furnished beautifully with period pieces, as is the entire mansion. Guests are encouraged to tour the entire estate or to just simply relax while here.
Madewood Plantation is located 75 miles from New Orleans, 45 miles from Baton Rouge. From New Orleans, take I10 West to Exit 182. Cross the Sunshine Bridge and continue on to Highway 70, turn left on Spur 70 and go one mile, turn onto Highway 308 to Napoleonville, continue through Napoleonville and travel 2.2 miles to Madewood.
Winter Quarters
Completed in 1850 began as a winter hunting lodge built by Job Routh on a Spanish land grant in 1805. In the 1830’s the Routh descendants added more rooms and a gallery to the hunting lodge. In 1850, the property was sold to Dr. Haller Nutt and wife, Julia. Julia was the granddaughter of Job Routh, so the property actually stayed in the Routh family. After the purchase in 1850, the final phases of construction were finished and the Winter Quarters Plantation home took on its distinctive look.
Winter Quarters Plantation once housed over 300 slaves and had several cotton gins, a sawmill, barns, machine shops, a hospital, a smokehouse, boat docks, milk house and other operations which took place on over 2,000 acres of land.
After the forward march of General Ulysses S. Grant’s army through Tensas Parish, Winter Quarters was the only plantation left standing in the area, 14 plantation homes had been destroyed. Winter Quarters was spared due to a letter of protection obtained by the overseer of the plantation. Unfortunately, the outbuildings, livestock and crops were all destroyed.
Visitors here can today enjoy a step back into an era long gone with period furnishings, personal records and other displays. One of the most significant pieces of period furniture is a billiards table, which has been perfectly preserved.
Winter Quarters State Historic Site is located 8 miles from Newellton, La, on LA608. From US65, turn onto LA 4 East, continue until intersection of LA 605 and turn right. Continue about 3 miles on LA 605 and turn left on LA 608. Continue on LA 608 for about 6 miles and Winter Quarters will be located on the right.
San Francisco Plantation
Completed in 1856 by Edmond Bozonier Marmillon, resembles the superstructure of a Mississippi riverboat, not the usual architecture of an antebellum mansion. This mansion has hand painted ceilings, faux marbling and faux wood graining as well as antique furniture. This plantation mansion was enlarged later, when owned by the Bougere family. This family added two bedrooms to the first floor and removed several of the large doors in the main entrance as well as partitioning the stairways and adding gaslights. In 1904 the Ory family, who added a kitchen and bathrooms, purchased the property. In 1954, the house was leased to Mr. and Mrs. Clark Thompson who opened it to the public. Mrs. Thompson moved out in 1974 and Marathon Oil Company bought the property later. Today the house has been restored to the time of its grandeur, just before the Civil War.
Located west of New Orleans, San Francisco Plantation is on Highway 44, also known as River Road.
Nottoway Plantation
Completed in 1859, located on the banks of the Mississippi River is Greek revival architecture with fancy desires of the original owner, John Hampden Randolph. This plantation house has an irregular floor plan with indoor plumbing as well as hot and cold running water.
Today visitors to Nottoway have the opportunity of taking a guided tour, staying overnight, having dinner or even get married here.
To get to Nottoway from New Orleans, take I-10 West to Exit 182. Turn left on Highway 22, continue about one mile, and turn left on Highway 70 toward the Sunshine Bridge. Cross the bridge, pay the toll, and then stay in the right hand lane to Donaldsonville. Leave Donaldsonville on LA1 North for about 12 miles to White Castle. Continue through White Castle on LA 1 North for about two miles out to the entrance of Nottoway.
