NEW ORLEANS FEATURES - More Louisiana Plantations

More Louisiana Plantations

New Orleans is so full of interesting attractions, from the historic French Quarter to the emerging museum district, that it is easy to not look beyond the city limits. But as close as 15 minutes on the other side of the Mississippi River there are lush swamps to explore. Within less than an hour sit early plantation homes. And surrounding Lake Pontchartrain are more fun natural habitats to explore.

Plantation homes provide some of the most recognizable images of the South. When cotton was king, there were more millionaires living along the southern Mississippi River than in New York. Spread out along the river from New Orleans to Baton Rouge are some of the most picturesque of plantations.

Houmas House
The most recently refurbished plantation is Houmas House, once home to the largest sugar planter in the South. While once a 300,000-acre plantation, the current property covers 36 acres just outside of Burnside, La., named for one of the plantation's owners, John Burnside.
New Orleans developer and preservationist Kevin Kelly bought the property and lives there part-time. He's opened the residence for tours and the grounds for private events. The grounds contain many of the original buildings, including two garconnieres. Traditionally, the small buildings housed the young men of a plantation family. In refurbishing the grounds, Kelly has turned many acres into tended gardens and a large fountain has been added at the back, behind the original separate kitchen building. Some of the massive live oaks around the home are more than 200 years old.
The plantation was created in the late 1770s and the original home, which still stands, was constructed in 1780. It took the name from the Houmas Indians. The three-story, 21-room, Greek Revival, columned plantation home was built in 1840. The yellow color of the home is in the style of the times.
The interior of the house is filled with antiques and interesting artifacts from the home's past owners and accounts of their lives. An 1848 census map once given to the plantation owner is on display. There are records and photographs of Burnside's sugar enterprise. There are even photos of Bettie Davis, who stayed at the home while filming Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte. The home also contains several large murals. These are new, and include Kelly's two Dutch Labradors in one scene, but such paintings were very common in large plantation homes in the 1840s.

Laura Plantation
Some of the richest details of plantation life come from Laura Plantation. Hundreds of pages of diaries from its residents were recently recovered in archives in Paris. Also, Laura Locoul Gore, who was 13 when the plantation was named for her, left behind her recollections in Memories of the Old Plantation Home. Compiled in 1936, her story depicts the cultural change of a family going from its old Creole ways to a more modern American outlook.
Built in 1805, Laura Plantation was presided over by seven generations of a Creole family, mainly named Duparc or Locoul. For four generations, women presided over the plantation and the diaries reflect their lives. The family lived both on the sugar plantation in what is now Vacherie, LA, and in New Orleans.
The grounds produced sugar cane up until 1981. But over the years, 11 of the original buildings, including some of the slave quarters, survived. All are on the National Historic Register. The home verged on destruction in the early 1990s when investors wanted to demolish it to proceed with plans for a bridge across the Mississippi. In 1993, Norman and Sand Marmillion purchased the property and restored it. They also undertook extensive research to discover its past. The tour is considered one of the more enlightening looks at what life was like for one of the area's transplanted European families as it adjusted to the new world and eventually assimilated to its culture.
The fable Br'er Rabbit was first recorded in the U.S. at Laura Plantation.

Oak Alley
One of the most recognizable plantations in the South is Oak Alley. It is aptly named for the double row of ancient live oaks that line the path from the riverfront to the home's front doors.
Just who planted the live oaks remains a mystery. They are believed to have been planted prior to 1718. The land along the river was being parceled out to Europeans encouraged to move to the Louisiana colony at the time. Many French and German immigrants settled the area.
The current plantation home was built by Jacques Thelesphore Roman in the 1830s. Roman's brother twice served as Governor of Louisiana. The family also had ties to New Orleans and, in fact, his mother lived at one of the rarest of buildings in the French Quarter. Now called Madam John's Legacy, taken from a story by George Washington Cable, the West Indies-style plantation home is right in the middle of the historic district on Dumaine Street. But Roman preferred the quiet life along the river. Roman's family had been in Louisiana since the 1720s but it wasn't until the end of the century that they acquired this sugar plantation.
The grounds include a bed and breakfast and a restaurant. The site has also been featured in movies such as Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte, as well as the more recent Primary Colors and Interview With A Vampire. Take a tour of this plantation.

Myrtles Plantation
Farther away from the river is Myrtles Plantation, located in St. Francisville. The home was built in two parts with the first one completed in 1797 for General David Bradford. He was actually known as the leader of the Whisky Rebellion, when the young American government enforced a whiskey tax. President George Washington put down the rebellion and Bradford fled Pennsylvania. He came to Louisiana where he received a land grant from the Spanish governor.
The plantation home is a long, low frame mansion. It features a long veranda in the front and is surrounded by ancient live oaks, crepe myrtle and ten quiet acres. The style of home was far more typical of 19th century Louisiana plantation homes than the more stately wide columned mansions. The home is luxuriously appointed with period antiques. There is a neighboring restaurant and bed and breakfast.
Myrtles is considered the most haunted plantation. A Reconstruction era murder and other murders are part of its folklore. Different tours of the home feature its history or its intrigue.