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Plantations in Louisiana

houmas plantation house

John Burnside was born in Tyrone County, Ireland around 1810 of a poor family. At the age of twelve or thirteen, he somehow managed to obtain passage to America, with only a few pennies in his pocket. He began his young career in the grocery house of Talbot Jones in Baltimore. John Burnside and Oliver Beirne, Andrew Beirne’s son, were the same age and matured together in Mr. Beirne’s business, becoming very close friends, a friendship that lasted through the years.

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houmas plantation house

Two rooms plus a separate bathroom make it spacious and perfect for staying a couple of days. The sofa sleeper folds out to a full size bed in addition to the King size four poster bed. The French doors open into a courtyard shared by other guests, but surrounded by lush gardens. The land on the banks of the Mississippi was originally purchased in 1830 to establish a sugarcane plantation. The mansion, which was completed in 1839, was also the location where prized Centennial pecan trees were developed by an enslaved gardener. The iconic Greek Revival home is distinguished by 28 Doric columns, one for each tree in the allée.

About American Heritage

The great colonnade has not changed since 1829, when General Hampton set out to build a mansion fitting for his wife, Mary Cantey Hampton. Changes in ownership through the years have led to changes in appearance, but the house and grounds today more accurately reflect their 1840s appearance. Your docent, dressed in period costume, brings Houmas House’s past alive through vivid stories and song. Learn about the sugar barons and their families that once lived here at “The Sugar Palace,” and explore what was once one of the largest sugar plantations in the country. Tours are also offered in French and can be booked to include round-trip transportation from New Orleans.

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The Houmas was inherited by his five grandchildren, the children of William Porche Miles. In 1892, the children transferred all their interests to the Miles Planting Company and William P. Miles was appointed President. There’s so much to see and do at Houmas House, you could stay here all day. Treat yourself to a stay at The Inn at Houmas House, where you can snuggle up in luxury cottages adorned with chandeliers, fireplaces, and front porches with rocking chairs.

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Each room includes a large flat screen TV, Wifi, coffee and tea makers, and  an iron to name a few. Tickets to tour the Houmas Estate and The Great River Road Museum can be purchased upon arrival. Take a tour of the grounds, book a stay at the inn, plan your next special event with us, or learn more about local restaurants, things to do and what to see in the area.

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houmas plantation house

As we sit here sipping cocktails at Turtles Bar, I cant wait to see what the rest of our trip will bring. Although the plantation went on to change hands several times, the current main house was constructed by John Smith and Caroline Preston. This breathtaking Greek Revival structure is distinguished by its hipped roof and majestic Doric columns. Those who are interested in the history of New Orleans plantations have no better starting point than the stories of Houmas House and Oak Alley Plantation. These storied homes provide unmatched insight into the architecture and lifestyle of mid-1800s Louisiana. With its year-round growing season, the Houmas House gardens are always alive with new plantings, new growth, and new blooms, even in the winter.

The Antebellum

To a great extent, the point of these elegant and dramatic southern mansions was to emulate the grand homes and villas of wealthy Europeans who set the standard of the day for exhibiting wealth and expressing style. The Houmas house is significant in the area of architecture as an excellent example of a plantation house designed in the peripteral mode of the Greek Revival. It represents an important regional variation of the Greek Revival, which typified many of the grandest residences in the deep South. Houmas house is also historically important because under owner John Burnside in the 1850s and 60s it was the center of the largest slave holding in Louisiana. With over 800 slaves, it represented the largest economic unit in the prevailing slave economy of the state's pre-Civil War period. The plantation house began in the late 18th or early 19th century as a two-story, pitched roof brick building with end wall chimneys and a stuccoed exterior.

The carriageway was created between the two buildings and two additional bedrooms and a center hall were added to the 2nd floor of the mansion. The first floor of the mansion was re-designed to accommodate the extensive library of William Porcher Miles, incorporating the current Dining Room and creating a larger dining room in the rear of the building. In 1899, at the age of 77, William Porcher Miles died, and the Houmas Estate and Company was inherited by William P. Miles, Jr., and his sisters. In April of 1848, there were thirty family members and guests in residence at the Houmas, and just as many servants in the household. The lavish dinner tables were dressed with fish, shell fish and oysters from the Gulf, wild turkey, venison, duck from the swamp, and woodcock, snipe and birds shot by Preston and his guests in the fields.

The plantation was inherited by the Oak Alley Foundation in 1972, after the Stewarts died, and became open to the public. Oliver Beirne, 70 years old when he inherited the bulk of John Burnside’s estate, quickly took up residence at Houmas and began sharing his time managing Houmas Plantations, Burnside Place, and his own estate at Old Sweet Springs. In 1882, Oliver enlisted his son-in-law, William Porcher Miles (widower of Elizabeth Beirne, Oliver’s daughter) to manage his Louisiana Estates. In 1888, at the age 77, he died in New Orleans, leaving as estate valued at over five million dollars.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are available in both casual and fine dining settings. Just minutes from Baton Rouge and New Orleans, these restaurants have varying menus reflecting traditional Louisiana cuisine. Each menu is updated seasonally to reflect the availability of locally grown produce, providing a true farm-to-table experience.

The normal rear gallery was omitted because of the close proximity of the old house. It has a graceful helix staircase set in a rear vestibule opposite a corresponding curving wall. Significant exterior features include the handsome colossal Doric galleries, the Federal arched dormers, the cupola, and the movable louvered shutters. The axial formal garden, which extends to the sides and rear of the house, is largely the result of work done by former owner Dr. George Crozat in the 1940s.

In June 1807, Clark and territorial Governor William C. C. Claiborne fought a duel on the property, in which Claiborne sustained a gunshot wound to his leg. This beautiful and spacious two room suite features a King size four poster bed in a private bedroom with a separate living room with a sofa sleeper. The estate remained in the original family until 1925, when it was purchased by Andrew and Josephine Stewart.

The grounds also include formal gardens, a blacksmith shop, and a cemetery. On a great curve of the Mississippi River and on high ground first selected by the Houmas Indians stand the great Tuscan columns of The Houmas. The mighty Mississippi River gave birth to this land over the millennium, creating the fertile lands which became the great fields of Sugar Cane, Cotton, Corn, Indigo, tobacco and more.

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