Bocage Plantation is a historic

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

in Darrow,

Ascension Parish, Louisiana Ascension Parish (french: Paroisse de l'Ascension, es, Parroquia de Ascensión) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 126,500. Its parish seat is Donaldsonville. The parish was created ...

, about southeast of

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-sma ...

. The

plantation house A plantation house is the main house of a plantation, often a substantial farmhouse, which often serves as a symbol for the plantation as a whole. Plantation houses in the Southern United States and in other areas are known as quite grand and e ...

was constructed in 1837 in

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

style with Creole influences, especially in the floorplan. Established in 1801, the plantation was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on June 20, 1991.

History

Bocage Plantation was established in January 1801, 5 years after

Étienne de Boré Jean Étienne de Boré (27 December 1741 – 1 February 1820) was a Creole French planter, born in Kaskaskia, Illinois Country, who was known for producing the first granulated sugar in Louisiana. At the time, the area was under Spanish rule. Hi ...

proved that

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

cultivation could be profitable in southern Louisiana and 2 years before the

Louisiana Purchase The Louisiana Purchase (french: Vente de la Louisiane, translation=Sale of Louisiana) was the acquisition of the territory of Louisiana by the United States from the French First Republic in 1803. In return for fifteen million dollars, or app ...

. It was a wedding gift from St. James Parish planter Marius Pons Bringier to his eldest daughter, 14-year-old Francoise "Fanny" Bringier, on the occasion of her marriage to 34-year-old Parisian ''

bon vivant ''Bon'', also spelled Bön () and also known as Yungdrung Bon (, "eternal Bon"), is a Tibetan religious tradition with many similarities to Tibetan Buddhism and also many unique features.Samuel 2012, pp. 220-221. Bon initially developed in t ...

'' Christophe Colomb. The original house, built in 1801 and destroyed by fire in or before 1837, was a "raised Creole house—brick on the first floor supporting a heavy-timber frame above". At first, it was thought that this house was at the same site as, and the basis for, the current house, until, "during the process f the 2008 restoration the bases of four symmetrically placed chimneys surrounded by charred remains and fragments of brick and broken glass (the glass dating to 1800), were discovered buried about 40 feet behind the urrenthouse.". Another fact confirming this is that there are 2 huge Live Oaks that exist behind the present day Bocage. During the period of time when Live Oaks were planted in a row, there was no levee, so they front entrance to Bocage would have been the Mississippi River, or an adjacent dirt road to the levee. During that time, there was no predilection to plant Live Oaks in the back corners of the house, however there are 2 Live Oaks behind the present day structure, which would be to the front of the Creole Cottage built in 1801. Although sources vary as to the certainty of it, the design of the current, 1837, house has been attributed to

James H. Dakin James Harrison Dakin (August 24, 1806 – May 13, 1852), American architect . Best known for his Neo-Gothic style. Best known as Architect of the Old Louisiana State Capitol, Old Bank of Louisville, and other public buildings. Early life Dakin w ...

, who came to Louisiana in 1835, was employed by the Bringier family, and was skilled in

Greek Revival architecture The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

. Distinctive features of the façade include the massive

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

, with

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

design on the

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...

and denticulated

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

, supported across the entire front by square,

giant order In classical architecture, a giant order, also known as colossal order, is an order whose columns or pilasters span two (or more) storeys. At the same time, smaller orders may feature in arcades or window and door framings within the storeys th ...

columns forming a double gallery. The front staircase did not always exist. It was re-added during the 2008 restoration, based on the oldest known picture/watercolor painting of Bocage done at the beginning of the 20th century. The upper gallery was used to film a scene in the movie "Twelve Years a Slave". The upper gallery opens into a large double parlor on the premier étage, where rooms open into each other, without halls, in the Creole style, with a cabinet-

loggia In architecture, a loggia ( , usually , ) is a covered exterior gallery or corridor, usually on an upper level, but sometimes on the ground level of a building. The outer wall is open to the elements, usually supported by a series of columns ...

at the rear. Giant twelve-feet-tall sliding doors separate the upper parlors when closed. The roof once served as a rainwater

catch basin A storm drain, storm sewer (United Kingdom, U.S. and Canada), surface water drain/sewer (United Kingdom), or stormwater drain (Australia and New Zealand) is infrastructure designed to drain excess rain and ground water from impervious surface ...

, with the fresh water shunted through pipes to a cistern on each side, in back of the house.. After many years of neglect, the house was salvaged in 1941 by Drs. E. G. Kohlsdorf and Anita Crozat (Mrs. Kohlsdorf). An auction in 2007 sold various furnishings from the house and grounds.

From January 2008-December 2008 the house, purchased and restored (as close to the original as possible) by Dr. Marion Rundell, became a B&B that also offered public tours. During his restoration of the house, Dr. Rundell hired the help of Adrian Trevino, who Dr. Rundell regarded as "A dedicated and intelligent man when it comes to restoring a house", to unravel the history of Bocage. . He also worked with Dr. Neil Odenwald, the Director of LSU Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture, to choose the plants in Bocage, which included Azaleas, Live Oaks, and Crape Myrtles. They were planted by Dr. Rundell, Adrian Trevino, Luba and Igor Detsyk, and Dr. Rundell's son, Alex Rundell.

In 2015, Dr. Rundell has permanently closed Bocage Plantation to spend more time with family.

Geography

Bocage Plantation is located on Louisiana Highway 942, along the River Road, in Darrow,

Ascension Parish Ascension Parish (french: Paroisse de l'Ascension, es, Parroquia de Ascensión) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 126,500. Its parish seat is Donaldsonville. The parish was created ...

, on the east bank of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

, but on a

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank ( cut bank) and deposits sediments on an inner, convex bank ...

that puts it north and west of the river. The plantation is across the river from the parish seat of

Donaldsonville Donaldsonville (historically french: Lafourche-des-Chitimachas) is a city in, and the parish seat of Ascension Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located along the River Road of the west bank of the Mississippi River, it is a part of the Bat ...

, and about 25 miles southeast of

Filming location

Bocage Plantation was used as a setting in the 1974 film The Autobiography of Ms. Jane Pittman Bocage Plantation was used as a setting for "Shaw Farm" in the 2013 film ''

12 Years a Slave ''Twelve Years a Slave'' is an 1853 memoir and slave narrative by American Solomon Northup as told to and written by David Wilson. Northup, a black man who was born free in New York state, details himself being tricked to go to Washington, D.C., ...

''.

Notes

References

External links

Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bocage Plantation Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana Sugar plantations in Louisiana Houses in Ascension Parish, Louisiana Houses completed in 1837 Greek Revival houses in Louisiana Creole architecture in Louisiana Plantation houses in Louisiana National Register of Historic Places in Ascension Parish, Louisiana