The Houmas, also known as Burnside Plantation and currently known as Houmas House Plantation and Gardens, is a historic plantation complex and

house museum A historic house museum is a house of historic significance that has been transformed into a museum. Historic furnishings may be displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home. Historic house museums are held to a v ...

Burnside, Louisiana Burnside is an Unincorporated area, unincorporated community in Ascension Parish, Louisiana, Ascension Parish, Louisiana, United States. It was founded by French American, French and German American, German settlers in 1726, early in the Louisiana ( ...

. The plantation was established in the late 1700s, with the current main house completed in 1840. It was named after the native

Houma people The Houma () are a historic Native American people of Louisiana on the east side of the Red River of the South. Their descendants, the Houma people or organization "The United Houma Nation", have been recognized by the state as a tribe since 1 ...

, who originally occupied this area of Louisiana. With . The complex, containing eight buildings and one structure, and the they rest upon, 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 September 27, 1980.

History

''The Houmas'' plantation had its beginnings when Alexander Latil and Maurice Conway appropriated all of the

Houma tribe The Houma () are a historic Native American people of Louisiana on the east side of the Red River of the South. Their descendants, the Houma people or organization "The United Houma Nation", have been recognized by the state as a tribe since 1 ...

's land on the east side 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 ...

in 1774. Alexander Latil built a

French Colonial French colonial architecture includes several styles of architecture used by the French during colonization. Many former French colonies, especially those in Southeast Asia, have previously been reluctant to promote their colonial architecture ...

style plantation house at the site around 1775. It was a working

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 ...

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 ...

by 1803, when the United States obtained the area through 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 ...

. Shortly afterwards ''The Houmas'' was purchased by Daniel Clark, who began to develop the property and built one of the first

sugar mills A sugar cane mill is a factory that processes sugar cane to produce raw or white sugar. The term is also used to refer to the equipment that crushes the sticks of sugar cane to extract the juice. Processing There are a number of steps in prod ...

along this stretch of the river. In June 1807, Clark and

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

Governor

William C. C. Claiborne William Charles Cole Claiborne ( 1773–1775 – November 23, 1817) was an American politician, best known as the first non-colonial governor of Louisiana. He also has the distinction of possibly being the youngest member of the United State ...

fought a

duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...

on the property, in which Claiborne sustained a gunshot wound to his leg. In 1811, former

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

general

Wade Hampton Wade Hampton may refer to the following people: People *Wade Hampton I (1752–1835), American soldier in Revolutionary War and War of 1812 and U.S. congressman *Wade Hampton II (1791–1858), American plantation owner and soldier in War of 1812 *W ...

purchased Daniel Clark's land holdings and slaves. Hampton was one of the wealthiest landowners and largest slaveholders in the

antebellum era In the history of the Southern United States, the Antebellum Period (from la, ante bellum, lit= before the war) spanned the end of the War of 1812 to the start of the American Civil War in 1861. The Antebellum South was characterized by the ...

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

Houmas House Plantation Bachelor's Quarters

The earliest surviving building is the original main house. Its construction date is the source of contention among scholarly sources, with some believing it is the original Latil house, with later alterations. Others point to evidence that it is from the Wade Hampton era. It is a

Federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

style two-story, brick building with end wall gables and chimneys and a stuccoed exterior. It has two rooms on each floor with a central hall and staircase and is linked to the later main house by a carriageway. Management of the property was taken over by John Smith Preston about 1825. Preston was married to Caroline Hampton, Wade Hampton's daughter. The Prestons built a new main house in front of the old one in 1840. The

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 ...

mansion is two-and-a-half stories high and surrounded by 14 monumental

Doric Doric may refer to: * Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece ** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians * Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture * Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode * Doric dialect (Scotland) * Doric ...

columns on three sides. The hipped roof is crowned with arched

dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space ...

windows and a

belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to: Places Australia *Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region Africa *Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco *Belvedere, Harare, Zim ...

. Additional structures from this period include matching brick octagonal garçonnières, or bachelors' quarters. They are two-stories, with a sitting room on the first floor and a bedroom on the second. There are also numerous other brick service structures adjacent to the house. The Houmas, 6

The more than estate was sold to

John Burnside John Burnside FRSL FRSE (born 19 March 1955) is a Scottish writer. He is one of only three poets (the others being Ted Hughes and Sean O'Brien) to have won both the T. S. Eliot Prize and the Forward Poetry Prize for the same book (''Black Cat ...

, a native of

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, in 1857. Burnside had increased the acreage to within the span of a few years and built four sugar mills to process his crop. With approx 750 slaves on it and Burnside's many surrounding plantations, it was the center of the largest slave holding in Louisiana prior to the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. During the war, plans were made to use the plantation house as a headquarters for

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

general

Benjamin Franklin Butler Benjamin Franklin Butler (November 5, 1818 – January 11, 1893) was an American major general of the Union Army, politician, lawyer, and businessman from Massachusetts. Born in New Hampshire and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts, Butler is best ...

, who governed New Orleans for about seven months following the city's capture in May 1862. Burnside, still a citizen of the

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Great B ...

, reputedly prevented this by suggesting that international complications would arise if his estate was seized by Federal authorities. A lifelong bachelor, John Burnside died in 1881 and left the estate to a friend, Oliver Beirne. It then went to

William Porcher Miles William Porcher Miles (July 4, 1822 – May 11, 1899) was an American politician who was among the ardent states' rights advocates, supporters of slavery, and Southern secessionists who came to be known as the "Fire-Eaters." He is notable for h ...

, Beirne's son-in-law. Following the death of Miles in 1899, the property began to be divided up and the house began to fall into disrepair. The Mississippi River flood in 1927 and the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

further endangered the property. The house and what was left of the property was finally purchased by Dr. George B. Crozat in 1940. Crozat began an ambitious program of restoration of the house and gardens. In the process he stripped off some of the original decorative elements of the interior and exterior to give the house a simpler, "Federal style," look. The house and grounds remained in that family until it passed to a new owner, Kevin Kelly, in 2003.

Filming location

The Houmas has been the

filming location A filming location is a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced, in addition to or instead of using sets constructed on a movie studio backlot or soundstage. In filmmaking, a location is any place where a film crew wil ...

for a variety of motion pictures, television series and commercials. Houmas House is most associated with the

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...

movie ''

Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte ''Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte'' is a 1964 American psychological thriller film directed and produced by Robert Aldrich, and starring Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotten, Agnes Moorehead and Mary Astor in her final film role. It fo ...

'' (1964), in which the house has a Tara-like presence. Other films shot in part at The Houmas include '' Mandingo'' (1975), ''

Fletch Lives ''Fletch Lives'' is a 1989 American comedy mystery film starring Chevy Chase and the sequel to '' Fletch'' (1985), directed by Michael Ritchie from a screenplay by Leon Capetanos based on the character created by Gregory Mcdonald. Plot Fletch, ...

'' (1988), and ''

Love, Wedding, Marriage ''Love, Wedding, Marriage'' is a 2011 American romantic comedy film directed by Dermot Mulroney and starring Mandy Moore, Kellan Lutz, James Brolin, Jane Seymour and Christopher Lloyd. It was released on June 3, 2011. Plot Ava and Charlie are new ...

'' (2011). Television films and series include ''

Moon of the Wolf ''Moon of the Wolf'' is an American TV movie broadcast on September 26, 1972 on ''ABC Movie of the Week''. It stars David Janssen, Barbara Rush, Geoffrey Lewis and Bradford Dillman, with a script by Alvin Sapinsley (based on Leslie H. Whitten's ...

'' (1972), ''

A Woman Called Moses ''A Woman Called Moses'' is a 1978 American television miniseries based on the life of Harriet Tubman, the escaped African American slave who helped to organize the Underground Railroad, and who led dozens of African Americans from Slavery in the ...

'' (1976), ''Big Bob Johnson and His Fantastic Speed Circus'' (1978), ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 20 ...

'' (1981), ''A Taste of Louisiana with Chef John Folse and Company'' (one episode, 1990), ''Snow Wonder'' (2006), '' K-Ville'' (2007), ''

Top Chef ''Top Chef'' is an American reality competition television series which premiered on Bravo on March 8, 2006. The show features chefs competing against each other in culinary challenges. The contestants are judged by a panel of professional chef ...

'' (one episode, 2009),

Midnight Bayou ''Midnight Bayou'', also known as ''Nora Roberts' Midnight Bayou'', is a 2009 made-for-TV movie directed by Ralph Hemecker, which stars Jerry O'Connell, Lauren Stamile, and Faye Dunaway. The film is based on the 2001 Nora Roberts novel of the same ...

(2009), ''

Revenge of the Bridesmaids ''Revenge of the Bridesmaids'' is a 2010 ABC Family Original Movie that premiered on July 18, 2010. It stars Raven-Symoné as Abigail and Joanna García as Parker, undercover bridesmaids with a mission to break up a wedding. In addition, the film ...

'' (2010), ''

Wheel of Fortune The Wheel of Fortune or ''Rota Fortunae'' has been a concept and metaphor since ancient times referring to the capricious nature of Fate. Wheel of Fortune may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Art * ''The Wheel of Fortune'' (Burne-Jo ...

'' (one episode, 2011), and "The Bachelor" (one episode, 2017). Commercials have been shot at the plantation for

Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, part of AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. ''Budweiser'' may also refer to an unrelat ...

Virginia Slims Virginia Slims is an American brand of cigarettes owned by Altria. It is manufactured by Philip Morris USA (in the United States) and Philip Morris International (outside the United States). Virginia Slims are narrower ( circumference) than sta ...

Best Buy Best Buy Co. Inc. is an American multinational consumer electronics retailer headquartered in Richfield, Minnesota. Originally founded by Richard M. Schulze and James Wheeler in 1966 as an audio specialty store called Sound of Music, it was rebra ...

Hibernia National Bank Hibernia National Bank was a bank headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana. The bank was the primary subsidiary of Hibernia Corporation, a bank holding company. In November 2005, the bank was acquired by Capital One. Hibernia is the classical ...

, and the Louisiana Office of Tourism.

Legacy

The Antebellum

Houmas was the inspiration for The Antebellum, an 8,212 sqft estate and gardens in

Grogan's Point Grogan’s Point is an estate neighborhood and golf course community in the Village of Grogan’s Mill of The Woodlands, a planned community in Texas. Established in 1982, it is third of nine estate neighborhoods developed in The Woodlands. ...

. It is one of six historically inspired estates developed by the Westbrook Building Company in 1988. In-kind, The Antebellum inspired three additional plantation estates in East Shore of The Woodlands.

References

External links