Best Gardens in Louisiana
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The choice was made to select the best features from various periods to showcase a legacy of each family in the mansion. After extensive restorations to the house and grounds, the Houmas re-opened for tours in November of 2003. Mr. Kelly allows tours of the mansion and gardens, however the Houmas remains his private residence, as it was for its previous owners for over 240 years.
Food With a View - New Orleans Magazine
Food With a View.
Posted: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Top tips for your stay at Houmas House Plantation and Gardens
During the 2020 Travel South Conference in Baton Rouge, I attended a private party at Houmas House Plantation. Houmas House, located in Darrow, Louisiana, graciously hosted us and provided an authentic Southern experience. The 38-acre property was even better with these talented musicians playing a variety of genres, such as zydeco and big band. Houmas House is a masterclass in horticulture, providing an opportunity to learn and appreciate the wonders of nature. The house is a stunning symmetrical antebellum structure featuring wrap-around decks on two floors, Federal arched dormers, majestic columns, and a decorative widow’s walk. Its allure is captivating, inspiring the desire to step inside or capture its beauty through the lens.
La Petite Fille (The Little Girl) At The Haunted Louisiana Plantation
In 2003 New Orleans businessman and preservationist Kevin Kelly acquired and refurbished the the Mississippi adjacent mansion and grounds. The property features 16 acres of manicured lawns, formal gardens, oak alleys, water-lily gardens, fountains and gardens, as well as Live Oaks are ranked amongst the oldest in the world. The Mansion at Houmas House is open for tours daily, seven days a week from 9 a.m. This particular Antebellum plantation house doesn’t cover slavery as much as some of the other houses in Louisiana. Oak Alley where I visited before, has rebuilt the slave cabins that once were part of the plantation grounds. They reverently share memorabilia and artifacts in these cabins, telling the stories of the slaves that once lived there.
Other Haunted Plantations in Louisiana
And among those stories are those that include the supernatural. As I soon discovered during my visit, residents of the New Orleans area and all of South Louisiana have a deep sense of heritage that goes back many hundreds of years. Click here to learn more about my wedding venue review process. See pictures from a beautiful real wedding at the Houmas House. Our average base cost for a Houmas House wedding is calculated by figuring a 125-person ceremony/reception with a seated meal. Entertainment, flowers, furniture, additional decorations and rentals, transportation, and photography are NOT included.
The Inn at Houmas House and Gardens
The crewman’s natural reaction was to express concern that a little girl was in a construction zone because it was not safe for children. Located near New Orleans, the 250-year-old house is just one of the estates located in Louisiana’s River Parishes that is open to the public. This particular live oak really caught my eye and I can’t even adequately share it here without lots of pics. It sprawled out from the mother tree way over to the building in the distance. She mentioned that the live oaks are from 600 to 700 years old. There’s a white tablecloth restaurant too called The Carriage House.
Louisiana Plantation Haunted Down To Its Roots
Old South's legacy looms large in New Orleans Plantation Country - Houston Chronicle
Old South's legacy looms large in New Orleans Plantation Country.
Posted: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Overall we were very impressed with the Houmas House and cannot wait to visit again someday. The museum has so much to see and learn about be sure to plan to spend a few hours to be able to see everything. After breakfast we toured the Great River Steamboat Museum. The next morning we started our our day with breakfast at the Dixie Cafe.
The last time I visited a plantation in Louisiana was Oak Alley in 2015 with my sister. Slavery was a horrific and tragic part of Southern history and the plantations that dot the Mississippi River in Louisiana were some of the biggest offenders. So I’m not glorifying slavery at all, but rather looking thoughtfully at a beautiful home and garden plantation house that does have a rich history, with slavery a big part of that history. The website does mention 550 slaves at Houmas House during slavery days and before the Civil War. Guided tours of the mansion and gardens provide a comprehensive and informative experience. Expert guides share stories of the plantation’s history, architecture, and the lives of the people who once lived and worked there.
Houmas House Mansion and Gardens Tour
According to records, the young daughter of Col. John Preston was the belle of Houmas House in the mid 1800s. She played games of tag in the gardens and hide-and-seek in the great house until she fell gravely ill in 1848. But when the renovated house opened to the public, sightings of the little girl began again. Both guides and guests have seen her and say she seems curious about all the activity. The Houmas House Plantation is beautiful, but so are the haunting remains of a sugar plantation in Florida that was burned by the Seminoles in the 1830s. After our museum visit we packed up and took a view of the river before hitting the road home.
She enjoys exploring the back roads of the USA and uncovering stories about unique destinations, cultures and almost-forgotten history. At this point in time, only a caretaker and his wife lived on the Houmas House property because the plantation was out of the sugarcane business. (The couple lived in what is now used as the plantation’s Bridal Cottage). For weddings with more than 50 guests, the venue suggests having the wedding ceremony in front of the mansion under the Cathedral of Oaks. For receptions, the Hampton Fountain Court, Grand Lawn, Neptune’s Ballroom and Courtyard as well as the climate-controlled Pavillion are all options. You can read more about the ceremony/reception venues at the Houmas House here.
In April of 1848, there were thirty family members and guests in residence at the Houmas, and just as many servants in the household. There was an abundance of beef and mutton from the plantation, as well as fruits and vegetables from the gardens. 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.
With its expansive gardens, stately mansion, restaurants and cottage, the Houmas House plantation also makes a wonderful wedding venue and is available for corporate events. When I had the opportunity to visit a beautiful River Road antebellum mansion, I had no idea I was going to be touring a haunted Louisiana plantation house and its grounds. To move at your own pace, opt for the self-guided tour of the gardens, where the seasons are reflected by the ever-changing plants and flowers.
After we got all settled in we went for a stroll through the gardens. It was amazing to see so many different garden areas with a variety of sculptures, water features, plants and historic artifacts. 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.
She was laid to rest in the family cemetery, which was located down by the river. 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. For the peaceful opulence of Louisiana’s plantation country, look no further than Houmas House Plantation. 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.
It was during the 1890’s that the Miles Family enlarged the mansion by connecting the 1829 mansion to the French House, to the rear. 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. During the Miles period, the 2nd floor housed seven bedrooms. 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. The mansion is completely handicap accessible and each room provides several places to sit throughout the guided tour.
The historic plantation now includes 38 acres of one of the South’s most beautiful gardens, as well as three restaurants and a luxury Inn. Despite the national economic depression and decline in plantation life, “The Gentlemen” stood as a reminder of a more opulent time. The 24 stately trees leading from the river to the house continued to stand guard and provide cooling breezes. The Houmas House also has an Inn with 21 rooms where Grandma can stay. Rooms average around $350/night and up, and included in the wedding package is a $60 credit per room per night. While hotels such as The Best Western and Supreme Inn and Suites are also nearby, out of town guests would most likely want to stay in the French Quarter, which is about an hour from the venue.
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