Source :NEWS18 NEWS
Last Updated:May 21, 2025, 22:15 IST
Step into Louisiana’s storied past as historic homes and plantations open their doors to immersive tours, cultural tales, and timeless Southern charm.
Just a short drive from New Orleans, explore the charm of Houmas House and Gardens, a historic estate set in 38 acres of gardens and boasting three restaurants, a luxurious Inn and a historic mansion open daily for tours
Louisiana’s past dates back to a crucial period in history leading to the construction of many antebellum mansions serving as plantations and family residences that have since been transformed into historic homes for tourists offering a window into the bygone time. Today these historic houses along the Great River Road, and across south and central Louisiana not only offer educational glimpses of an earlier period but some, also offer on-site restaurants and accommodations allowing guests to immerse fully into the history of these houses.
Hermann-Grima + Gallier Historic Houses, New Orleans
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Hermann-Grima + Gallier Historic Houses, managed by The Woman’s Exchange, preserves two 19th-century French Quarter homes and, through their architecture, collections, and history, inspires discourse about our collective past and its relevance to our present and future. Visitors, students, and researchers explore such diverse topics as the lives of the houses’ owners and enslaved people, free people of colour, open-hearth cooking, mourning rituals, and the entrepreneurial pursuits of women.
Houmas House, Darrow
Just a short drive from New Orleans, explore the charm of Houmas House and Gardens, a historic estate set in 38 acres of gardens and boasting three restaurants, a luxurious Inn and a historic mansion open daily for tours. The guided mansion tour leads guests through the architectural evolution of the mansion and details how a succession of owners and the Mississippi River grew this manor house into today’s estate. Period antiques, artwork and artefacts assist the guides to tell the story of plantation life. Once sprawling over 300,000 acres, Houmas House has survived wars, floods, abandonment, and the test of time.
Oak Alley Plantation, Vacherie
Explore over 200 years of history at Oak Alley Plantation in Vacherie. From its sprawling oaks and open spaces to its hidden nooks and crannies, Oak Alley’s landscape tells the story of a plantation in its evolution. Wide pastures stand where a pecan grove once thrived, and a 1920s formal garden quietly preserves the remains of an 1830’s kitchen hidden under its turf. See the Big House, the Slavery Exhibit, the Sugarcane Theatre, and the Blacksmith’s Shop, a tribute to the enduring legacy of Louisiana craftsmen, sharing the history of forging metalwork on plantations.
Bouverans Bed and Breakfast, Lockport
Bouverans Bed and Breakfast is situated in Lockport along Bayou Lafourche. This historic home invites you to step back in time and enjoy its peaceful yet simple charm. Highlights of the property and house include antique furnishings and design elements reflective of the 1800s. Bouverans Oak, which is number 40 on the Lafourche Parish Live Oak Tour. The place has a beautifully manicured courtyard designed for spiritual peace and tranquillity and a private chapel dedicated to Saint Joseph. In addition to being a bed and breakfast, Bouverans also has space for small events, weddings, retreats, and photo sessions. Tours of the house, which is listed on the National Historic Registry are also available.
Melrose Plantation, Melrose
Melrose Plantation is a historic house museum located in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. Discover the two-hundred-year history of beautiful Melrose Plantation; hear how the birth of a slave, Marie Therese Coincoin, and her ten Franco-African children with Claude Thomas Pierre Metoyer became the legacy of the Isle Brevelle Creole Community. Realize the impact of the American Civil War and Reconstruction on Cane River and the survival of a southern plantation along with the establishment of the Melrose Freedman school by Fanny Hertzog. Explore the wonders of the early 20th-century Melrose artists’ retreat founded by Carmelite Garrett Henry and follow the discovery of Clementine Hunter, one-time Melrose cook, as she emerged to become Louisiana’s most celebrated primitive artist.
Destrehan Plantation, Destrehan
Established in 1787 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Destrehan Plantation remains the oldest documented plantation home in the Lower Mississippi Valley. Special exhibits include an original document signed by Thomas Jefferson and an exhibit on the 1811 Slave Revolt. Today, visitors can tour the Destrehan Plantation home, as well as experience the Unheard Voices of the German Coast tour, which honours the life of the slaves, German farmers, Acadians, and Native Americans. Visitors can tour the property and the dependency buildings, and view the 1811 Slave Revolt exhibit to see historical documents from this event, paintings and a diorama depicting this important event.
Laura Plantation, Vacherie
Laura Plantation transports you into the complex and intimate relationships of four generations of one Louisiana Créole family, both free and enslaved. Laura’s permanent exhibit examines, in biographical detail, the lives of Africans on the plantation, from enslavement into the 20th century. The Laura farmstead is surrounded by fields of sugarcane and boasts eleven historic buildings on the National Register, including the slave cabins where the Compair Lapin stories were recorded. You can visit the Laura Plantation Store for gifts, books and souvenirs on Louisiana and Creole culture, music, crafts, and cuisine.
Nottoway Plantation
Nottoway, the South’s largest remaining antebellum mansion, is a stunning restored plantation that lies between Baton Rouge & New Orleans, Louisiana offering deluxe accommodations and amenities, daily tours, fine dining, venues for weddings, events, as well as gracious hospitality. Nottoway is a member of Historic Hotels of America, a prestigious organization of quality hotels that have faithfully maintained their historic integrity and offer visitors an exceptional travel experience.
- First Published:
May 21, 2025, 22:15 IST
SOURCE : NEWS 18
