The oak trees lining the grounds were planted in 1814, and Catalpa's oak alley is thought to be the only one in Louisiana which has an elliptical shape. Primarily a cotton plantation in the antebellum period, Catalpa's grounds were devastated during the Civil War, and the plantation house burned. Mr. Fort, the owner, died during the Civil War. In 1885, his son, William J. Fort, rebuilt Catalpa and it is this house that still stands. It has a two room deep main block with a central hall and a large rear wing with a central hall of its own.
Double doors separate the two central halls.
The rooms are large, and finished with standard late-19th century details. Catalpa Plantation House is important for its false marbled mantels. This work was done by hand, but at the factory rather than on-site. The mantels at Catalpa are important as examples of Victorian art because they show the Victorian fondness for elaborately contrived effects. The slave cabin behind the Catalpa Plantation was built of pit-sawn timber.