page_title: Laura Plantation
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Laura Plantation / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: Inside the Laura Plantation House, Louisiana, before the fire. Fireplace and mantle clock.
context_page_description: Laura Plantation is a restored historic Louisiana Creole plantation on the west bank of the Mississippi River near Vacherie, Louisiana, open for guided tours. Formerly known as Duparc Plantation, it is significant for its early 19th-century Créole-style raised big house and several surviving outbuildings, including two slave cabins. It is one of only 15 plantation complexes in Louisiana with this many complete structures. Because of its historical importance, the plantation is on the National Register of Historic Places. The site, in St. James Parish, Louisiana, is also included on the Louisiana African American Heritage Trail.
  Alcée Fortier, who later became Professor of Romance Languages and folklore at Tulane University, was said to have collected Louisiana Creole versions of the West African Br'er Rabbit stories here in the 1870s.
  The parents and family of U.S. singer-songwriter Fats Domino had lived on the plantation.
context_section_description: Shaded by the low branches of large oak trees, the main house is almost hidden from the road. Constructed in 1804-1805, the "big house" at Laura Plantation has a raised brick basement story and a briquette-entre-poteaux (brick between posts) upper floor. Much of the house was pre-fabricated, as its wooden beams were pre-cut off-site and arrived ready to be installed. It is one of only 30 substantial Créole raised houses in the state. Also noteworthy are the Federal-style interior woodwork and Norman roof truss, unusual for later Créole houses.
  The floor plan consists of two rows of five rooms that all open directly into each other without any hallways. The interior of the "big house" is furnished with original antiques. Some pieces were donated to the plantation by families of the original owners.  Owners have left some areas inside the home unrestored to give visitors a sense of history and show wall-construction methods.
  A large collection of family treasures and some items of apparel are on display, giving a sense of daily life.  Laura Locoul Gore's memoir, Memories of the Old Plantation Home, provided much of what is known about life on Laura Plantation. The gift shop has displayed some books about the area and related subjects.
caption: Fireplace mantle (in 2001), before the fire of 2004 gutted the house. It was later restored.
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