Darby Plantation, French Colonial plantation in New Iberia, United States.
Darby Plantation is a reconstruction of a two-story French Colonial house with a central hall plan, built between 1813 and 1820. The first story was solid brick, while the second used briquette-entre-poteaux, brick filling the spaces between heavy cypress posts. The original porch wrapped the house on three sides; the replica keeps porches only at the front and back.
The Darby Plantation was founded by Jonathan Darby, an Englishman who immigrated from France in 1719. The house was built between 1813 and 1820 for Francois St. Marc Darby and his wife, Felicite de St. Amant, and the property stayed in the family for more than 150 years. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 26, 1973, and removed from the list in January 2019.
The name Darby comes from Jonathan Darby, an Englishman who arrived from France in 1719; the property stayed in his family for over 150 years. The house passed to Francois St. Marc Darby, who had it built for himself and his wife Felicite de St. Amant. The replica by architect Perry Segura keeps the two-story form, with brick below and briquette-entre-poteaux above.
The site lies about 2.1 miles (3.4 km) northwest of downtown New Iberia, in what was once a rural landscape. The replica stands at the original location, so approach from the northwest side of town rather than the centre. The cistern that once stood near the house is gone, replaced by a three-car garage.
The replica built around 2002 by architect Perry Segura departs from the original in several ways: the water cistern became a three-car garage, the exterior stairs moved indoors, the three-sided porch survives only at front and back, and dormers were added to light the attic. The original house was listed on the National Register on March 26, 1973, and removed in January 2019.
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