The Houmas, Historic plantation house in Burnside, Louisiana, United States.
The mansion presents Greek Revival design with 14 white Doric columns rising from the ground to support the roofline, alongside a Federal-style hipped roof with arched dormers and a central belvedere that crowns the two-and-a-half-story stucco-covered brick structure.
In 1774 Alexander Latil and Maurice Conway took over the Houma people's land east of the Mississippi; Latil built a French Colonial house around 1775. Daniel Clark bought the sugarcane plantation after the 1803 Louisiana Purchase and fought a duel with Governor William C. C. Claiborne there in June 1807. John Smith Preston, married to Wade Hampton's daughter Caroline, took over management about 1825 and built the present main house in 1840.
The name comes from the Houma people, whose land Alexander Latil and Maurice Conway took in 1774. The house has appeared on screen since 1964, when Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte was filmed there with Bette Davis; Mandingo, Fletch Lives and Green Book also used it as a set. The German Wikipedia calls it the "crown jewel of Louisiana's river road."
The site is a museum with two restaurants and can be rented for private events such as weddings. The main house, the brick garçonnières and one of the former sugar mills stand among the buildings, with a large park and a pond on the grounds. The complex and its 10 acres were listed on the National Register on September 27, 1980.
During the Civil War, owner John Burnside prevented Union General Benjamin Butler from seizing the estate by claiming immunity as a British subject, making it one of the few major plantations to avoid occupation by federal troops during that period.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 92,864 contributors worldwide.