BATON ROUGE (dpa) – The manor house of Rosedown Plantation in the U.S. state of Louisiana shines bright white through the trees, its large veranda typical of plantation houses in the south.
Around it is a large French garden, 12 hectares of lush southern trees, perennial shrubs, creepers, moss, lawns and small ponds.This green paradise in the little town of St. Francisville, near the Mississippi River, has a rich history. The original owner Daniel Turnbull has the house built in 1834. He owned up to 450 slaves who worked on his cotton plantation. The exquisite decor of the house, with furniture and fabrics imported from Europe, and the lavishly stocked garden are testimony to his wealth.The neighbouring Butler Greenwood Plantation was built earlier in 1790. Ceiling fans and inviting hammocks adorn the broad veranda and the garden of this former plantation is dominated by giant, moss- covered oak trees. Butler Greenwood is one of the many plantations that have been converted to bed and breakfasts. Guests stay in small cottages and in the former kitchens.“We try to convey an impression of what life was like back then,” said owner Anne Butler. “The Victorian decor, the furniture, paintings, the porcelain and even the garden tell a story about the past.”There are nearly a dozen beautiful plantation homes in the region surrounding St. Francisville and the area around Baton Rouge, the capital of Louisiana. Many more can be found southwest of Baton Rouge along the Mississippi River.One of them is Madewood Plantation, near Napoleonville, which offers bed and breakfast with gourmet cuisine. The neoclassical front of the house, built in 1846 by Colonel Thomas Pugh, a sugar cane farmer, has giant columns.Visitors stay in high-ceilinged rooms with giant four-poster beds and small baths. At 6 p.m., guests are invited down to the library for wine and cheese, followed by an exquisite candlelit dinner in the dining room at 7p.m.The best way to tour the plantation homes of Louisiana is to take a trip along the “Great River Road”. From St. Francisville to New Orleans the route winds over various highways, state roads and smaller roads, sometimes on one bank of the Mississippi, sometimes on the other. Along the way are plantations with names such as “Ashland Belle Helene”, “”Magnolia Mound”, “The Myrtles”, “Oakley House” and “Laura”. But the best known is probably “Oak Alley Plantation” in the town of Vacherie.The history of Oak Alley began in the 18th century when Jacques T. Roman, a French immigrant who became a rich sugar farmer, built a huge villa here in 1839. Today Oak Alley Plantation is a protected monument, administered by a charitable foundation. The whole estate, including gardens, sugar cane fields and forest, covers 400 hectares.The white house is built in neoclassical style with typical southern verandas, simple, clear lines, columns and a relatively flat roof. Inside, you can view hand-made wool carpets, mahogany furniture, marble ornamentats and all the little devices with which people used to keep themselves cool in the hot summers. The house looks out over the Mississippi River, sugar cane fields and boulevards.But Louisiana has more to offer travellers than just its historic plantations. You can take trip into the maze of the bayous: Louisiana’s lakes, rivers and coastal waters in the Gulf of Mexico are a mecca for anglers and sports fishermen. Gourmets can enjoy the Cajun cuisine, music fans can explore the cradle of jazz, blues, folk and bluegrass.Sub-tropical Louisiana is teeming with life. It is a maze of sights, sounds and smells, a bath for the senses, especially in the hot, humid heat of summer.
