Godchaux Reserve Plantation House, Reserve Louisiana

Date added: April 21, 2023 Categories: Louisiana House Plantations & Farms

he principal story of any Creole house, the premier etage, was from the owner's standpoint the most important place. It was here that the family lived. It was also the focus of whatever architectural refinement the house may have had. Among the few hundred Creole residences that remain in the state, Reserve is conspicuous because of the size of its premier etage. There are only 11 premier etages in the state of comparable size and only two that are larger.

The following is extracted from a typescript history of Reserve Plantation prepared by Michael J. Maurin, formerly superintendent of the Godchaux-Henderson Sugar Refinery:

Part of the property that would become the extensive Reserve Plantation was settled in the 1760s by Jean Baptiste Laubel (Lobel) and his wife Marie Therese Fontenot. Jean Baptiste died in 1774, but his widow continued on the land. After the Louisiana Purchase, the U. S. government confirmed the land claim of Jean Baptiste, Jr. and Louis Laubel. The land was six arpents fronting the Mississippi by forty arpents deep. Louis and Jean Baptiste, Jr. split the land into two equal size tracts which they sold individually in 1809.

The next known owners are Francois and Elisee Rillieux, brothers who were part of Louisiana's large free people of color population. It seems likely that the Rillieux brothers were responsible for the Federal period remodeling and enlarging of the house. In 1822 they began purchasing small adjacent tracts of land and consolidating them into a sugar plantation. They formed a "societe" (company or partnership) to operate their holdings on May Il, 1825. The Rillieux brothers amassed a plantation with a 14 and 1/4 arpent front. Francois became sole owner, and on his death an auction of his plantation and mill was held.

The new owners were Antoine Boudousquie and his brother-in-law, Michel T. Andry. They formed a "societe" on March 23^rd, 1833. By 1849-50, as noted in Champomier's Statement of the Sugar Crop, Boudousquie was sole owner. In Champomier's 1850-51 compilation the plantation is listed as Reserve. Boudousquie died November 25^th, 1855. His widow, Sophie Andry, representing also her children, continued operation of the plantation. Bankruptcy forced Mrs. Boudousquie to sell the plantation on June 1^st, 1869 to Leon Godchaux. At this time the property had a 19 1/4 arpent front and an 80 arpent depth. Of course, it took some time for the plantation to get back on a sound economic footing after the disruptive Civil War and Reconstruction years. However, by 1893, Godchaux had doubled the size of the plantation. The Daily States of New Orleans, in its November 28^th, 1894 issue describing a visit to Godchaux's "famous Reserve Plantation," referred to him as "one of the largest sugar planters in the South." The huge sugar mill's capacity was emphasized in the article, with no reference made to the main house. The Godchaux family continued to own the plantation until the 1950s.

Building Description

Reserve Plantation House is a large colombage raised Creole house located in the town of Reserve behind the Mississippi River levee. The architectural evidence indicates that it was built in several stages, attaining its present appearance by c.1850.

Reserve Plantation House has a long and complicated history including what appear to be three major periods of construction and two moves. The house was first moved sometime prior to about 1900. It was moved again on September 25^th, 1993 to save it from certain demolition, as will be explained more fully later. A c. 1900 panoramic photograph shows the house as part of the Godchaux sugar mill complex. (Leon Godchaux had purchased Reserve Plantation in 1869.) It was from the Godchaux sugar mill site that the house was moved in 1993. In the photograph, the house appears as a large fully raised Creole residence (i.e., the main story raised a full story above grade). The reason the State Historic Preservation Office believes the house was moved to the Godchaux mill site from elsewhere is its placement facing a road leading into the sugar mill complex from the Mississippi River. It did not face the river as River Road plantation houses invariably did. Thus sometime prior to about 1900 the house was moved to the Godchaux mill site, most likely from somewhere close by on the plantation. This supposition that there was an early move has been corroborated by experienced historic house mover David Beeson (the 1993 mover). He noted marks under the house left by apparatus used in moving houses by mule power.

As was previously mentioned, during the period when the Reserve house was located on the Godchaux mill site, its principal story was raised a full story above grade. Because the house undoubtedly had been moved to the site and moving such a house generally involves demolition and reconstruction of the brick supporting base, the question arises as to what the original supporting base looked like prior to this early move. Was the house fully raised in its original location? It is very reasonable to assume that it was. Indeed, it is unreasonable to suspect that it was not. Firstly, the principal story of the Reserve house is very large, being four rooms wide and two rooms deep with a rear cabinet/loggia range and galleries on three sides. Secondly, throughout history houses have been routinely moved on the River Road, generally not very far. If in the course of a move the height of the principal story was changed, it was generally lowered. Sometimes the owner simply did not want to take the trouble to rebuild the high basement. Thus the general trend has been for lowering not raising houses after a move.

At the time of the 1993 move the house on its Godchaux mill site rested on high brick pillars. However, one assumes that on its original site it had a brick basement. Such a treatment for fully raised houses was the norm in Creole Louisiana.

On Creole houses the living space is raised several feet above grade. On the grandest examples the family living space is raised a full story creating what amounts to a two story structure. In cases such as this the second floor was where the family lived and thus received significant architectural treatment. The brick lower story more often than not was used only for storage and thus received little in the way of architectural treatment. The only exception was the dining room, which was sometimes located on the lower story. For the record, this is not the case at Reserve. All of the timbers under the principal story are rough, indicating that such low brick rooms which undoubtedly existed under the principal story were entirely for utilitarian purposes.

As noted previously, Reserve's premier etage (principal story) is the product of three major periods of construction. Architectural evidence does not present a clear picture of the house's growth and evolution. The best one can do at this time is make the following general statement. The sill, beam and plate structure under the principal story and in the attic indicates an early house of three or so rooms built sometime prior to the Federal period. This first phase of construction could well be eighteenth century. How much of this early structure survives is difficult to say because the aforementioned plate, sill and beam structure does not coincide with the present room arrangement. Precisely, it encompasses three and a half of the present four front rooms.

The placement of four exceptional Federal mantels indicates a c. 1825 remodeling and enlargement in which Reserve became a substantial plantation house two rooms deep. This supposition is supported by the fact that two of the mantels are set in the rear range of rooms. The beam structure under these rooms is obviously an addition to the original sill and beam structure. The extent of the c.1825 enlargement is not known precisely. However, because the colombage wall construction seems fairly old and consistent, it may well be that the house attained much of its present size at this time.

Reserve was modified again about 1850, at which time it received its present galleries and roofline. The roof structure is fairly simple and looks mid-nineteenth century. In addition, the gallery columns are paneled with a bolection molding whose profile is very typical of the late 1840s and the 1850s. This modification must have been very extensive, as evidenced by the fact that mid-nineteenth century moldings are found throughout the house, and by the fact that all of the present flooring appears to date from this period.

The colombage features French angle braces and very heavy studs placed unusually close together. The size of the studs and their close placement suggests an early date (i.e., that one would expect all of the colombage construction to date well before the mid nineteenth century). Curiously, some of the walls are bousillage while others are brick between post. One would think that if a house had both bousillage and brick between post walls that one or the other of them would represent a later period of construction. This may be the case at Reserve, but it is not certain. The configuration of mud versus brick walls does not fit any clear or obvious house expansion scenario.

As was previously noted, architectural evidence supports the conclusion that in the mid-nineteenth century the Reserve house looked much as it does today -- i.e., a fully raised Creole plantation house four rooms wide and two rooms deep with front and side galleries. There was also a cabinet and loggia range on the rear, but these features were severely impacted by a late nineteenth\early twentieth century rear renovation. (There were very probably two cabinets, but physical evidence survives for only one.) At this time (late nineteenth/early twentieth century) the west end of the rear elevation received a small projecting wing with a separate porch and a hip roof. This created a full size room where a cabinet had presumably been. The east end received an extension without a porch under a shed roof. In addition, some of the central portion of the rear loggia (gallery) and a section of the east gallery were enclosed. Finally, a pair of French doors on the front gallery was replaced by a single leaf glass and paneled door in the Italianate style.

On September 25^th, 1993 the house was moved approximately three quarters of a mile within the small community of Reserve to its present site. The premier etage was moved completely intact, including the chimneys. In the old (Godchaux mill) site the house was part of an industrial property with buildings dating from various periods. This was an inappropriate setting because historically plantation houses had their own grounds and were located at some distance from the sugar mill and ancillary support structures. The new site is an approximately three-quarter acre lot on the corner of the River Road (La. Hwy 44) and West 10^th St. Neither site could be called rural. Thus the extent to which the house's setting resembles the original agrarian setting has not decreased. Indeed, the setting could be said to have improved because the house now faces the Mississippi River as it undoubtedly did originally.

The old Godchaux sugar mill property had been acquired by the Port of South Louisiana, an agency that announced plans to redevelop the site. The Reserve house was slated for demolition. However, the port authority cooperated with Reserve's current owner, the River Road Historical Society, and delayed its plans until funds could be raised to relocate the house.