Homeplace Plantation House (Keller Homeplace)

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The Homeplace Plantation House was the center of a large sugar plantation along the west bank of the Mississippi River in Hahnville, Louisiana. Construction on the French Colonial raised cottage began sometime between 1787- 1791 and the home was later expanded. The plantation included many buildings including cabins that were home to the enslaved women and men who built and operated the plantation. Today only the main house and carriage house remain. Unlike many plantation homes that include records that include the names of enslaved workers and the dates when additional parcels of land were added and new buildings were constructed, property documents were destroyed in the Hahnville Courthouse fire in 1855. The plantation produced sugar until the end of the 19th century and the property has been privately owned by the Keller family for over a century and is not open to the public.

Images

Photograph, Tree, Black-and-white, House

Hearth, Fireplace, Black-and-white, Room

Black-and-white, Monochrome, Building, Monochrome photography

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Homeplace Plantation is a two-story French Colonial style raised cottage. The first floor is constructed with brick, while the upper story is constructed of cypress and filled in with Spanish clay and moss. Many of the original artifacts of the home remain, including dining room tiles and a wine room with the original wine racks. An interesting feature of the house is the tall brick pillars that once supported a large wooden cistern that provided water to the house. This plantation was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970 because of its architecture.

The Homeplace Plantation is believed to have been built for Pierre Gaillard in the late 1700s by Charles Paquet. Paquet was a free man of color who also built the Destrehan House. The home was built on a Spanish land grant of 10,000 acres. In 1800 the Gaillard widow sold the property to Lewis Edmond Fortier who over the years continued to increase the land holdings of the plantation. Fortier died in 1849 and his wife sold the home jointly to their son Drausin and three of their sons-in-law. Drausin died of yellow fever in 1856. The Homeplace Plantation went through several property changes over the next 37 years until it was purchased in 1893 by Pierre Anatole Keller and his brother-in-law Ulysses Haydel.

Once Keller purchased the property, divided the land and he dismantled the sugar production operation. Keller kept the upriver portion of land with the home, while Haydel got the downriver portion that he renamed Caneland. He tore down the sugar mill in 1894. They began a series of renovations on the property in 1904. He modernized the house with some minor alterations and added stairs to the front. The Homeplace Plantation is now private property and not open to visitors. The home is vacant today and in need of stabilization and repair. The property is still owned by the Keller family.

Sources

Homeplace Plantation House, NPS. Accessed November 6th 2020. https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/louisiana/hom.htm.

FHMaster. Homplace Plantation House, Forgotton History. December 17th 2016. Accessed November 6th 2020. http://forgottenhistory.us/node/386.

Silverquill. Homeplace Plantation House - Hahnville, LA, Waymarking. March 12th 2009. Accessed November 6th 2020. https://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM60M2.

Homeplace Plantation, Hahnville, St Charles Parish, Louisiana, Historic Structures. September 3rd 2015. Accessed November 6th 2020. http://www.historic-structures.com/la/hahnville/homeplace_plantation.php.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

http://www.historic-structures.com/la/hahnville/homeplace_plantation1.php

http://www.historic-structures.com/la/hahnville/homeplace_plantation2.php

http://www.historic-structures.com/la/hahnville/homeplace_plantation3.php

http://www.historic-structures.com/la/hahnville/homeplace_plantation4.php