Houmas, The
a.k.a. Houmas House
W of Burnside off LA 22 and LA 44, Burnside, LAHoumas House is significant in the area of economics because under owner John Burnside in the 1850s and 60's it was the center of the largest slaveholding in Louisiana. With over 800 slaves it represented the largest economic unit in the prevailing slave economy of the state's pre-Civil War period.
Houmas House is nationally significant in the area of architecture as an excellent example of a plantation house designed in the peripteral mode of the Greek Revival. It represents an important regional variation of the Greek Revival which typified many of the grandest residences in the deep South. In addition, the lines of Houmas House are more graceful than those of many other peripteral mansions. This is because Houmas House is one of the few in which the dormered roof line is in harmonious proportion to the colonnades.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.