Kraemer House
Off US 61, Prairieville, LAThe Kraemer House is locally significant in the area of architecture because it is a landmark within the context of northwestern Ascension Parish.
The northwestern corner of Ascension Parish comprises the settlements of Dutchtown, Prairieville, and Oak Grove. In recent years this area has experienced considerable suburban tract house development. What remains of the area's patrimony dates entirely from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It consists of nineteen bungalows, three cottages, one board and batten store, and the Kraemer House.
The Kraemer House is clearly the landmark of the group for five reasons:
1. It is probably the largest older structure in the area.
2. With its symmetrical five-bay facade, its fully developed central hall plan, and its long front and side galleries, the Kraemer House is the closest thing the area has to a grand plantation house. Most other older buildings are bungalows or merely cottages.
3. The Kraemer House is believed to have the area's finest interior woodwork. It's five relatively elaborate Italianate mantels are very probably without parallel. (Based upon a comprehensive windshield survey, it was concluded that the Kraemer House was the only structure in the area which could possibly have mantels of this age and caliber.)
4. The front and side portions of the Kraemer House are encompassed by a continuous sixteen-bay gallery, which is without parallel in the area, Other galleries are typically three bays.
5. The gallery can be reached from the interior via floor-length windows, which marks the Kraemer House as a relatively high-style house of the period.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
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.