Mississippi River Road: The Myrtles and Rosedown Plantation

After leaving the beautiful Nottoway Plantation down in White Castle, Louisiana we continued on our way up Highway 61 on our way to St. Francisville, Louisiana.  Our goal was to visit a couple more old plantation homes along our route.  As you can see from the map below there were so many plantations in St. Francisville to choose from, and they all looked very interesting.

St. Francisville, Louisiana Plantation Map

With all the plantations available to see, we could have easily stayed in the area for another couple of days.  There were also antique shops that would have been fun to visit and the old Historic District looked so interesting.   However, we had to pick and choose.

Myrtles Plantation

7741 U.S. Highway 61

St. Francisville, Louisiana

Even though we arrived too late to tour inside this beautiful old home, we did enjoy seeing the outside beauty including the lacy grill-work of the 120-foot veranda all along the front of the home.

We enjoyed having dinner in The Carriage House Restaurant located on the property.  The Myrtles is also a Bed and Breakfast and many weddings and receptions are held there at the Plantation.

The Myrtles Plantation was built in 1796 by General David Bradford.  Of course over time the home was sold and resold, and has a very long history.  The Myrtles is on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana.

How nice it is for guests to be able to sit on the back veranda in the rocking chairs and enjoy cool breezes with a complete sense of peace and tranquility.

We enjoyed a stroll through the ten acre garden area filled with beautiful statues and majestic live oaks.

This Crape Myrtle tree was blooming beautifully and was especially pretty with the Spanish Moss draped all between the pretty blossoms.

 The next plantation we chose to visit was Rosedown Plantation located in St. Francisville.

 Rosedown Plantation

12501 Louisiana Highway 10

West Feliciana Parish

St. Francisville, Louisiana

Rosedown is located along one of the most historic corridors in South Louisiana. Construction of Rosedown Plantation was completed in May of 1834 for a total cost of $13,109.20.  The home was furnished with imported items from Philadelphia, New Orleans and Europe.  Most of the furnishings remain in the house to this day. 

Originally the plantation had 3,455 acres and was a thriving cotton plantation.  There was also cattle, horses, poultry and other farm animals.  There was a kitchen garden and a fruit orchard. Today, there still remains 371 acres belonging to the Plantation.

Come join us as we step back in time and  feel the history all around us in this magnificent old home.

If you stand at the bottom of the above staircase and look up, the below photo is the view you will see; a lovely spiral staircase.

Daniel Turnbull, original owner of Rosedown Plantation, built this amazing home for his wife Martha.  Over time they had three children.  Unfortunately, they lost their 3rd child to yellow fever.  Shortly after the terrible loss of their child, they decided to build a doctor's office on the property in order to have a doctor available to everyone working on the property.  Fevers and disease were commonplace at that time.

The Turnbull's honeymoon in Europe included visits to some of the great formal gardens of France and Italy.  Martha Turnbull was so inspired with what she saw,  she created her own 28 acre garden on the property.  She kept a diary telling detailed information about her garden.  She continued to work in her beautiful garden the entire 60 years she lived at Rosedown, and until her death.

Rosedown Plantation is a perfect example of the lifestyle of the antebellum South's wealthiest planters.

 Beautiful items in the home were imported from Philadelphia, New Orleans and Europe.

What a lovely dining room.

 Another very narrow little staircase beside the dining room.

Daniel Turnbull died in 1861, one year before the beginning of the Civil War.  After that, there was a steady downfall of Rosedown.  Martha died in 1869.  The home was passed down to relatives who did their best to keep Rosedown alive.

 Eventually, the home was bought by someone who was able to begin a complete restoration.

 A beautiful view from the upstairs bedroom window.

 What a sweet, peaceful nursery room.

A view from the upstairs balcony.  You can get an idea of how extensive the gardens were.

The community of St. Francisville realized how important Rosedown was to Louisiana's history and petitioned to have the State of Louisiana buy Rosedown.  Louisiana bought Rosedown Plantation in 2000 and opened it to the public.

 In the above photo is a view of the 660-foot long oak avenue leading up to Rosedown Plantation.

What a treat it was for us to walk back in history and see what life must have been like for the South's wealthiest planters and plantation owners shortly before the Civil War began.  Little did they know  how life would change for them.

We continue on our way up to Branson, Missouri sightseeing along the way.  There are a couple more beautiful sights we will see along the way that I will share with you at another time.....

Thanks for coming along with us today and joining us on these beautiful old plantations tours.

Mississippi River Road: Nottoway Plantation

After visiting the historic Houmas House Plantation in Darrow, Louisiana we continued on our way sightseeing along the River Road following the Mississippi River.  We again crossed the Mississippi on our way over to Nottoway Plantation.

We crossed the mighty Mississippi traveling back over toward Nottoway Plantation.

This bridge over the Mississippi reminded me of a huge Erector Set.

History tells us the old original plantations grew sugarcane as their primary crop.  We wanted to stop and get a close-up look at a sugarcane field.....This field stretched as far as the eye could see.  This area lends itself nicely to growing sugarcane because it grows very well in tropical and subtropical regions.

Sugarcane field.

Nottoway Plantation

31025 Louisiana Highway

White Castle, Louisiana

Our goal was to travel over to Nottoway Plantation for a tour of this historical old home.  It is a stunning historic plantation, which has had a multi-million-dollar renovation to restore this plantation to her days of glory.  After arriving, we discovered it is also a luxury resort, and is now a member of the Historic Hotels of America. 

This beautiful old 64 room, three-story mansion was constructed way back in 1859.  It is located along the Great River Road,  situated on the banks of the Mississippi River

Originally, Nottoway Plantation was home to John Randolph, an astute businessman, and his wife, Emily Jane Randolph along with their 11 children.  The plantation originally sat on 400 acres of high land,  and 620 acres of swamp land.

Shortly after we arrived, my sweet husband invited me to have lunch in the beautiful old Mansion Restaurant.  We were delighted to be seated in an all glass-walled dining room and able to enjoy the view of the vast grounds of the Plantation.  We were told we had plenty of time to enjoy lunch before the next tour of the Plantation was ready to begin. 

Beautiful flowers at our lunch table.

Our tour group met on the front porch of the mansion.

Our tour guide was dressed in a beautiful period-style dress.  She was very informed and shared lots of historical facts with all of us.  Below is a photo of the stately entrance hall of the mansion.

Below is a painting of the original owners of Nottoway Plantation, John and Emily Randolph and two of their 11 children.

The below photo shows our tour guide in the "Gone With the Wind" room.  These curtains are very similar to the curtains seen in that movie.

A pretty statue.

The White Ballroom in the below photos is one of the most impressive rooms of the home.  Five of the Randolph daughters were married in this room.  It is used today by the resort to host weddings and receptions.

Formal Dining Room.

A beautiful table setting in the dining room.

Lovely portrait of a family member.  How pretty she was!

The tour continues upstairs.

Lovely upstairs bedroom.

This piano chair in the below photo was used by the Randolph daughters and is original to the home.

Photo taken from the upstairs porch.  Yes, from this view,  we are able to see over the levee, and enjoy a view of the beautiful Mississippi River.

Our tour guide told us this beautiful old settee is valued at a whopping $80,000.

Time for tea in the upstairs setting room.

This beautiful vase looks very old.  I would love to know how it was damaged at the top.

Lovely old curtains.

Another upstairs bedroom.

A view out the bedroom window over-looking the porch.

We so enjoyed seeing everything in that very old home.  After finishing the house-tour we walked out to the front yard and on up to the levee in order to get a view of the Mississippi River.  I say we,  let me take that back....  My not too adventurous husband said, " he would sit on the bench and see me when I got back."

In the below photo is view from the top of the levee over looking the beautiful Mississippi River.

Below is a photo of a view of the beautiful home looking back from the top of the Mississippi levee.

The Randolph Family was affected by the Civil War and their beautiful home was eventually occupied by both the Union and Confederate troops during the war.  Nottoway was saved from  attack by a young Northern officer on board a gunboat traveling down the Mississippi.  He had been entertained at the plantation's garden parties and balls prior to the war.  When he recognized the home he called for a cease-fire, sparing the home from attack.

The below photo is an internet aerial view of the grounds of the Nottoway Plantation Resort.  There was so much more to see.  Time was limited and we were very satisfied to be able to have had lunch here and tour the beautiful Plantation home.

As we left the beautiful plantation and continued on our way down the River Road we found it interesting to see not only acres of sugarcane fields, but also many petrochemical plants in the area.  It was such a contrast between "then" and now.

Well, what a treat to walk along the halls, rooms, stairways, and look out the windows that others looked out of so many, many years ago.  I can envision the beautiful weddings that took place in the beautiful old White Room and feel the presence of history all around us.  What a way of life that must have been!  How nice that others have worked so hard to preserve all of that history for others to see.

We will continue on our Great River Road exploration.  We hope you come back to join us for our next tour.........

It is great fun to capture the beauty all around us with my camera and I am so glad you came along.

Have a wonderful week-end!