Magnolia Mound, a TroysArt photo
If you expect a plantation house tour to conjure visions of Scarlett O’Hara descending a sweeping stair, try Nottoway or Madewood; but for the true culture and architecture enthusiast, Magnolia Mound is a gem.
Built in 1781, it is the oldest wooden structure in Baton Rouge. Sitting on a high ridge facing the Mississippi River and once the center of a 900-acre indigo and sugar farm, it is a rare example of the architectural vernacular adopted by the earliest Louisiana settlers.
The other day I toured Magnolia Mound for the second time—the first time being approximately 25 years ago. The house is restored in the manner that it was during proprietorship of the Duplantier family, circa 1815. Though none of the furniture is original to the house, the recreated interior appears much as it would have to visitors such as General Andrew Jackson or the Marquis de Lafayette.
The dining room, with its brightly patterned neo-classic wallpaper, wood carved mantel, and fringe trimmed punkha, is included in The Finest Rooms in America: 50 Influential Interiors from the 18th Century to the Present by Thomas Jayne. Along with spaces like the Tea Room at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, the dressing room at Vizcaya in Miami, and Frank Lloyd Wright’s living room at Hollyhock House in Los Angeles, the dining room finds impressive company. It even graces the cover.
I have always been fascinated by the story about Prince Achille Murat, his mother Queen of Naples Caroline Bonaparte Murat was Napoleon’s sister, who leased the house during his time in Louisiana—a story Harnett T. Kane elaborated upon in Plantation Parade. It was said that he liked to run around butt naked and eat bizarre foods like buzzards, owls, alligators, and snakes. To my chagrin, the docent never mentioned the eccentric royal.
After inquiring I learned that it was not mentioned because it was not true, “That was a myth.” Through extensive research it was determined that he stayed in the area and probably visited Magnolia Mound, but there is nothing to substantiate that he lived in the house. Darn!
Much is known, however, about the families who did inhabit Magnolia Mound as well as the Africans who were enslaved there. And that can all be learned on the tour.
Magnolia Mound is on Nicholson Road about a mile from Tiger Stadium. It is owned and operated by Baton Rouge Recreation & Parks while the Friends of Magnolia Mound Plantation own the furnishings and artifacts.