Rosedown Plantation State Historic Site is an historic home and former

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

located in St. Francisville,

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Commissioned in 1835 by owners Daniel and Martha Turnbull and built by enslaved people under their control, Rosedown is one of the most documented and intact

plantation complexes in the Southern United States Plantation complexes were common on agricultural plantations in the Southern United States from the 17th into the 20th century. The complex included everything from the main residence down to the Pen (enclosure), pens for livestock. Until the ...

. It is known for its extensive formal gardens surrounding the house.

House and grounds

Architecture

Sited on the highest point of the plantation at the edge of a bluff on Alexander Creek, Daniel Turnbull contracted with carpenter Wendell Wright to construct a house in the transitional Federal-

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

– style designed by an unknown architect. Built of cypress and cedar milled primarily onsite, the westward facing five bay, two-story house features a two-story gallery with smooth

Doric columns The Doric order is one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of t ...

and a bulbous vase like

balustrade A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

, matching fluted

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s and a Doric

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

. At the center of the house, both upstairs and down, is a Federal-style elliptical arch doorway with six horizontal panels, distinguished by boldly formed fluting, a layered entablature, a keystone, and leaded patterns superimposed on the glass. The fanlight features a series of loops in a radial design, while the side lights feature ovals and roundels. T.S. Williams added one-story brick side wings to the north and south of the building in 1845, with Greek-style end porticoes. The south elevation has a three-column Doric portico spanning its width, while the north wing, though larger of the two, has only a two-column portico. The columns at the end of both wings are fluted while the pilasters are smooth, and the Doric entablature and eave treatment match the main block. Each wing is topped by a balustrade with balusters similar in shape to those on the gallery, while the main block's side elevations feature a wooden fan design in the gable peaks. The eastern-facing rear elevation has a small room on each side of a porch set under a shed roof.

Interiors

Rosedown's floorplan is in the French or Early Louisiana design in contrast to the American scheme of a hall through the center of the house. The plan has a main entrance hall, decorated with block-printed wallpaper by

Joseph Dufour et Cie Joseph Dufour et Cie, founded in 1797 by Joseph and Pierre Dufour, was a French painted wallpaper and fabrics manufacturer () located in Mâcon, France. General In 1806, in collaboration with the artist Jean-Gabriel Charvet, Dufour et Cie produce ...

of Paris, with an elliptical mahogany staircase to the second floor, a parlor to the right, music room to the left, and an office, butler's pantry and dining room in the rear that features a

punkah A punkah, also pankha (, Hindi: , ), is a type of fan used since the early 6th century BC. The word ''pankha'' originated from ''pankh'', the wings of a bird which produce a current of air when flapped. History In its original sense in the In ...

. Upstairs are the family bedrooms. The north wing houses a guest bedroom with an en-suite bathroom that features an early form of a shower supplied with water from a cistern on the roof. The bedroom was built to house a suite of furniture that was originally to have been installed in the

Lincoln Bedroom The Lincoln Bedroom is a bedroom which is part of a guest suite in the southeast corner of the second floor of the White House in Washington, D.C. The Lincoln Sitting Room makes up the other part of the suite. The room is named for President Abra ...

at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

for the presidency of

Henry Clay Henry Clay (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the United States Senate, U.S. Senate and United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives. He was the seventh Spea ...

. Clay lost the election in 1844, and Daniel Turnbull, a Clay supporter, purchased the 13-foot-tall

rosewood Rosewood is any of a number of richly hued hardwoods, often brownish with darker veining, but found in other colours. It is hard, tough, strong, and dense. True rosewoods come from trees of the genus '' Dalbergia'', but other woods are often ca ...

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

bed. The bed was found in the room for over 150 years until the last private owner of Rosedown sold it to the

Dallas Museum of Art The Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) is an art museum located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas, along Woodall Rodgers Freeway between St. Paul and Harwood. In the 1970s, the museum moved from its previous location in Fair Park to the A ...

for $450,000. The south wing houses a library that Turnbull utilized as an office for his oversight of the plantation. The home was furnished with imported goods from Philadelphia, New Orleans, and Europe. Most of the furnishings remained with the house during the years after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, and a large percentage of original pieces are still displayed at Rosedown, including a tapestry stitched by

Martha Washington Martha Dandridge Custis Washington (June 2, 1731 Old Style, O.S. – May 22, 1802) was the wife of George Washington, who was the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, she served as the ...

Grounds

The grounds of Rosedown are currently composed of with the focal point being the of ornamental gardens that were inspired by the great formal gardens of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

that were visited by the Turnbulls on their European Grand Tour. One of the few privately maintained formal gardens in the United States, they were overseen by amateur

horticulturalist Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

Martha Turnbull, who kept a detailed garden diary during her 60-year tenure at Rosedown. The gardens began before the house's construction, and in 1836, there are records showing the purchase of camellias, azaleas, and other plants from William Prince & Sons in New York. Rosedown Plantation 2008

The landscaped gardens are accessed through a Greek-Revival wooden gate at the head of a oak

allée In landscaping, an avenue (from the French), alameda (from the Portuguese and Spanish), or allée (from the French), is a straight path or road with a line of trees or large shrubs running along each side, which is used, as its Latin source ' ...

or tree avenue that terminates at a large oval forecourt with a diamond yaupon holly ''

parterre A ''parterre'' is a part of a formal garden constructed on a level substrate, consisting of symmetrical patterns, made up by plant beds, plats, low hedges or coloured gravels, which are separated and connected by paths. Typically it was the ...

'' flanked by two water oaks in front of the house. The unique length of the allée reflected a 19th-century land survey technique when the property was measured with 66-foot long chains, meaning that the allée is ten chains long. Eight white marble Italian sculptures on brick pedestals accent the allée. However, these are not original to the landscape. The previous owner removed the twelve statues that the Turnbulls purchased in Italy in 1851, and the eight now found are close approximations of the originals. Flanking the allée are both

Baroque gardens The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (in ...

with formal geometrical landscaping, as well as English style gardens with meandering paths that include now rare varieties of plants. The sunniest and most open area of the gardens is what is referred to as the Flower Garden, located to the southwest of the house. Planted with several varieties of roses, the layout combines rectangular forms with irregular, curved paths and ornamented with one of three latticed

gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or Gun turret, turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden, or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. In British English, the word is also used for a tent-like can ...

s with onion-domed roofs found on the property. Nearby is an underground hothouse (heated greenhouse) and brick tool shed that had at one time been connected to a

greenhouse A greenhouse is a structure that is designed to regulate the temperature and humidity of the environment inside. There are different types of greenhouses, but they all have large areas covered with transparent materials that let sunlight pass an ...

which is no longer extant. The other two gazebos center the extensive gardens on each side of the allée and are placed directly opposite each other to imply a cross-axis. The gardens were restored in 1956 by landscape architect Ralph Ellis Gunn, whose sensitive renovations included adding a reservoir to the southeast of the house and fountains to complement the existing gardens. Near the main house are several ancillary buildings, including a Greek temple-style doctor's office, privy, milk-house, wood shed, and barn. Originally Rosedown had two wings that attached to the rear of the house. The north wing housed the kitchen that was moved up and attached to the house at an unknown date, while the south wing was added in 1859 to accommodate the Turnbulls once they turned the house over to their daughter Sarah and her family. During the restoration in 1956, the kitchen wing was removed and reconstructed near the house, while the south wing, now known as "Miss Nina's wing", was moved a few yards to the southeast to overlook the reservoir.

History

19th-century

When Rosedown was constructed, society in and around St. Francisville was dominated by European, primarily British, settlers who became

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

planters on an enormous scale. Most of the 19th-century cotton barons in the area had requested and received their lands through the

Spanish government The government of Spain () is the central government which leads the executive branch and the General State Administration of the Kingdom of Spain. The Government consists of the Prime Minister and the Ministers; the prime minister has the o ...

, the titles to which remained valid after the establishment of the United States government. The parents of Martha Barrow Turnbull, who owned the land that later became Rosedown, achieved high social status in West Feliciana through their immense cotton operations, and Daniel Turnbull himself was known before the

as one of the wealthiest men in the nation. Rosedown, named for a

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

that the Turnbulls saw on their

honeymoon A honeymoon is a vacation taken by newlyweds after their wedding to celebrate their marriage. Today, honeymoons are often celebrated in destinations considered exotic or romantic. In a similar context, it may also refer to the phase in a couple ...

, was not assembled via Spanish

land grant A land grant is a gift of real estate—land or its use privileges—made by a government or other authority as an incentive, means of enabling works, or as a reward for services to an individual, especially in return for military service. Grants ...

s but in a group of seven purchases made by Daniel Turnbull from the 1820s through the 1840s. At its largest, Rosedown comprised approximately 3,455 acres, mostly planted in cotton. Daniel and Martha began construction on the main house at Rosedown in November 1834, completing it six months later in May 1835, for a total cost of $13,109.20. The labor of

enslaved people Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

to construct and upkeep the plantation accrued immense wealth to Daniel Turnbull. During peak years of cotton production, Daniel enslaved 444 people, with around 250 working just at Rosedown. The couple had three children, William, Sarah, and James Daniel. James Daniel died of yellow fever in 1843 at 7. William married Caroline Butler and had two children, William and Daniel. In 1856, William drowned in a boating accident while crossing "Old River" at 27. That left their daughter Sarah, who had married James Pirrie Bowman from nearby

Oakley Plantation Audubon State Historic Site is a state park property in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana, between the towns of St. Francisville and Jackson. It is the location where noted ornithologist and artist John James Audubon spent the summer of 1821. Vi ...

, to inherit the plantation. The Bowmans moved into Rosedown and had ten children, eight girls, and two boys. Martha and Daniel Turnbull retired to a wing in the back of the house in 1859 to accommodate Bowman's growing family. Daniel died in 1861, the same year Louisiana joined the Confederacy and declared war against the United States. The war ravaged Rosedown and two other Turnbull plantations. Martha Turnbull managed Rosedown after the war. No longer able to operate on the free labor of enslaved people, the family relied on the labor of 250

sharecropper Sharecropping is a legal arrangement in which a landowner allows a tenant (sharecropper) to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping is not to be conflated with tenant farming, providing the tenant a ...

20th-century

Martha Turnbull died in September 1896, leaving Sarah in sole possession of Rosedown. After Sarah died in 1914, Sarah's four unmarried daughters, Corrie, Isabel, Sarah, and Nina, took over the plantation. In the 1920s, they opened the house to tourists interested in the remnants of the prosperous cotton culture. The sisters sacrificed to hold Rosedown, and when Nina, the last surviving sister, died in 1955, no bills or mortgages were outstanding on the property; they still had 3,000 acres of land and the house with all its furnishings. The family was

Episcopalian Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...

and are interred at the Grace Church Cemetery in St. Francisville. After Nina's death, Rosedown passed to her nieces and nephews, who sold the plantation in 1956, to oil heiress Catherine Fondren Underwood, an enthusiastic amateur horticulturalist, and her husband, Milton Underwood. The Underwoods began an eight-year, $10-million restoration to restore the house and formal gardens to their former grandeur while the plantation functioned as a working

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

farm. The house was opened to the public in 1964.

21st-century

Rosedown Plantation was purchased in 2000 by the Louisiana Office of State Parks as a state historic site to illustrate plantation life in the 1800s. The plantation was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 2005.

Cultural references

In '' South and West: From a Notebook'',

Joan Didion Joan Didion (; December 5, 1934 – December 23, 2021) was an American writer and journalist. She is considered one of the pioneers of New Journalism, along with Gay Talese, Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, Hunter S. Thompson, and Tom Wolfe. Didio ...

writes that Ben Toledano's wife suggested she visit the Rosedown Plantation as well as the Asphodel Plantation, the

and Stanton Hall to better understand the

culture of the Southern United States The culture of the Southern United States, Southern culture, or Southern heritage, is a subculture of the United States. From its many cultural influences, Southern United States, the South developed its own unique customs, Southern American En ...

References

External links

Rosedown Plantation State Historic Site
- official site.

- National Park Service travel itinerary {{Authority control National Historic Landmarks in Louisiana Houses completed in 1835 Louisiana State Historic Sites Historic house museums in Louisiana Plantation houses in Louisiana Houses in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana Protected areas of West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana Federal architecture in Louisiana Greek Revival houses in Louisiana Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana National Register of Historic Places in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana Cotton plantations in Louisiana 1835 establishments in Louisiana