Oaklawn Plantation | |
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Location | Natchitoches, Louisiana |
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Coordinates | 31°41′41″N93°01′53″W / 31.69473°N 93.03151°W |
Area | 4 acres (1.6 ha) |
Built | 1830 |
Architectural style | French Colonial |
NRHP reference No. | 79001072 [1] |
Added to NRHP | March 28, 1979 |
The Oaklawn Plantation is a historic cotton plantation house near Natchez, Louisiana. It is located on Louisiana Highway 494 southeast of Natchitoches in Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana. [2] [3] It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since March 28, 1979. [4]
The mansion was built in 1830 for Narcisse Prudhomme, who held as many as 104 enslaved people on the property. [4] After his death in 1859, the plantation was inherited by his son, Achille Prudhomme. [4] Although the plantation survived the Civil War of 1861–1865 intact, [4] after Achille's death, the land was divided into parcels by his heirs and sold off. [4] In 1916, Charles Edgar Cloutier, the husband of Adeline Prudhomme, a great-grandniece of Narcisse Prudhomme, purchased the property. [4]
It is now owned by filmwriter Robert Harling, author of the play, later a film, Steel Magnolias (dir. Herbert Ross, 1989). [4] [5]
The house has three stories, fourteen chimneys and a large gallery. [5] It is an example of French creole architecture. [4]