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Creoles like
Armand Duplantier were status-conscious, permissive, and fun-loving.
Magnolia Mound, Duplantier’s country home, reflected his
status as a wealthy planter. Planting was one of few professions
which Creoles considered appropriate for a gentleman. (Image
courtesy of Magnolia Mound Plantation, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.) |
FRENCH CREOLE
HERITAGE
Creole architecture is one
of the special features which make Louisiana unique. The meaning
of the word "Creole" has changed over time. Once
it meant offspring of French aristocrats born in the New World.
However, Louisianians have broadened the definition to include
individuals of European descent, particularly descendants
of the French and Spanish settlers. There are also Creoles
of Color—Louisianians of mixed (mainly) French, African,
Spanish, and Native American heritage. This combination of
cultures is all the richer for the mix. Creole architecture
reflects the concept of mixture which defines the Creoles
themselves.
Of America's six colonial
building traditions, Creole architecture is the only one actually
to have evolved in America. The Swedes, Dutch, Flemish, Spanish,
and British all imported building types from the mother country
instead of developing their own native colonial styles.
Four
types of Creole buildings emerged:
the
Creole cottage, a galleried one-story house lacking hallways
and featuring a cabinet/loggia range in place of
a rear gallery,
the raised Creole plantation
house, a two-story dwelling which represents the apex of
Louisiana’s Creole architecture,
the Creole townhouse. These
were built in more populated areas like Natchitoches and
New Orleans, and
the pigeonnier, a
small tower-like outbuilding with upper-floor nesting boxes
for birds.
Many of these buildings were
composed of a special material known as bousillage
(a mixture of Spanish moss, mud and sometimes animal hair
which was placed between wooden timbers to create the walls
of Creole buildings).
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