LOCATIONS

Areas of Acadian and Cajun settlement in South and Southwest Louisiana (refer to sections on settlement patterns). 

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ACADIAN COTTAGE

Size

Houses range from small, one room versions to those moderate in size.  (Wealthy Cajuns who wanted larger homes built in the Creole style.)

Height

One-and-one-half stories high (lower floor and attic loft),(second view, third view, fourth view).

Floor Plan

Rectangular shaped cottages varied in size and number of rooms according to the prosperity of the owner.

Houses were usually deeper than they were wide.

Single Room + Loft Cottages:  One downstairs room served as family's living, dining and sleeping quarters, with sleeping loft for young males above.

Multiple Rooms + Loft Cottages:  Typically two rooms wide, accompanied by a front gallery and, perhaps, a rear cabinet/loggia range.  Sleeping loft for young males continued in use.

Houses lacked hallways and closets.

Gallery

Full front gallery (second view, third view, fourth view) recessed beneath the home's gable roof.           

Used as outdoor living space.

Some houses have false galleries (another view) i.e., extensions of the gallery roof similar to visors which protect the gallery from the sun and rain.

Stairs

Steep staircases (second view, third view, fourth view) are often located on the front galleries of houses west of the Atchafalaya River.  These lead to an attic loft.

Some resemble ladders and rise in one flight.

Others contain a single turn near the gallery floor.

The houses east of the Atchafalaya River have steep internal stairs located within a room or on the loggia.

Scholars speculate as to why Cajuns within these two areas treated the stairs differently but have reached no definite conclusion. 

Attic Loft 

Acadians and their Cajun descendants used the attics of their cottages as sleeping quarters for adolescent male family members. 

Windows often added to gable ends of the attic to provide for air circulation through the loft. 

Cabinet/Loggia Range

Cabinet/loggia range in place of rear gallery.

Daughters often slept in the cabinet behind the parents' bedroom.           

Foundation      

Consists of solid cypress blocks or drums or (later) brick piers which raise the house off the ground. 

Houses were raised to protect them from termite damage, rot, and periodic flooding. 

Frame  

Braced frame, in which vertical posts are supported by diagonal braces. 

Walls    

Made of bousillage 

Bousillage:  how it is made

Bousillage   finished wall 

Exposed interior bousillage walls often whitewashed. 

Bousillage often left exposed and then whitewashed on front exterior wall because gallery protected it from the weather. 

Side and rear exterior walls covered by overlapping weather boards applied horizontally.  These were seldom painted. 

Openings        

The number of openings and the quality of their coverings varied according to the size of the house and the prosperity of the owner. 

Openings were needed for cross-ventilation as well as for bringing light inside the house and providing places for entrance and exit. 

Doors: 

Early small Acadian cottages had two exterior doors (front and rear) usually made of heavy planks called battens. 

Later and larger Acadian cottages had two or more sets of French doors opening to the gallery. 

Windows: 

Early cottages had only a few unglazed windows covered by wooden shutters. 

As access to glass became more common, casement windows became popular.  

In the nineteenth century, many casement windows were replaced by sash windows. 

Roof 

Preferred steeply pitched gable end roof covering entire house and gallery.  

Chimney        

In single room houses, the chimney was located on an outside wall. 

In multiple room houses (with side-by-side or back-to-back room arrangements), the chimney was placed within the house so that it could be shared by back-to-back fireplaces.                                               

In early and more primitive houses, the chimney was constructed of mud, moss, and sticks.  Brick was used for chimneys once that material became available. 

Because of the replacement of mud and stick chimneys by brick, few of the former survive. 

Mantel  

Cottages either lacked mantels or had very plain mantels.  Some mantels wrapped around the chimney flue in the French Creole manner. 

Floor    

Cypress planks 

FURNISHINGS

Most Acadians and their Cajun descendants practiced a simple life style and held non-materialistic values.  As a result, most cottages had little or no ornamentation and were furnished sparingly.   

The typical early, small cottage might have one or two beds with mosquito netting, a wash stand, a table, a few rough chairs, and a small wooden chest to store clothing and valuables.   

More prosperous farmers or cattlemen might also have an armoire and/or dresser. 

EXAMPLES

Eastern Acadian Cottage, Ascension Parish

Eastern Acadian Cottage, Bayou Lafourche Region

Western Acadian Cottage, Cankton, St. Landry Parish

Hymel House

Unidentified Eastern Acadian Cottage

Eastern Acadian Cottage #1, Labidieville, Lafourche Parish

Eastern Acadian Cottage #2, Labidieville, Lafourche Parish

Richardson House

Smith House

Pre-restoration Western Acadian Cottage, Vermillionville, Lafayette Parish

Rear cabinet/loggia range, Defosse House, Avoyelles Parish

Interior stair, Unidentified Acadian Cottage 

NOTE:  All examples are courtesy of Dr. Jay Edwards, Fred B. Kniffen Cultural Resources Lab, Department of Geography & Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  In some cases complete building identification is unavailable.