Parlange Plantation House

Parlange Plantation House, also known in French as Plantation Parlange, is a historic plantation residence in Pointe Coupée Parish, Louisiana, near the junction of Louisiana Highway 1 and Louisiana Highway 78. It is recognized as an important surviving example of the raised French Colonial plantation house tradition associated with the river country of southern Louisiana. The property is not a conventional consumer brand or commercial company; its identity derives from the historic house, the Parlange family name, the surrounding agricultural estate, and its continuing role as a cultural and architectural landmark. The plantation traces its origins to a French land grant received by Vincent de Ternant, identified in historical accounts as the Marquis of Dansville-sur-Meuse. De Ternant developed an estate of approximately 10,000 acres facing False River. His son, Claude de Ternant, later inherited the property and changed its principal cash crops from indigo to sugarcane and cotton. After Claude's death, his widow Virginie remarried Colonel Charles Parlange, another Frenchman, and the property subsequently became known as Parlange Plantation. The date of the present house is disputed. Oral tradition places both the establishment of the plantation and construction of the residence around 1750. Architectural and scholarly interpretations, however, accept the earlier date for the plantation's establishment while placing construction of the existing house more conservatively in the period from approximately 1830 to 1840. The distinction is significant because the surviving structure reflects the mature form of the raised Louisiana plantation cottage rather than necessarily being the original eighteenth-century residence. The house is a two-story raised cottage. Its principal living level stands above a brick basement supported by brick pillars, creating the elevated veranda characteristic of the region's semi-tropical river-country architecture. Historical accounts state that enslaved people on the plantation manufactured the bricks used in the raised basement. The walls were finished with bousillage, a regional mixture traditionally made from mud, sand, Spanish moss, and animal hair, and the structure uses closely fitted bald-cypress planks for its walls and ceilings. Seven service rooms are arranged across the ground and upper floors in a double-line plan. An octagonal pigeonnier remains near the house, while a formal garden that once surrounded the residence was destroyed during the American Civil War and was not reconstructed. The property also has an important Civil War association. The plantation served at different times as headquarters for Union General Nathaniel Banks and Confederate General Richard Taylor. After the war, Charles Parlange, the son of Colonel and Virginie Parlange, pursued a prominent Louisiana and federal legal and political career, including service as a state senator, United States district attorney, lieutenant governor, federal judge, and justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. Following Virginie Parlange's death in 1887, Charles and his wife moved to New Orleans, and the plantation was leased to tenants for roughly two decades. Their son Walter later returned to Pointe Coupée Parish and resumed direct agricultural management. The estate remains partly agricultural. Approximately 1,500 acres are retained and continue to be used for cattle and sugarcane production. The house remains largely intact and is associated with the descendants of its original owners. It is occasionally available for private tours by appointment, rather than operating as a regularly open mass-market attraction. Its cultural profile has also extended into literature: the history of Virginie de Ternant and Parlange Plantation helped inspire the Bagatelle Plantation and the character Virginie Tregan in Maurice Denuzière's novel Louisiane. The property therefore combines architectural preservation, family stewardship, agricultural continuity, and historical interpretation.

Parlange Plantation House developed from a French land grant awarded to Vincent de Ternant, the Marquis of Dansville-sur-Meuse. The original estate covered roughly 10,000 acres along False River in what is now Pointe Coupée Parish. Under de Ternant's son, Claude, the plantation's agricultural emphasis shifted from indigo to sugarcane and cotton, reflecting the changing commercial agriculture of colonial and antebellum Louisiana. After Claude de Ternant died, his widow Virginie remarried Colonel Charles Parlange. The second marriage gave the plantation the Parlange name by which it is now generally known. Virginie's family connections also linked the property to the wider social history of nineteenth-century France and Louisiana; through her first marriage, she was the maternal grandmother of Virginie Amélie Avegno Gautreau, later associated with John Singer Sargent's portrait Madame X. The chronology of the present plantation house is debated. Oral tradition attributes both the plantation's founding and the house's construction to approximately 1750. Architectural scholarship has generally accepted an eighteenth-century date for the establishment of the plantation but has found stronger evidence that the surviving house was built between about 1830 and 1840. The building is a raised, two-story French Colonial cottage adapted to Louisiana's hot, humid river environment. Its upper living level rests on a brick basement and pillars, and its construction incorporates bald cypress, plastered bousillage, and a broad veranda. The brickwork in the raised basement was made by enslaved workers, an essential part of the site's material and labor history. The residence and plantation were drawn into the American Civil War. The house served at different points as a headquarters for Union General Nathaniel Banks and Confederate General Richard Taylor. The conflict also destroyed the formal garden around the home, which was never restored. The survival of the house, its pigeonnier, and much of its architectural fabric gives the site particular value as a record of plantation-era Louisiana building practices. Colonel and Virginie Parlange's son, Charles Parlange, survived the war and became a significant Louisiana public figure. His career included positions as state senator, United States district attorney, lieutenant governor, federal judge, and justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. After Virginie died in 1887, Charles and his wife relocated to New Orleans. They leased the plantation to tenants for approximately twenty years, after which their son Walter returned to Pointe Coupée Parish and managed the property as a plantation farmer. The estate has contracted from its historic extent but remains an active agricultural property. About 1,500 acres are still associated with the plantation and are used for cattle and sugarcane. Descendants of the original owners continue to own and operate the property. The house is largely intact and may be visited privately by appointment, although it is not presented as a conventional continuously staffed tourist attraction. Parlange's historical reputation has also influenced literature. Maurice Denuzière drew on the plantation's history and the story of Virginie de Ternant when creating the fictional Bagatelle Plantation and heroine Virginie Tregan for his novel Louisiane. This literary association complements the site's architectural and historical significance while not changing its primary identity as a privately held Louisiana plantation house and agricultural estate.

• 1887

  Death of Virginie Parlange

  [1]Parlange Plantation Houseen.wikipedia.org

  After Virginie Parlange died, Charles Parlange and his wife moved to New Orleans, and the plantation entered a period of tenant operation.

• 1835

  Probable construction period of the surviving house

  [1]Parlange Plantation Houseen.wikipedia.org

  Scholarly architectural interpretations place construction of the present house broadly between 1830 and 1840, despite oral tradition assigning it an earlier date.

• French land grant establishes the plantation estate

  [1]Parlange Plantation Houseen.wikipedia.org

  Vincent de Ternant received a French land grant and developed an estate of approximately 10,000 acres facing False River.

• Agricultural production shifts to sugarcane and cotton

  [1]Parlange Plantation Houseen.wikipedia.org

  After Claude de Ternant inherited the property, the plantation changed its principal cash crops from indigo to sugarcane and cotton.

• Civil War military headquarters

  [1]Parlange Plantation Houseen.wikipedia.org

  During the Civil War, the plantation house served at different times as headquarters for Union General Nathaniel Banks and Confederate General Richard Taylor.

• Return to direct family agricultural management

  [1]Parlange Plantation Houseen.wikipedia.org

  Following approximately two decades of leasing, Walter Parlange returned to Pointe Coupée Parish and resumed life as a plantation farmer.

• Continuing agricultural and heritage use

  [1]Parlange Plantation Houseen.wikipedia.org

  The property retains approximately 1,500 acres used for cattle and sugarcane, while the largely intact house remains under descendant ownership and is occasionally available for private tours.

A privately maintained Louisiana French Colonial heritage property whose identity is grounded in architectural preservation, plantation history, family continuity, and ongoing agricultural use.

1. 1Parlange Plantation Houseen.wikipedia.org