Carolyn and Harrison:
Houmas House Engagement Portrait
Houmas House is a sprawling 38 acre estate located between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, in the town of Darrow, LA. With its elegant mansion, beautiful gardens, and large oak trees, a Houmas House engagement portrait is a great choice for a couple wanting the wide variety of photography backdrops this kind of location provides.
There is, of course, a fee for portrait sessions, but the use of the grounds is provided free of charge for couples who are having a Houmas House wedding, as is the case with Carolyn and Harrison. Their wedding will take place in Fall of this year, which I am very much looking forward to.
About Houmas House
The historical marker plaque on the site reads:
Houmas House – Houmas Indian land grant sold to Conway and Latil in 1774. Sold to Revolutionary War hero Wade Hampton in 1811. Greek revival mansion built by John Smith Preston in 1840. Restored by Dr. George Crozat in 1940.
Of course, as you might imagine for a property that is over 250 years old, there’s a lot more history than that brief summary. The original owners built a modest house on the land. A subsequent owner began building the mansion in the early 1800s, with the construction taking place in stages over a number of years. A later owner in the late 1800s incorporated the mansion with the smaller original house at its rear. That smaller house can be see in the background of the photo of the couple walking through the garden along the brick path.
The plantation continued to produce massive amounts of sugar until the early 1900s. A variety of factors, including portions of the land being sold off piece by piece, the flood of 1927, and the Great Depression, saw the mansion fall into disuse and disrepair. In 1940, a New Orleans physician purchased the property, and renovated it, simplifying the appearance in the process.
A New Era
In 2003, a New Orleans real estate developer purchased the property at auction. He went about the task of restoring the mansion to its former glory, and creating a world-class garden. Although Houmas House serves as the owner’s residence, it’s still open for daily tours. Adjacent to the estate is the Great River Road Museum. There, visitors can learn all about what life on the Mississippi River was like back then.
For weddings, there are several different options for an outdoor ceremony. The most popular and iconic is a ceremony among the allée of oak trees with the mansion in the background. There are multiple indoor reception spaces to choose from as well, depending on the size of the event.
