New Orleans: Houmas House Plantation Tour

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New Orleans: Houmas House Plantation Tour

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Drive just under 1 hour to the heart of plantation country and visit the Crown Jewel of Louisiana’s River Road. Guides in period dress lead you through the fully restored mansion, educating you about life on this plantation in the 1800s.

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Highlights

Experience a hands-on mansion tour with full access to each room
Enjoy expansive gardens open for self-paced tours
Capture the grand architecture and colorful gardens with your camera

Description

Visiting the Houmas House Estate is more than just a house tour. It's a fully immersive experience educating guests on the architecture, the culture, and the agriculture of this Louisiana Plantation and how the Mississippi River shaped the southern United States. Here you will get a glimpse into the life on a sugarcane plantation in the 1800s. Located on the lower Mississippi River, just an hour drive from New Orleans, the mansion has been beautifully restored to the antebellum era, reflecting the wealth this sugarcane farm boasted in the 1880s. A guided mansion tour, led by costumed guides, walks you through the 250-year history, showing the architectural evolution of this manor house and how it became a grand estate. Rare and period artwork and artifacts are displayed and used to explain plantation life. You can also take a self-guided tour of the expansive gardens, which is an adventure in itself. Water features, secret gardens, sculptures, and magnificent Live Oak trees are a photographer's dream. Plenty of sitting nooks and shaded area are available to rest and enjoy the scenery. For movie lovers, Houmas House was the location for the 1964 psychological thriller “Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte” starring Betty Davis and Olivia de Havilland. It was deemed the scariest movie of its time and was also famous for the fact that Joan Crawford was originally cast opposite Betty Davis, but left the movie, much to the delight of her costar. Also, most recently, it was the setting for a few scenes in the 2019 award-winning movie “The Green Book”. Those are just a few of the many movies and TV shows filmed at Houmas House. For those interested in ghosts, Houmas House and Gardens is the site of two very serious, inexplicable events: one precipitated by nature, the other by the very unnatural.

Includes

1-hour guided mansion tour Full access to the 38 acres of gardens Self-guided tour of garden Local taxes

Important Information

Guests are encouraged to allow at least 3 hours to fully experience the property
Photography is allowed throughout the Plantation House and Grounds
The restaurant on site offers dining all day until 8:00 PM
A lunch buffet is available at an added cost
Lunch and dinner are available 7 days a week and walk-ins are welcome
Visitors must secure their own transportation
The Plantation grounds allow dogs on a leash. However, if other guests on the tour are not comfortable with the dog, you will be asked to wait for the next tour
Please note that all main plantations are about a 1 hour drive from New Orleans