Have I got an amazing before and after for you today! This house was showcased during the annual Audubon Pilgrimage. As you can see from the before picture, it was in pretty bad shape. The current owners obtained the home which was located several parishes over and had the house moved! Yes, MOVED! It was cut into three separate sections and moved to its current location. Since I have SO many pictures and it was SO hard to pick which to use, I am going to break this down into two parts. In this part, I'll show you the outside.
First, let me tell you a little bit of the history of the house. It was built in the mid 1800's near Washington, Louisiana, by Major Amos Webb for his son, Dr. Lewis Archibald Webb. Dr. Webb was a graduate from the University of Virginia who returned to Louisiana to manage his father's 4,000 acre sugarcane plantation.
Woodland is a grand Greek Revival house. It has 14-foot ceilings, 12-foot-deep front and rear galleries, four chimneys, handmade stair rails and moldings, double parlors and an open central carriageway passing completely through the lower story, one of the last plantation homes to boast of such a feature. The current owner was taking a shortcut through some back roads and spotted the deteriortating house in a cornfield. It had been vacant for quite a long time.
One thing that was not able to be used was the tall columns on the front of the house. Ok, so what to do with them. Hey, let's just throw them in the yard and plant some flowers around! Don't they look great?
There is a long driveway that comes up to the back of the house. As you pass the garage, you enter a parking area. Adjacent to the parking area is the little garden area.
I didn't get any pictures of the front first level porch but it was very similiar to the back porch which I'll show you in a minute. Let's go on up to the second floor porch that faces the front. This is the place where you get the best views. The house sets on top of a hill overlooking beautiful green pastures. In the distance, the light of the sun dances on the shimmering water of a lake. About a dozen of the most beautiful horses are grazing. Am I saying beautiful too much? Well, IT IS!
I think that one horse wants to take a swim! Anyway, back to the house... the views are spectacular! There are rockers and a swing with big comfy pillows! The boston ferns are big and stir gently in the breeze.
The second floor back porch is basically the same as the front except you are looking at a wooded area instead of rolling pastures. The next pic can be seen from this porch.
The first floor back porch is similar to the front porch except it's a little more casual. It has a little more rustic look to it with the brick floor and unpainted wood furniture.
I hope you enjoyed this tour of Woodland. I so enjoyed my visit there and was lucky enough to meet the sweet lady who owns this home. She was a very gracious host. I'll be posting Part 2 on Monday which will feature the interior of the home. Please check out the other sites I'm linking to:
Some historical information obtained from the Feliciana Trader.
