Lemee House

Natchitoches was established in 1714 as a French outpost on the Red River, the oldest permanent European settlement within the borders of the Louisiana Purchase. French creoles acquired lands that were developed in the antebellum years as cotton plantations. The Lemee House, built around 1830, demonstrates what that early world looked like at the scale of a single household. The house is a French Creole raised cottage with galleries on two sides — Caribbean French architecture adapted to northwest Louisiana. Inside are period furnishings and exhibits on Creole domestic life in antebellum Natchitoches. The arrangement shows how households worked before the war. The Lemee House is one of several surviving Creole cottages in the Historic District; the Roque House is nearby for comparison. Check with the Natchitoches Historic Foundation for tour availability.