Houmas House

The land belonged to the Houma people until 1774. The name remained after they were gone. By 1862, Irish-born John Burnside ran the largest sugar operation in the United States from this property. Seven hundred and fifty enslaved people worked twelve thousand acres and produced five million pounds of sugar a year. When Union General Butler arrived to commandeer the house, Burnside claimed British citizenship. Butler withdrew. Two buildings stand in the same courtyard. The French Colonial cottage dates to 1775. The Greek Revival mansion came later. The older structure sits directly behind the newer one — a physical record of how wealth and architectural ambition changed hands along the Mississippi. Houmas House now operates as a hotel and event venue with a restaurant and gardens. You can tour the buildings, eat there, or stay overnight. It's in Darrow, on River Road, where the Great River Road follows the Mississippi through Louisiana.