Smithfield Plantation House - Port Allen, LA - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

Very fine private home. There is not alot of traffic along River Road in this area, so it was pretty easy to locate and enjoy the home. Everything looked perfect, the grounds and home appeared to be in excellent condition.
Could not find any information on the home, so a brief history from the Register application here

The Smithfield Plantation House is locally significant in the area of architecture because it is a landmark within the parish of West Baton Rouge. This landmark status is based upon the home's pretentious Eastlake ornamentation, its distinctive massing, its elaborate interior staircase, and its size. A partially complete survey combined with extensive staff knowledge reveals that West Baton Rouge Parish has very few buildings reflecting the influence of styles popular during the years between the end of the Civil War and the beginning of the twentieth century. In fact, only a small minority of buildings could be considered to be styled at all, regardless of the period. The surviving 50+ year old buildings in this rural parish consist mainly of utilitarian plantation buildings and small, very plain galleried houses in the Creole cottage form. Very few major plantation houses survive. The parish's small communities are characterized largely by vernacular commercial buildings featuring no particular style, plain cottages and low-key bungalows. It is against this background that Smithfield's landmark status emerges. Of the 211 structures surveyed to date in West Baton Rouge Parish, only ten reflect the influence of the Eastlake style. Were the survey to be complete, this number would not be dramatically higher (based on staff knowledge and the fact that the survey has already covered high probability areas). Of the ten Eastlake influenced buildings covered in the survey, most are low key examples in which perhaps a series of columns or brackets are applied to otherwise small, simple, one story homes. Staff knowledge reveals that this overall lack of quality is indicative of the parish as a whole. There are only two known buildings which would be considered landmark examples of the style -- Smithfield and Poplar Grove (NR). Both are fully articulated, combining Eastlake columns and brackets with turned balusters and spindle screens outlining their galleries. Smithfield is the only example to display Eastlake features on both the upper and lower portions of a double gallery. Thus, it is one of the parish's most prominent examples of the Eastlake style.

Street address: 12445 N. River Rd. Port Allen, LA USA 70767 County / Borough / Parish: West Baton Rouge Year listed: 1995 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1875-1899, 1900-1924 Historic function: Domestic. Sub - Single Dwelling Current function: Domestic. Sub - Single Dwelling Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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