Bacas House - Edgard, LA - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

French Creole style home located in St. John the Baptist Parish. Appeared to be in good condition. South of the Evergreen Plantation complex. I could not find much information about the home, so here is a small historical note from the Register application, located here
The Bacas Home (c. 1840-1850) is locally significant in the area of architecture within St. John the Baptist Parish because it is a rare example of Creole building customs in a parish where that tradition once thrived. The case for the home's rarity is based on both the scarcity of Creole architecture in general and the added rarity of certain features found within the home. The area which became St. John the Baptist Parish was fairly well settled by the end of the eighteenth century. Although St. John was part of the so-called German Coast, its dominant cultural influence was French Creole. Thus, the prosperous sugar economy which developed there supported the construction of Creole rather than German homes. Therefore, we can presume that the parish once had a few hundred of these Creole residences, both large and small. However, records in the Division of Historic Preservation indicate that only about ten of these structures remain. The Bacas Home's bousillage walls, umbrella roof, exposed beam ceilings, wraparound mantels, French doors, and full length gallery with original cypress columns and wide decorative baseboards clearly mark it as one of the parish's ten survivors of the now scarce Creole building tradition. Because the majority of those Creole homes surviving in the parish are from the period before Anglo influence began to change the floorplan and appearance of the typical Creole house, the Bacas Home assumes added importance as a rare example of this transitional Anglo-Creole style. The house not only illustrates how the French Creole style persisted in the face of an onslaught of new Anglo-American house types, but also shows how Creole builders were influenced by those new styles. Features which reveal its transitional nature include 1) a symmetrical facade (earlier Creole builders were uninterested in symmetry), 2) an Anglo-influenced floorplan in which the salle resembles an entrance hall and is flanked by chambres larger than the salle itself, 3) a five pane Greek Revival transom above the central hall's exterior French door, 4) Greek Revival moldings from the 1840s surrounding interior paneled doors, and 5) three mantels which combine Greek Revival pilasters, Federal mantel shelves, and French decorative motifs such as lozenges. Furthermore, the architectural importance of these mantels is enhanced by the fact that their pilasters support the mantel shelves directly, without the benefit of intervening entablatures. This treatment appears to be a hinterland interpretation of the provincial adaptations of French Louis XVI mantels which early Creole craftsmen built in houses such as Madame John's Legacy. It is most likely the only such mantel treatment in St. John the Baptist Parish.

Street address: SR 18 E of Evergreen Plantation Edgard, LA USA 70049 County / Borough / Parish: St. John The Baptist Year listed: 14990 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1825-1849, 1850-1874 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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