When I was little girl growing up in south Louisiana, my mother would take me on tours of the beautiful old plantation houses in the countryside outside Lafayette. It was the beginning of a lifelong fascination with architecture in general, and Southern vernacular architecture in particular. So when I saw this 200-year-old Creole manor in the pages of Garden & Gun, it brought me right back to my roots.
The home's owner, Patrick Dunne, loves old things. When he's not managing Lucullus, his New Orleans antique shop, he's relaxing at home with the windows open. Although the house has central air conditioning, he prefers to sleep in the fresh air, under a mosquito net, the way the home's original owners would have 200 years ago. He enjoys stirring his coffee (ground by hand!) with silver spoons that belonged to his grandmother. Outside, vetiver and citronella plants blooming along the drive discourage mosquitoes the old-fashioned way.
The house is typical of Creole plantations in the old South, with a lofted main floor, gabled roofline and deep porches on both sides. Like other Creole plantations, the house has no halls; rooms flow seamlessly into one another with a sort of casual graciousness that feels very modern. For Patrick, being connected to the past is an essential part of Southern culture. “History is both a burden and a glory for Southerners," he says. "Our affection for the past and our complex relationship to it survive in our living habits.”
Being surrounded by old things is also a way for him to feel connected to the people he loves. "I will tell you that when I stir my coffee with one of my grandmother’s silver spoons, it does make me happy. When I sit in a chair that my father gave me that came out of our house, it does make me happy. It’s a Southern thing. That attachment threads us through to our roots.”
Read More: A House on the Bayou on Garden & Gun
(Images: Brie Williams/Garden & Gun)
10 No-Fail Decor Tricks & Tips for Small Spaces
Beth's Romantic & Retro Residence
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Shaw's Original Fir...
How to Bake a Potato: Three Easy Methods
How To Cook Tender, Chewy Wheat Berries on the Stovetop
All this waxing poetic about roots and tradition seems a little creepy for a white guy living on a former planation. I'm getting a lot of the "affection for our past" part. "Complex relationship" not so much.
I definitely feel what you're saying, greyny. It's very hard to think about what the original owners did 200 years ago knowing that most likely slaves were a part of that history.
Love the house, esp. the brick floors and the green kitchen cabinets. But I'm horrified there's a publication/website called "Garden & Gun"...I get the affinity for roots as a Southerner...it is complex--there are parts of Southern heritage of which we are proud, but obviously there's the legacy of slavery, having lost the Civil War, Jim Crow, etc. and that's part of our Southern heritage also.
Totally agree, greyny and ali07. There's no question this house is beautiful, as are a lot of old plantation houses, but certain things have to be acknowledged.
GARDEN & GUN? Seriously? I don't even want to know.
Ha...'Garden & Gun'...what an inspiring name for a publication. Love it! Maybe read before judging? Now there's a thought...
LEGACY
: a gift by will especially of money or other personal property : bequest
: something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past
Born & raised in the deep south (over half a century ago, might I add) and I don't know a single soul who has *received* the legacy of slavery or even subconciously condones it. The very idea is ONLY kept alive by those who have an ax to grind...and/or who make a living at it...none of whom, btw, are 'white guys'. Food for thought.
Now, I'm off to subscribe, being both gardener and sportsman.
Relax, y'all. It's all good. Really.
Y'all are entirely too sensitive. This post is about a beautiful Southern home. Must you always bring up slavery and try to make things ugly?
So a white person is not allowed to own a house - to make it beautiful, to respect the land, to respect the history that it implies - on property that was once a plantation?
Look, he's acknowledging there are good things and bad things about Southern history. There are, and every Southerner understands the joys and the gravity that comes along with it. It would be more of a disservice if the property was completely wiped out and no one remembered (or learned from) what happened there. I don't think he deserves to wander his house/property depressed all the time about something he didn't even do.
Beautiful home. He should be proud of his heritage. I don't see this type of discussion when it's a home in the west where the American Indian was treated so unfairly.
What I can see of the house is beautiful - really wish there were more pix of the house and the garden. I'm not a southerner or even an American but the owner is quoted as saying “History is both a burden and a glory for Southerners," and I'm guessing by "burden" he's referencing acknowledging slavery there. There's nothing here to indicate that the owner is taking any pride in that part of southern history. And I'd be hard pressed to think of a country that doesn't have dark or shameful chapters in its history and buildings that have ties to those chapters. As for Garden and Gun - well, I haven't read the publication and I don't plan to. I guess that both gardening and shooting are outdoorsy but one is about growing things and the other about killing them, so ... not really my thing.
reminds me i forgot t add....i eat my 'kills' from both the animal and the plant kingdoms
The White House and the U.S. Capitol were built by slaves. Northerners owned slaves and sold my American Indian ancestors from Massachusetts into slavery in the Caribbean. To bring this into the commentary about a house in the south in 2013 is political correctness gone mad.
Completely agree, dww_mpls. And Garden & Gun is a fine magazine--a lot like Southern Living. So many scolds on this thread! As if we all don't have some connection to ugly behavior (or worse) in our ancestry.
i'm with greyny. i wonder who else lived on this plantation two hundred years ago? cool that a white man who literally still uses his grandmother's silver spoon can acknowledge how "complex" his southern roots are.
I've been visiting Louisana and Mississippi this week looking at some older plantation houses and saw that magazine..its not what you think..I agree its very much like Southern Living.
I love that house and the houses I've seen. Lots of large square rooms with high ceilings, double porches with straight on the access doors to open at the same time to get that cross breeze. I like my place in San Francisco but I am in love with this style home.
As someone whose great uncle owned a plantation and grew up in the same small town (complete with the plantation house still being in the family) It is a weird thing. But I can take joy in my roots and past without shouldering the guilt. It is not shameful or wrong of me to proudly display the map of my grandfather and great uncles plantation and know that they may have owned the grandparents of some of the kids I went to school with. That slavery is wrong is a fact. But I have committed no wrong, and I will not sacrifice my history for shame.
Slavery ended 150 years ago. It's not a stretch to imagine that this guy's grandmother was attended to by a slave or former slave. I don't think it's ax-grinding or political correctness to think about the connection between the lifestyle romanticized in this post and the fact of slavery, regardless of whether your ancestors were slaves, slave owners, or otherwise.
Never thought I'd find myself reading a magazine called Garden & Gun and probably never will again but the house is certainly interesting.
I don't think anyone is condemning this man for living in this house, or suggesting that he feels guilt and shame about its past. That being said, the house is a Creole plantation house. What do people generally associate with the word plantation? We're not living in a Harriet Beecher Stowe novel -- plantations were not fun u-pick farms.
Is the house beautiful? - yes, no doubt about it. But it is possible for people to hold two somewhat opposing or conflicting ideas in their heads (i.e., Garden & Gun). So yes, I can look at the house and think it looks lovely AND at the same time consider the history of the home and the fact that it was and remains white-owned.
To the white person living in South Africa: every segregated community in America is keeping American history alive as does every national museum. We can look at the contents of our "historical objects" as pretty artifacts or we can take it a step further and think about its meaning.
There is a magazine called Garden and Gun and it's probably not what you think. It's actually a pretty good magazine.
We shouldn't disregard the fact that this is a Creole house. Creole heritage is extremely complex and deep with history. Creole people have a mixed ethnic heritage and many are mixed race. There was an acceptance for mixed race Creoles that didn't necessarily exist for other areas of the Deep South. This isn't an excuse for the injustice of slavery and the limits put on those who weren't only Caucasian, but it's to say that this being a Creole house brings an additional layer of heritage to it and this matter should not be reduced to any simplistic "white slave owners vs. black slaves" narrative.
I don't think this man or any other Southerner should feel guilt or shame but I do think that slavery should be acknowledged as a part of American history so people can examine what occurred in the past and see how it affects us today. Why should we pretend slavery didn't happen or never mention it?
The house has a beautiful exterior but the interior is just too old. It reminds me of the historical homes I toured in Mississippi and Louisiana that were interesting to look at but not to live in. Heh, I guess that's my view of the South in general. The house probably has more value in its current state though than it would if it were gutted and completely updated.
greyny, what are people supposed to do who come from the South and have slave-owning ancestors in their family tree? What sort of personal reparations would be enough for you? And what would you suggest we do about the entire region--wipe out its history entirely? Do all of us know who might have lived in our homes or communities before, and have the assurance that they were Fine Upstanding People who never wronged anybody? Do we know this without a doubt about our own families? I agree with you, deon marais...it's easy (and socially acceptable) to have a sense of smug self-righteousness about the South, but few among us apply the same outrage over the origins of our own possessions.
I also find it ironic that in the zeal to condemn someone for LIVING IN AN OLD HOUSE, people are disregarding all the environmentally conscious things he is doing that would normally make the PC crowd squeal with joy. Not using air conditioning in that climate, and sleeping under mosquito nets?! Planting insect-repellent species in the garden? Using old silver rather than buying new stuff? And keeping a perfectly fine, already-built house in good working order rather than tearing it down for a McMansion?
All I can do is shake my head...but I would like to see more pictures of this home. :)
I live about an hour from Breaux Bridge, where this home is located. It's an adorable little town with great antiquing and a cute little restaurant where you can dance to zydeco bands on Saturday morning. This home is in Acadiana, the land where Catholics from Canada landed after being shipped out by British Protestants. They built homes, married Native Americans and former slaves and made a brilliant, vibrant culture. Please don't judge it until you know more about it.
The entire world may not approve of the history of the deep South, but please try to remember that it is history. There are a lot of people down here who continue to work everyday toward equality and creating opportunity for all people. In fact, the most racist people I've ever met are usually from up North.
And Garden and Gun is an upscale version of Southern Living. I actually stopped subscribing because beautiful pictures of things I couldn't afford ($500 riding boots) were driving me mad.
The comments on this thread are completely ridiculous. Get over it, people. Being from the South IS complex! And Garden and Gun is a great magazine, same level of quality as Southern Living or Texas Monthly. Get over yourselves. Patrick sounds like an interesting person and this house is great.
Beautiful house. And really, does anyone here really know this man or his family? I don't know anyone here, I really wouldn't want to be so shallow to start makin stuff up about people you really don't know.
You're absolutely right, Pi. Thanks for adding that perspective.
Thanks to some of the more level-headed commenters who made up for some of the more shrill voices at the beginning. Geez, people.
Thank you for the more detailed information about the area where this house is, but please rethink the "the most racist people I ever met are...' defense. I know what you mean by it, but racism is a problem that carries through all creeds and boundaries, cultural and geographical. It has nothing to do with statements about the North or South. We need to work toward acknowledging that geography has nothing to do with the prejudice people carry. Only then will we be able to get away from the stereotype that the South is racist or the North is all liberals or whatever else brings us all down.
Agree with what dww_mpls said. Let's move on.
Beautiful house! I love the lofted main floor and that kitchen sink is fabulous. We visited the area a few years ago during the Lafayette music festival and really enjoyed it.
(people reading a blog called "apartment therapy" questioning the naming of a magazine called "garden and gun"... #irony)
I have to make a comment on the magazine...because I get how people are thinking. I first heard about Garden & Gun a few years ago and laughed that anybody would call a magazine that, it was not a surprise that it was a southern lifestyle mag.
Honestly, though, it is a phenomenal publication. It is the only magazine I get truly excited to see in my mailbox.
A tempest in a teaspoon stirred up by some self-righteous scold. What a bunch of PC prigs! Prigs like this should never travel and definitely stay out of museums. Hell, all countries have their fair share of disturbing history and I'd be hard-pressed to think of a country that doesn't. Really maybe you should all just stay out of the public and don't even bother crossing the street. Let them stay at home where they won't have to encounter anything even remotely troubling about human history.
And as far as the name of the magazine goes--it caught my eye a few years ago and it didn't prevent me from taking a look. I'll admit I thought the name was a bit unusual, but that isn't the first time I've ever encountered that either.
Nice pics and beautiful home.
Roflmbo. This comment alone made it worth the annoyance of weeding through this entire thread. Made.my.day.
"Get over it." Seems more like "Don't bring it up, it makes me uncomfortable" or "I just want to look at pretty things as I lack the ability and inclination to examine the possible problematic origins of these pretty things." Sorry, not sorry if talking about a significant part of American history (which lasted 200+ years) bums you out, you need to get over it. FFS, it's not to go away because you don't like it. Seems more PC to whitewash the unpleasant parts of history.
Patrick seems like a nice guy; we need people who are passionate about preserving history. Kudos to him.
Also, I laughed out loud at the white person from South Africa trying to give race relations advice to Americans. Talk about the deaf/blind leading the blind.
Should the house be demolished then? It's a beautiful house. I love that history, no matter the history is preserved. We should be appreciative of that.
I certainly hope everyone who is harping on the history of this house and everything in it spends some time this weekend taking a good long look at their own possessions. Read a few labels on your clothes or look at where and under what conditions your electronics and appliances were made. Do some research into the origins of your wood furniture and the practices used to make it. Have a few oriental rugs on the floors? You might want to think twice about displaying them, as the rug factories in Asia are notorious for exploiting young children as indentured servants or outright slaves. Also, if you go out to dinner tonight please ask your server how much he or she is getting paid and whether the employer treats the staff fairly. And then make sure you do something about all the unpleasant things you uncover, so you can feel even more justified in your criticism of entire cultures.
Holy cow! People forget the north had slaves. The north was responsible for a lot of labor laws being put in place with the Irish working hard in dangerous working conditions. Especially the laws protecting children. BTW folks lighten up, and be proud of where you come from. On a postive note this place is beautiful, and I would like to check out the Garden and Gun magezine.
Garden and Gun is an excellent magazine with well-written, interesting articles and beautiful photography . Try reading it before you judge!
bravo sally305!