One of the Few Creole homes surviving in St. John The Baptist LA

Bacas House, Edgard Louisiana

Date added: October 25, 2024

Do you have an update on the current status of this structure? Please tell us about it in the comments below.

The Bacas Home (c. 1840-1850) 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, 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.

Although the name of the original builder and date of construction have not survived, the home has been in the Bacas family since April 1895, when it was purchased by Alcide Bacas from Willis Becnel.

Building Description

The Bacas Home (c. 1840-1850) is a one-story French Creole house of timber frame and bousillage construction. Located on the River Road along the west bank of the Mississippi River in St. John the Baptist Parish, the building also shows Anglo-American influence in its transitional French, Federal, and Greek Revival woodwork. Alterations to the building over the years have included the removal of an old kitchen attached at the rear, replacement of clapboard siding, installation of a few modern windows, and a possible addition at the rear.

The original Creole features found in the Bacas Home include:

1) a steeply pitched hipped umbrella roof,

2) cypress framing members and bousillage walls beneath a coating of plaster,

3) a full length front gallery with very wide baseboards decorating the facade wall,

4) three sets of French doors (each leaf of which contains eight lites) on the facade,

5) six solid rectangular cypress gallery columns which appear to be original (Creole builders were using columns of this shape by 1840),

6) exposed beam ceilings both on the gallery and throughout the interior,

7) three French wraparound mantels, and

8) a late Creole floorplan organized around an extremely wide central hall-like salle, even larger flanking chambre rooms, and rear cabinets flanking a large rear room.

The home's woodwork is especially interesting, for it displays the mixing of decorative elements which resulted when Creole carpenters began to copy Anglo-American architectural styles. The home's three mantels best illustrate this trend. For example, each mantel shelf stands upon simple Greek Revival pilasters composed of smooth bases, shafts, and capitals. However, the pilasters rise directly to the mantel shelf without an intervening entablature. This decorative treatment apparently resulted from the influence of French mantels built during the Louis XVI period. Provincial adaptations of these mantels were created by early Creole builders in New Orleans who, in turn, influenced hinterland builders such as the craftsman of the Bacas House. Additionally, one of the Bacas mantels displays the French lozenge motif. Finally, a hint of Federal influence can be seen in the carving of the three mantel shelves themselves. In addition to the mantels, Anglo-American influence can also be found in the five pane Greek Revival transom above the central hall's exterior French door, in the 1840s moldings which surround the paneled interior doors, and in the symmetrical appearance of the facade.

The changes to which the Bacas Home has been subjected since the 1840s are all of the type which result from natural evolution and usage over the years. These changes include the following items:

1) the removal of a former kitchen which once connected to a cabinet room at the rear,

2) the possible addition of a rear porch. Because Creole houses were occasionally built with a rear gable roofed extension attached parallel to the larger hipped roof structure (such as the configuration found on the Bacas House), it is impossible at this time to say with certainty whether the rear porch is original to the house or a later addition. However, if it was an addition, it faithfully reproduced the Creole tradition of the open loggia flanked by cabinet rooms. One of these cabinets has since been converted into a modern kitchen, while the loggia has been subdivided to create a bath and enclosed porch.

3) the installation of a lowered tile ceiling and wall paneling in one bedroom, and the cutting of a door between this room and the modern kitchen,

4) the construction of closets beside fireplaces and on a wall of one room lacking a fireplace,

5) the reinforcement of rotten gallery columns by surrounding the damaged lower sections with new wood,

6) the installation of a few modern windows,

7) the installation of beaded board siding on the facade and replacement of clapboard siding on the other surfaces, and

8) the installation of Victorian style screen doors over the French doors on the facade.