Arlington Plantation House, Franklin Louisiana

Date added: April 21, 2023

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Arlington is one of Louisiana's finest Greek Revival plantation houses. This can be seen not only in its outstandingly pretentious articulation but also in the richness of its ornamental features.

The grand Greek Revival plantation house is undoubtedly the most widely recognized historic archetype of the southern states.

The vast majority of even the state's largest Greek Revival plantation houses lack pediments and porticoes such as those at Arlington. Most do not conform to the classic plantation house image of a temple fronted mansion with colossal order pillars. Although there is no comprehensive statewide survey, one can get an idea of the rarity of this housetype in Louisiana by examining W. Darrell Overdyke's Louisiana Plantation Houses (1965). Of the seventy-one Greek Revival influenced plantation houses the book documents, only five have colossal order pedimented porticoes of at least four columns.

Arlington is an important part of this limited heritage because it is one of a small minority of examples which have a formally articulated facade on both the front and the rear. This, of course, denotes a greater degree of pretention than the standard plantation house with its single formal front and its rear kitchen wing. Arlington is truly a plantation house articulated in the grand manner.

Arlington is one of Louisiana's most richly ornamented plantation houses. It is one of a small minority of examples which have fluted columns and carved composite order capitals. In addition, its collection of ten plaster ceiling medallions is unsurpassed in the state in terns of variety (five different designs) and the intricacy of the decorative motifs.

Arlington's cruciform hall configuration denotes a degree of formality and sophisticated axial planning seldom found in Louisiana plantation houses. The State Historic Preservation Office is aware of only one other surviving example in the state and only two other examples which ever existed.

Building Description

Arlington (c.1861) is a two-story, clapboarded, late Greek Revival mansion with an impressive pedimented portico both front and rear. It is located on the west bank of Bayou Teche on the outskirts of the town of Franklin. The house is set on a broad and spacious lawn at the head of a long-oval shaped approach drive.

Arlington has an unusual cruciform plan. It has a wide central hall which runs from the front to the rear of the house and a secondary side hall set on axis which runs from side to side. This secondary hall contains the main staircase. The point where the halls cross is emphasized by a crowning ceiling medallion and a set of paneled pilasters. This hallway configuration is only partially repeated on the second story.

The house is articulated with an almost Palladian formality. The five-bay front facade has a three-bay, colossal, fluted, composite order portico which is repeated on the five-bay rear facade. Each of the side facades has a three-bay single story composite order loggia. These four columnar openings are linked by the previously described cruciform hall plan.