This 1850 Greek Revival Home Has Been Part of a Medical Complex since 1912

Taylor House - Woodlawn, Jackson Louisiana

Date added: November 27, 2025

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History of Taylor House - Woodlawn

According to Taylor family tradition, the house was built by James Warren Taylor for his bride Mary Pipes of Clinton, Louisiana. Cotton and livestock were the plantation's major products. The family owned the house from its construction until 1912, when Taylor heirs sold it and its accompanying one thousand acres of land to the State of Louisiana. The property served as the East Feliciana Hospital for the Insane for many years and is now the Villa Feliciana Chronic Disease Hospital and Rehabilitation Center. The house was once used as offices and staff apartments but currently stands vacant.

Despite its proximity to the French Creole region of Louisiana, East Feliciana was settled primarily by Anglo-Americans from the eastern United States. These settlers brought with them the architectural styles popular in their former homes. And, during the mid-nineteenth century, this meant the extremely popular Greek Revival style which came to dominate the area. Asa result of this settlement pattern and design preference, East Feliciana Parish stands as one of three rural areas considered to be major centers of Greek Revival architecture in the state. The East Feliciana collection consists of approximately two dozen buildings, many of which are two-story homes.

Description of Taylor House

The Taylor House (c. 1850) is a large, two-and-one-half story frame plantation house located on the wooded grounds of Villa Feliciana Hospital in rural East Feliciana Parish. The building is commonly known as the Taylor House, but it was originally named Woodlawn by the Taylor family.

The house features a conventional plan, with the first and second floors each containing four rooms (two on each side of a central hall). As originally built, the first floor also had a fifth room which filled an ell separated from the main house by the latter's rear, two-story, shed-roof gallery. This ell room, which appears to have had galleries on at least two sides, served as the dining room. The attic floor is unfinished.

The home's expression of the Greek Revival style is noteworthy because it reflects an approach more commonly found in Virginia and the Carolinas than in Louisiana. Instead of the more usual columned double gallery encompassing the entire facade, the house is distinguished by a two-tier portico the same width as the central hall. This portico features two pairs of solid boxed columns with molded capitals on each level, and the entire composition is surmounted by a large pediment with a raking cornice. Architectural evidence is unclear concerning whether the clapboard siding covering the portico's lower level entablature is original or an alteration. Other Greek Revival characteristics found in the Taylor House include:

1) an entablature which distinguishes the second level of the portico and extends to encircle the original portion of the house,

2) large gable ends decorated as pediments with raking cornices,

3) two entrances (lower front and upper front) featuring massive Greek Revival surrounds composed of pilasters, sidelights, and a thick entablature with a particularly heavy cornice. An identical surround located at the former lower rear entrance has been altered (see below).

4) one vernacular Greek Revival mantel.

Other important features found in the home include pocket doors, elaborate interior cornices, molded door and window surrounds, two staircases, and one ceiling medallion whose floral design suggests that it was added during the late nineteenth century.

The first alteration to the house was made by the Taylor family when they enclosed the home's rear gallery. How they used this space is unclear because later changes were made by the state. All of the additional alterations listed below were made by the state in the years since the Taylor plantation was acquired for use as a hospital. These include:

1) the construction of an inappropriate two-story brick wing toward the rear of one side of the home, the construction of a second two-story shed-roof space behind the enclosed rear gallery, and the construction of a large ell behind the latter addition. These two rear expansions have almost completely engulfed the original dining ell; now only small portions of its galleries can be seen on two sides. The enclosed rear gallery and newer shed roof addition contain a warren of small rooms with lowered ceilings. The wall of one of these rooms intersects and appears to cut off the elaborate door surround on the former rear elevation. Other original rear openings have been closed, but their locations are still visible. The newer ell contains apartments for hospital staff.

2) the removal of the original slate roof, the entire removal of one chimney, the removal of the second chimney above the roofline, and the loss of the shutters,

3) the attachment of inappropriate door closure mechanisms to the home's historic exterior doors.

4) the removal of much of the interior woodwork when the original house was carved into staff apartments. However, this decoration (including one mantel, baseboards, cornices, and door and window surrounds) does survive in two downstairs rooms.

The most serious exterior alterations are the construction of the two-story brick wing (which could be removed) and the covering of the original rear ell within its larger replacement. However, the impact of the latter alteration is lessened somewhat by the fact that it occurs on the rear elevation. Although the loss of much of the interior decoration is regrettable, enough remains to convey the interior's Greek Revival personality. Importantly, the exterior retains the vast majority of its original character-defining features, including its double portico, pedimented gables with raking cornices, and encircling entablature.

Two contemporaneous dependencies are near the house in what might be considered its side yard. They are as follows:

1) Kitchen. This square two-bay brick building with a hip roof is covered by stucco scored to look like large pieces of stone. Its massive chimney is visible on one exterior wall. Changes to the building include the remodeling of the interior to serve as a guest house and the reinforcement of the lower portions of its columns. The latter are now reminiscent of the bungalow style. Evidence is unclear as to whether the building's gallery has been lowered or was always at ground level.

2) Wash House. This painted brick building with three bays and gable ends contains two rooms. Its columns have experienced alteration similar to those found on the kitchen. In addition, the interior has received beaded board wainscots and two beaded board doors. The building's slate roof is also not original. However, the building retains its original paneled doors and nine-over-nine windows. The original configuration of the building's gallery, like that of the kitchen, is unclear.