Abandoned Mansion Louisiana - Demolished

Sidney Herold Mansion, Shreveport Louisiana

Date added: January 25, 2023 Categories: Louisiana House Mansion Renaissance Revival

The Sidney Herold Mansion was designed by Edward F. Nield, an important early 20th-century architect of the Shreveport area. His work includes numerous hospitals, schools, private buildings and most notably, the Caddo Parish Courthouse.

In addition, the Herold Mansion is one of the grandest houses ever built in Shreveport, and probably the city's finest extant example of an early 20th-century Renaissance Revival residence. A large number of substantial eclectically styled homes were built in Shreveport between 1900 and 1940. But these are predominantly boxy in character with restricted suburban lots. By contrast, the Herold Mansion has a broad palatial spread, with a three part central block and pavilion end wings.

Its impressive five-acre hilltop setting gives it the status of a landmark within the city. The Mansion is also noteworthy for its wide entrance hall, curving staircase, plaster and limestone ornamentation, paneling, and its cast ironwork in the windows and doors. There are very few contemporary residences in Shreveport that incorporate all these elements with the degree of elaborateness shown in the Herold Mansion.

Its owner was Sidney Levy Herold (1880-1950), a prominent attorney who was a lifelong resident of Shreveport. According to local sources, Herold in the course of his career became the state's outstanding attorney in the field of mineral law, being actively associated with its development in Louisiana from its earliest beginnings. He represented Gulf Refining Company from the time of its incorporation in 1906 until his death. In 1938 when the state of Louisiana decided that a state mineral code should be created, Herold was the chairman of the committee which wrote the code. It was Herold's code which was the basis of the mineral code finally adopted in 1970.

Herold was also an ardent Zionist. He was, for example, president of the Shreveport Zionist Organization and of the Southwest Zionist District. He was a close personal friend of U. S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, a fellow Zionist, and he raised money for resettling Jews who escaped Nazism. In addition, in the date 1940's he offered financial support for the establishment of the state of Israel by funding arms shipments. In 1950 a small settlement on the highway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv was established in his honor and marked by a commemorative plaque.

There were other aspects to his career, some of them political but mostly relating to the legal profession. He was a member of the Louisiana Constitutional Convention of 1921 and was active in Shreveport politics for several years. An active member of the Shreveport Bar Association, Herold was likewise prominent in the Louisiana Bar Association, of which he was president in 1926-27. On one occasion he acted as representative of the United States in litigation before the World Court at The Hague.

Another important case in which he was involved was Herold v. School Board, a landmark case of 1915 concerning Bible studies in the public schools. The Caddo Parish School Board passed a resolution requesting teachers to open their daily class sessions with readings from the Bible and the Lord's Prayer. Herold led a group of people who brought suit against the school board arguing that the resolution gave preferential treatment to some religions while discriminating against others and thus violated the principle of freedom of religion. After losing the case in a lower court, Herold won a victory by appealing to the Louisiana State Supreme Court where the lower court's decision was overturned. The U. S. Supreme Court decision of 1963 concerning Bible reading in public schools was based in part on Herold's argument in this case of 1915.

Despite vigorous efforts by state and local historical preservationists to save this historic home, Physicians & Surgeons Medical Center insisted on its demolition so a "cookie cutter" office building could be built on the site. It was demolished in 1978 despite the community opposition. A tragic loss for Shreveport.

Building Description

The Sidney Herold Mansion is situated atop Stoner Hill on what is probably the highest point in Shreveport. The site commands an impressive view of the central city skyline. At one time the Herold Mansion was part of an exclusive residential neighborhood, but the area has undergone extensive redevelopment with parking lots and low-scale commercial buildings. But because the Mansion stands high on a large tract of land, it is not significantly affected by the surrounding intrusions.

Although the original five acres are intact little of the landscaping remains. The large front lawn has all but one of its trees and the rear terraced garden has been removed for fill dirt. It could however be replaced. The Mansion shares the site with a small servants' cottage and a modern sanctuary which was built by a church group. Although the sanctuary must be viewed as an intrusion, it is low in scale and set to the rear of the Mansion.

The two-and-a-half-story Mansion is approached via a broad paved area with balustrades and steps on three sides. The Mansion is planned around the 22-foot-wide entrance hall. Rooms are symmetrically placed at the front and asymmetrically placed at the rear to accommodate a large kitchen area and a porch. The upstairs landing has been walled off from the main stair. Aside from this, the only change in plan has been the addition of an upstairs bathroom. Neither change has affected any of the significant spaces.

The Mansion is constructed of hollow tile with limestone and stucco facing.

The main facade, which measures almost 100 feet, is grandly articulated with a three-part main block and pavilion end wings.

Many of the exterior design features are taken from the Renaissance Revival style of the early 20^th century. These include the classical columns and pilasters, the ironwork, the flat walls with overhanging tiled hip roofs, and the round arch windows.

Most of the interiors have oak or plaster paneled walls with fireplace mantles of various styles including Renaissance, Baroque, Georgian and Empire. The imitation beam ceilings in the library and dining room are particularly fine with stenciled plant motifs. The most noteworthy interior is the entrance hall with its graceful curved staircase and Adamesque plaster ceiling.

Two fire escapes have recently been installed to meet fire codes, but neither is visible from the front of the Mansion. In addition, some of the balusters have fallen but they could be replaced.