John James Audubon Painted 32 of His Famous Bird Paintings Here

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Oakley plantation house is located in the Audubon Memorial State Park in West Feliciana Parish. Construction of the house was started in 1799 on a Spanish land grant by Ruffin Gray, a successful planter from Natchez, Mississippi.

Gray died before the house was completed. His widow Lucy Alston finished the house and remarried James Pirrie of Scotland. Pirrie thus inherited Oakley and the two gray children, Ruffin Jr. and Mary Ann.

To this marriage a daughter Eliza, was born on October 6^th, 1805 at Oakley. This was the young lady who indirectly introduced the aspiring artist and naturalist John James Audubon to the beautiful Felicianas. In the spring it was customary for the planters from surrounding parishes to bring their families to New Orleans for social and cultural purposes. It was on such an occasion in the spring of 1821, that Mrs. James Pirrie met Audubon. At this time Audubon was in desperate circumstances as he was hard put trying to make a living for himself and his thirteen-year-old, pupil assistant, John Mason, by giving drawing lessons while working on his monumental Birds of America.

Mrs. Piirrie perceived that Audubon was of a Cultured background, being skilled in dance and language as well as art. And accordingly engaged him to journey to Oakley as a tutor to Miss Eliza.

The arrangement required that Audubon spend half his time teaching drawing to Miss Eliza. He was otherwise free to roam the woods and work on his paintings. For this Audubon was to receive sixty dollars a month plus room and board for himself and young Mason.

Audubon arrived at Oakley June 18^th, 1821. Of his first impression he wrote in his journal: "the rich magnolias covered with fragrant blossoms, the holly, the beech, the tall yellow poplar, the hilly ground and even the red clay, all excited my admiration."

Audubon's stay at Oakley did not last long. On October 20^th of the same year he set sail for New Orleans. Although his stay lasted only four months, he painted thirty-two of his famous bird pictures and developed a love for the beautiful West Feliciana.

Oakley house contains many antiques of the 1790-1830 Federal period as well as examples of Audubon's paintings. The house and grounds receive heavy visitation by Louisiana residents, out of state visitors and students.

Building Description

Oakley plantation house has been restored as close to the original as possible. It is a three-story structure expressing the colonial architecture adapted to the geographical location. It predates the revival of southern plantation architecture, with a touch of the West Indies reflected in its jalousied galleries and beautiful simplicity.

The restored house contains seventeen rooms including entrance and stair halls, restrooms, and closets. The principle rooms on the ground floor are the huge dining room and library. The second floor contains a large living and music room, three bedrooms, and a stair hall. The third floor consists of four bedrooms, closets, and a large stair hall. Access to the front and rear galleries is affordable on all floors.

The ground floor is built principally of plantation brick construction, including the main support columns. The balance of the structure is of cypress frame with various other woods being used in the flooring, jambs, sills decoration, etc. Front and side entrances lead to the lovely landscaped grounds. A rear entrance leads to the kitchen and weaving room which is housed in a small separate building that was restored around the original massive brick fireplace.

Front view of Oakley Plantation House viewed from the east south east. Entrance to the formal garden shown to the left (1972)

Right rear view of Oakley Plantation House showing the full length porches on the second and third floors, the shuttered front porch, and the massive support columns on the ground floor. Formal garden in foreground (1972)

Left rear view of Oakley Plantation as seen from the Hast South Fast. Showing the side entrance to the second floor and three of the six ground floor entrances (1972)

Kitchen and servants house located directly in the rear of the Oakley Plantation House (1972)

Formal Garden adjacent to Oakley Plantation. House, the third floor porch (1972)

Interior of Oakley Plantation House showing massive canopied bed in the master bedroom (1972)

Bedroom of Eliza Pirrie showing four posted bed with crib in foreground. Eliza was the daughter of James Pirrie and Lucy Alston Pirrie and a student of John James Audubon (1972)