One of only a few Greek Revival Plantation Houses Remaining in Tensas Parish

Moro Plantation House, Waterproof Louisiana

Date added: August 20, 2024

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

Moro Plantation House is an important example of a Greek Revival plantation house. It is one of the few remaining examples in Tensas Parish, where once they must have been quite numerous. Also, among the half dozen or so that have survived. Moro is noteworthy in several important respects, as described below.

The importance of Moro, within the context of Tensas Parish, as a Greek Revival plantation house can be graphically illustrated by examining the census schedules of 1860. On the eve of the Civil War, the population of the parish was 91% slaves and there were 118 large slaveholdings (i.e., fifty or more slaves). Of these 118, the average size of a slaveholding was 100. The absentee ownership rate was 34%. Hence of the 118 large slaveholdings in the parish, 78 of them involved individuals who resided there. Given the above, it is clear that there must have been numerous Greek Revival plantation houses in Tensas Parish on the eve of the Civil War. However, there are only about a half dozen or so remaining examples.

In addition, among those few Greek Revival plantation houses that do survive, Moro is noteworthy in the following respects:

1. It has the finest interior woodwork. As a rule, the other Greek Revival plantation houses in the parish feature the same woodwork design throughout, Moreover, in most cases the woodwork is relatively plain (standard aedicule motif door frames and mantels, etc.). By contrast, the woodwork at Moro varies from room to room, with each having its own distinctive, fully articulated design. Moreover, the Greek keys and guilloche panels found at Moro are unmatched elsewhere in the parish.

2. It is one of only two substantially intact two-story examples remaining in the parish, and is the oldest of those two.

Building Description

Moro Plantation House (c.1839) is a two-story Greek Revival country residence set in the flat delta farmland of western Tensas Parish near the Mississippi River. Although the house has undergone several changes since construction, most are superficial. None are detrimental to the overall architectural significance of the property.

Moro began c.1839 as a two-story, central hall, double parlor plan house with stuccoed brick construction on the ground story and pit sawn frame construction on the upper story. Originally the north side of the house (which faces Muddy Bayou) was the front. The second story has always been the main story, but until recently the only access to it was by means of exterior staircases set on the galleries.

The original upper story consisted of four large rooms and a central hall. Large chimneys were set between the front and rear rooms on each side. The central hall was enclosed at each end by double doors with side lights. These were set in massive aedicule motif frames which resembled mantels. There were no transoms. The other noteworthy feature of the hall was the staircase leading to the attic. It had an elaborately cut string and a banister which terminated with a series of five Sheraton-style turned newels.

Each of the four large rooms had its own distinctive woodwork, as follows:

1. The southwest room featured a plain aedicule motif mantel as well as door and window frames with beveled corner blocks and pediment-shaped tops.

2. The southeast room featured similar woodwork except that the corner blocks were more elaborately cut.

3. The northwest room featured a plain aedicule motif mantel and door and window frames with heavy shoulder moldings and pediment-shaped tops.

4. The northeast room, which was originally the parlor, had the most elaborate woodwork. The mantel featured Greek key motifs set at the ends of the entablature. The door and window frames had similar Greek key motifs as well as guilloche panels and molded boards.

Most of the doors had four panels; however, a few had two. Two of the rooms had closets set next to the chimney flue.

The lower story had an open central hall, four unornamented rooms, brick floors and fireplaces, but no mantels.

The exterior of the house featured a massive pitched roof with two large chimneys and a five-bay, two-story gallery on both the front and the rear. The facades themselves actually had seven bays because all of the rooms had doors opening off the galleries as well as pairs of windows. The lower galleries featured stuccoed brick columns and the upper galleries featured wooden columns with molded capitals and a full entablature.