The Burn Plantation, Waterproof Louisiana

Date added: August 01, 2023 Categories: Louisiana House Plantations & Farms Greek Revival
Facing east (1980)

The property on which the Burn was built was opened as small tracts of land by U. S, patent dating back as early as January 1831. The name "Burn" was in use by March 8, 1839, when in an act of sale it was referred to as the "Burn tract."

Zenas Preston bought the major portion of the Burn Plantation in May 1853. He is generally accepted as the builder of the house, and documents of the time seem to bear this out. The Tensas Parish Tax Records show that the assessment of the property in 1856 was $29,950.00 and in 1857 was $33,940.00. This increase would indicate that he had finished the house by this time, The April 13, 1979 issue of The United Methodist Reporter tells of the meeting of the Louisiana Annual Conference at the Burn in 1857.

Preston owned ninety-one slaves, In 1856 he raised 476 bales of cotton on 600 acres of land and 5000 bushels of corn on 200 acres, He used 44 yoke of oxen.

In Tensas Parish Mortgage Book "B", page 769, we find that Preston mortgaged the property and slaves in the amount of $43,725.00. This was in 1858. We know he was living here at the time because this record states: "The plantation on which he now resides known as the 'Burn Plantation'."

Preston went bankrupt in 1868. In 1870 George Carneal Goldman I bought one-half interest in the Burn and brought his bride of two months here to live. She died in August of that year, and Goldman sold his interest in December 1870. Though he bought the property a second time in 1902, it is said he never went in the house again because of the sad memories. Managers lived in the house until about 1912 when G, C. Goldman II moved there, He lived at the Burn until his death in 1946.

Between 1870 and 1898, the Moss family owned the property. During this time it was known as "Moss Grove."

Building Description

The Burn (c.1856) is a large rambling Greek Revival country house located in a bucolic setting north of the town of Waterproof. The house has received only minor alterations since it was constructed.

Raised four feet above the ground on brick piers with spread footings, the 1-1/2 story house is constructed of circular sawn cypress with heavy corner posts and sills. The house has an "L" shaped plan consisting of an asymmetrical main block and a rear dining room wing. The main block has an off-center hall with four rooms on one side and a single parlor on the other. Behind the parlor, the rear wing consists of a large bedroom, a nursery, the dining room, and a large cistern room under its own pyramid roof. Both the main block and the rear wing have full front and rear galleries formed of square Doric posts. A continuous gallery of 13 posts encompass the outside of the "L". The front roofline is asymmetrical with a gable on one end and a slope on the other which connects it with the pitched roof of the rear wing. The roof of the rear wing has an uneven pitch which permits it to merge smoothly with the larger pitched roof in front. There are a total of four chimneys, all of which are set between rooms. At one time there were four white marble aedicule motif mantels, three of which are now in place. The remaining mantels both downstairs and in the finished garret are of wood. In most of the rooms the windows and doors have shoulder moldings surmounted by cornices; however, in the parlor and hall, they have full entablatures with drip cornices. Most of the windows are six over six; however, some of those along the galleries are floor-length six over nine. The staircase in the hall has four attenuated turned newels, Doors have four raised panels and some have the original silver plated hardware, which is much tarnished and in some cases painted over. Virtually all the original floorboards remain. The galleries have unusually deep friezes and cyma recta cornices. The two dormers in front are treated with pilasters and pedimented friezes.

The only surviving outbuilding is a contemporaneous square clapboard smokehouse with a pyramid roof similar to the cistern room. Wooden bars on the side window suggest that it may also have had another use.

The Burn Plantation, Waterproof Louisiana Facing east (1980)
Facing east (1980)

The Burn Plantation, Waterproof Louisiana Facing north (1980)
Facing north (1980)

The Burn Plantation, Waterproof Louisiana Facing west (1980)
Facing west (1980)

The Burn Plantation, Waterproof Louisiana Facing south (1980)
Facing south (1980)

The Burn Plantation, Waterproof Louisiana Facing east (1980)
Facing east (1980)

The Burn Plantation, Waterproof Louisiana Interior (1980)
Interior (1980)

The Burn Plantation, Waterproof Louisiana Interior (1980)
Interior (1980)

The Burn Plantation, Waterproof Louisiana One of the original mantels (1980)
One of the original mantels (1980)