Mulberry Grove, White Castle Louisiana

Date added: July 09, 2023

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Mulberry Grove was built for Dr. Edward Duffel, a native of Virginia, and his Acadian bride. After the Civil War the property was acquired by John B. Reuss, who made it a part of his large Germania Plantation holding. Upon his death, Reuss left the Mulberry Grove portion of Germania to one of his daughters. In 1951 she sold it to Mrs. C. C. Clifton, who accomplished the home's restoration. In the late 1980s Mrs. Clifton sold Mulberry Grove to the Noel family, who operated the property as a working plantation.

Architecturally, Louisiana is best known for its fine collections of French Creole houses and grand Greek Revival plantation homes. The state's most famous and recognizable group of monumental Greek Revival plantation houses is found on the historic River Road. These homes, built by immensely wealthy sugar cane planters during the thirty years prior to the Civil War, were the absolute apex of the Greek Revival style in Louisiana. They may be briefly characterized as columned or pillared two-story mansions with broad double galleries which sometimes encircle the house. The columns may be monumental, in which case they rise to the roofline in one continuous shaft, or a separate series of columns may be found on each level. No one will ever know the exact number of these houses which once existed on the River Road. However, an 1858 map of Mississippi River land holdings suggests that many more once existed than have survived. Today, only eight River Road Greek Revival plantation houses remain. Mulberry Grove is one of these monumental structures. Mulberry Grove is especially distinguished by its superior Greek Revival woodwork, which features pediment-shaped lintels, shoulder molding, and tapered door surrounds.

The Mulberry Grove quarters cabins are locally significant in the area of architecture because they are extremely rare survivors of a once common building type. Hundreds of these cabins existed in rural Ascension Parish at one time. However, survey data collected by the Division of Historic Preservation indicates that only 34 quarters houses survive. Of this number, most are isolated cabins scattered throughout the parish. Only two clusters of cabins still stand in the row configurations in which they were built. Mulberry Grove's cabins form one of these clusters.

Building Description

Mulberry Grove (c. 1836) is a grand, two-story, double-galleried plantation house in the Greek Revival style. Located within the sugar cane belt on the west bank of the Mississippi River in Ascension Parish, the antebellum mansion stands back from the River Road within a well-manicured lawn. The brick and frame structure has undergone some alteration over the years, but its integrity easily remains intact. There are six additional structures: four c.1890 quarters houses with one surviving privy and a cistern contemporaneous with the main house.

Mulberry Grove has a symmetrical central hall floorplan with front and rear double galleries. The lower floor's two front rooms, identical in size, are larger than the spaces behind them. The rear upriver space is subdivided to create a recessed stair hall and a cabinet-like room, both of which are original to the home. These two rooms have their own exterior doors opening to the rear gallery. The rear downriver room has been subdivided to create a kitchen, bathroom, closet, and hallway. The plan of the upper floor is similar. Its differences include 1) the absence of exterior doors in the recessed stair hall and cabinet-like room; 2) the subdivision of the cabinet-like room to create a bath, hallway, and closets; 3) an original staircase ascending from the second-floor central hall to the attic; 4) the fact that the downriver rear room has not been subdivided in the manner of its lower floor counterpart, and 5) the addition of closets and a bath to the front downriver room. This was accomplished in such a way as to leave the fireplace set in an arched alcove.

Mulberry Grove contains a number of finely crafted Greek Revival features. Among the mansion's important design elements are the following:

1) a denticulated entablature.

2) transoms and side lights subdivided in the Greek Revival manner. These features surround the four primary front and rear entrances.

3) door and window surrounds featuring pediment-shaped lintels and shoulder molding. The door surrounds taper toward the top in a pronounced manner. This treatment is found on all the openings on the upper front gallery and all the first-floor interior openings.

4) thin front and rear upper gallery pillars which are paneled on all sides. These pillars are surmounted by molded capitals. Matching corner boards are also used.

1) a brick lower story surmounted by a frame upper floor. The bricks are covered by stucco, as is the upper-level facade.

2) two sets of French doors,

3) an exterior staircase on the rear gallery, and

4) the fact that the facade behind the upper gallery displays more decorative elements than that below. In the Creole tradition, this space was often highly decorated and treated as an outdoor room.

Although they cannot be classified specifically as Greek Revival or French Creole, Mulberry Grove has other features worthy of mention. They include:

1) paneled embrasures on the lower story windows on the interior. In addition, molded panels are found below the first-floor windows and all the side lights.

2) elaborately molded cornices throughout the lower floor and in the second-floor central hall. Simpler cornices are found in the second-floor rooms.

3) chair rails in the lower floor's central hall and downriver front room,

4) the aforementioned staircases. The lower floor stair is distinguished by its curving shape. Elaborate enough to serve as the primary stair in another house, the second-floor straight stair features curved scroll motifs on the sides of its risers.

5) double hung windows. Nine over nine windows open onto the upper front gallery. Six over six windows are found throughout the rest of the home.

Mulberry Grove was allowed to deteriorate in the twentieth century but was rescued and rehabilitated during the 1950s. In addition to the changes to the floorplan mentioned above, other alterations made at that time include:

1) the screening of the rear upper gallery,

2) the addition of scenic wallpaper in the dining room, the replacement of the lower central hall's lost floor, the addition of pine paneling and built-in bookcases to the downstairs cabinet-like room, and the installation of new mantels. Although no concrete information is available, it is likely that the original mantels had been lost.

3) the construction of a large masonry garage/utility building on the downriver side of the home. It is connected to the mansion's rear gallery by a covered breezeway.

Six additional structures stand on the Mulberry Grove property. The first is a large barrel-shaped cistern constructed of hard cypress staves and iron bands. It stands on a foundation of old brick covered by plaster. This dependency appears to be contemporary with the antebellum house.

Four small c. 1890 quarters houses survive on the property. They stand in a row facing the River Road slightly downriver from the main house. Of board and batten construction, each is two rooms wide and has a front gallery beneath the mass of its metal roof. Three of the four have received rear or side additions. The houses' end gables feature decoratively cut vergeboards. All have had their original doors replaced. The interiors feature beaded board walls and ceilings.

The final structure is a privy. Contemporary with the quarters cabin which it stands behind, it is constructed of boards and battens and has a metal roof.