Godchaux-Reserve Plantation Building Glossary

Godchaux-Reserve Plantation Building Glossary Tulane School of Architecture Building Preservation Studio Fall 2015 The Plantation House The Godchaux-Reserve Plantation, or Reserve Plantation House/La Reserve, is a traditional French Creole plantation house located in the small town of Reserve, Louisiana on River Road. Following the bends of the Mississippi River, River Road was the only way to get from New Orleans to all points north before the inter- state highway system was put in place in the 1950s. The house has been moved from its original location due to the infux of indsutry. Built for the Laubel family in the late 18th century as part of their sugar cane plantation, it was added on to in several stages during the frst half of the 19th century, reaching its current size by about 1850. During this time it also passed through several owners: Borne, Fleming and Teinter, Rillieux, Boudousquie and Andry, and Godchaux. Under Leon Godchaux, the plantation became one of the largest producers of sugar from cane in the United States. It was last renovated in 1993. As one of the remaining River Road plantations and an exceptional example of Creole architecture, the Plan- tation house merits study. Hidden within the large house are the remnants of the original much smaller structure. Through an analysis of the materials and construction, we can fully understand the building’s history. French Creole Architecture In the French colonies of the present-day United States, such as Louisiana, there developed a very particular architectural style. Like the unique culture that grew up around the Mississippi River Valley, this architecture is termed “Creole.” According to the National Park Service, the most important features of a typical rural French Creole house include: “...1) generous galleries, 2) a broad spreading roofine, 3) gallery roofs supported by light wooden colon- nettes, 4) placement of the principal rooms well above grade (sometimes a full story), 5) a form of construction utilizing a heavy timber frame combined with an infll made of brick (briquette entre poteaux) or a mixture of mud [and] moss called bousillage, 6) multiple French doors, and 7) French wraparound mantels.”1 The exterior features in particular are apparent on the Godchaux-Reserve Plantation. 2 3 4 1 6 1 “French Creole Architecture,” National Park Service, http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/louisiana/architecture.htm, accessed 27 November 2015. 1 LOCATION Google Map showing the Mississippi River, 2015. the Mississippi River, showing Google Map A. Persac’s map of the Mississippi River and the plantations along River Road 1858. Road 1858. and the plantations along River of the Mississippi River map Persac’s A. Denotes approximate location of Godchaux-Reserve Plantation Denotes approximate N N 2 BUILDING TECHNIQUES The Godchaux-Reserve Plantation house was partially constructed with the colombage method, which is important in understanding this building due to the heavy infuence of readily available materials at this time within this region. Bousillage, abundant in south Louisiana during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, can be found in the oldest parts of the house. Colombage pierotté: Half-timber construction; a timber-frame wall with a bousillage infll. This construction technique was a common substitute for solid wooden walls during a time in which the lumber in western France was becoming more expensive. This practice was carried over into areas where wood was plentiful such as Louisiana. Though its popularity started to wane post-17th century in favor of stone walls for improved insulation, the scarcity of stones in lower Louisiana increased this technique’s popularity. Figure B1 Figure B2 Bousillage: A type of construction method created by mixing Spanish moss in with tempered earth, which is then used as infll overtop of wooden staves between the posts that make up the timber-frame structure. Bousillage is found in a vast number of French Colonial, Creole, and Acadian buildings of timber-frame construction throughout North America. This earthen infll application is a technique seen used frequently in Lou- isiana through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In contrast its use and number of surviving structures in other states such as Mississippi and Illinois, there are currently over one hundred examples of extant structures containing bousillage in Louisiana showing its abundance in this region. Figure B3: A section of bousillage wall at Godchaux. Figure B4 Figures B1, B2, and B4 from Edwards, Jay and Nicolas Kariouk Pecquet du Bellay de Verton. A Creole Lexicon: Architecture, Landscape, People. Baton Rogue: LSU Press, 2004. 3 JOINERY: FIRST FLOOR As Godchaux Plantation was built in a series of construction phases, studying the joinery allows for the building to be dated though the types of joints used. Three construction phases are certain (Phases 1, II, and III), Phase IV and Phase V are purely speculative. There was not enough (or any in most places) old joinery to make a valid assessment. e) Longitudinal Beveled and Tabled Half-Scarf Joints: These have been found on the outer perimeter walls of the southeast and southwest elevations. These are likely from Phase II of construction. f) Full-shouldered Mortise-and-Tenon: Found in the middle of the southern elevation and are likely from Phase I of construction. g) Barefaced Tenon Joints: Found on the entire southern elevation, indicating phase one and being incorporated when the porch was added in Phase II. h) Abandoned Center Mortises: Located in the sill in the middle of the southern elevation, these indicate girders were removed after Phase I. i) Scarf Joints, Halved and Tabled: Found at the structural center of the building and the center of the southern elevation sill, indicating they were original to the building’s frst phase of construction. j) Mortise-and-Tenon Joints, Type II: Found in the middle of the southern elevation, from Phase I or II. k) Abandoned Double-Shouldered Mortise: Found in the southeast side elevation, likely Phase II. l) Mortise-and-Tenon Joint, Type III: Found on smaller and smoother sawn timbers, likely Phase III. m) Mortise-and-Tenon Joint, Type IV: Similar to Type III, found on timbers smoother sawn and smaller than Type I and II, also likely Phase III. n) Joist-in-Beam Joints,Type II: Smaller, smoother sawn, and cut differently than Type I; likely Phase III. o) Butt Joints: These join smaller to larger timbers may be Phase III or IV. p) Edge-Halved Scarf Joints: These join lumber of the same size and are found in the larger of the butt joints; likely Phase III. q) Abandoned Top Mortise: This is either a remnant of Phase II or removed during Phase III. 4 JOINERY: FIRST FLOOR 5 JOINERY: FIRST FLOOR Phase 4 No joinery in this area of foor 6 JOINERY: SECOND FLOOR A) Mortise-and-Tenon with Peg: The majority of the second foor framing uses mortise-and-tenon joints which are secured with a wooden peg. In the center room, thought to be original construction, the framing members are heavy and rough hewn, and the walls are inflled with bousillage. B) Double Mortise-and-Tenon: At the corners of the center room, a double mortise-and-tenon is used for added stability. C) Abandoned Half-Lapped Mortise-and-Tenon Joints: Dovetail joints were used in the original framing for ceiling joists. Ceiling joists were overturned to sit on top of top plate during a later renovation. D) Dovetail Tenons: Dovetail tenons can be observed on either side of the freplace in the central room. This indicates the freplace may have been rebuilt or relocated after the original construction. E) Hand-Hewn Mortise-and-Tenon Without Peg : Hand-hewn mortise-and tenon-joints without pegs are found throughout the southeast, northeast and northwest rooms. These members are narrower than those in the central room and probably date to the second phase of construction. Type A Type B Type C Type D Type E F) Sawn Members, Toenailed or Mortise-and-Tenon, Without Peg: Sawn members attached either with mortise-and-tenon, but more likely toenailed into the top plate. G) Cut Tenon with Peg: Cut tenons with peg are found in all rooms. They are the result of changing the structural framing to accommodate windows and doors to their current location. This may have happened more than once, but the current confguration is likely from the third phase of building, indicated by the presence of dimensional lumber in the framing. H) Shoulder Joint with Peg:This joint is found only in one part of the house, a bricked-in entryway on the south wall of the northwest room. An abandoned mortise on the corresponding corner stud on the other side of the original frame suggests this may have been part of the original porch structure before expansion. I) Longitudinal Beveled and Tabled Half-Scarf Joints: Found in the top plate of the east wall of the southeast room, likely from the second phase of construction. J) Curved Door or Window Transom: A partially obscured door transom can be seen in the west central room. Part of the original construction, the opening was flled in during a later phase of construction. Type F Type G Type H Type I Type J 7 MATERIALS: WOOD Hewn members are made from large, tall and straight trees. A log was ready for hewing after all the large, irregular areas were removed and the log was close to the size of the timber that it would become. To hew the log, a broadax was used to create a level, squared surface. After two sides were completed, the log was turned 180° and the process was repeated until all four sides were level and square.

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