Houmas House in South Louisiana offers several ghost stories but there's more reasons to visit the exquisite River Road property

Houmas House with its "grieving" oak trees

There are plantations and historic homes scattered throughout Louisiana, many hidden behind alleys of live oak trees shrouded in Spanish moss, the buildings appearing through this vegetation like a veil between this world and the next. It’s easy to imagine the spirits of yesteryear still walking the grounds of these ancient giants, still haunting the halls and bedrooms.

Houmas House outside Gonzales, Louisiana, owns a different vibe, one of luxury, elegance and a lively history. The property’s story dates back to the 1700s when two New Orleans businessmen, Maurice Conway and Alexander Latil, purchased the land from the Houmas Indians and built a small home facing the Mississippi River near an ancient Houmas mound. Later, Gen. Wade Hampton of South Carolina would purchase the property and expand the original French Provincial residence before leaving the home to his daughter Caroline and son-in-law Col. John Preston. It was the Prestons that created the enormous house visitors view today. In 1857, Irishman John Burnside took over the plantation and enlarged its acreage for sugarcane and later Col. William Porcher Miles expanded its production even further.

 

The antique coffin at Houmas House

Today, the home with its multi-columned Greek Revival exterior is known as the “Crown Jewel of Louisiana’s River Road.” New Orleans businessman Kevin Kelly purchased the mansion in 2003 and has turned the site into one of the finest wedding venues in Louisiana. The property now includes the award-winning Latil’s Landing Restaurant, a la carte dining options in the magnificent Carriage House, the Turtle Bar located in the former garconniere and several cabins for overnight stays. The 38-acre grounds feature oak trees dating back to original owners but also exquisite formal gardens under the current landscaping staff, including fountains, statuaries, a Monet-style garden with waterfall and other endless floral spots for photographs and the saying of vows.

Visitors to the Crown Jewel wouldn’t expect ghosts in such a stately place, and our tour guide for the night admitted that the spirits of those gone before do linger here, but he preferred to focus on the history and luxury of the house. And he had every right. The house is filled with antiques, artwork and historical objects, including a 19th century casket and an antique vampire killing kit. But curious minds like me wanted to know more.

 

Bette Davis Bedroom

A staff member once spent the night in a second-floor bedroom and awoke to find a tall, shadowy figure standing in the doorway gazing toward her bed. When she turned to follow his line of sight, an elderly woman as clear as day was lying next to her in bed, her arms folded across her chest and her eyes closed. She uttered questions in fright, then looked back toward the door and the man had disappeared. Thankfully, so had the old woman.

Other visitors have seen what appears to be a young girl and many believe her to be the daughter of Caroline and Wade Preston, who died at the age of 12. There’s also an account of an angry spirit coursing up a shaft between the first and third floors, moving through the bedroom used in the film, “Hush…Hush, Sweet Charlotte” starring Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland.

Kelly’s not one to believe in ghosts but one night he noticed his dogs staring off to the corner of his bedroom. The two labradors followed an invisible object across the room, their gazes in sync, until whatever they were staring at disappeared inside a mirror.

The magnificent oak trees leading up to the house remain from the house’s original days but half of the trees were removed for the building of the Mississippi River levee in the early part of the 20th century. Although they have ample room to grow and prosper, they bend toward each other, as if in grief.

 

The Cabins at Houmas House

Want to learn more about the house’s ghost history? Special haunted tours are offered at 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. nightly through October. But don’t worry, they include the house’s unique history, architecture, artwork and more.

Here’s what I suggest. Arrive early and enjoy a spirit of another sort in the Turtle Bar (I highly suggest the Old Fashions) and either relish in the unique space or peruse the lighted pathways throughout the gardens. After the tour of the mansion, enjoy dinner in either The Carriage House Restaurant or Latil’s Landing. For a truly special evening, stay overnight in one of Houma House’s cabins, luxurious accommodations in a peaceful setting and yes, no ghosts on that side of the property. At least, we didn’t encounter any.

Haunted Deep South is written by travel writer Cheré Coen, author of Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana by The History Press. She writes the Viola Valentine paranormal mystery series under the pen name of Cherie Claire.

Geospirits offers interactive map of paranormal sites

            Louisiana Spirits has a new interactive map that lets viewers search for paranormal sites throughout the United States, including all over the Deep South!

            You’ll find everything from haunted hotels and bed and breakfasts to cemeteries, battlefields and historic buildings. Some are suspected to be haunted, some have research to back them up and some contain “some sort of unknown phenomena,” claim organizers.            

            Want to add your site? Submit your location by email to Louisiana Spirits.
            Note: The icon at right gives the URL as GeoSpirits.com but when we clicked on the link it came to http://www.laspirits.com/geospirits, for what it’s worth.


Haunted Deep South is written by travel writer Cheré Coen, author of Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana by The History Press. She writes the Viola Valentine paranormal mystery series under the pen name of Cherie Claire.

Who remains at Loyd Hall Plantation?

            I’ve heard that Loyd Hall Plantation near Alexandria was haunted but never got the full story until I spent the night. The main house was full the night we visited so I shared the old kitchen out back — newly renovated, of course, and accented with antiques — with a friend who had not known it was haunted. Needless to say, she taped on my door several times in the night because she was scared someone less alive than I would visit.

            The story goes that William Loyd built the impressive home around 1820, after he was cast out of the Lloyd family in England, the ones associated with Lloyds of London. Hence only one l in his name, which he changed upon arrival in America.

            The black sheep of the Lloyd family didn’t do so bad for himself in central Louisiana, creating a plantation of tobacco, corn, indigo and sugarcane on hundreds of acres. Stories claim he was a bit eccentric, however, and the local natives weren’t too fond of him, which explains the spent arrowheads in the kitchen doors.

An upstairs suite.

            Another story claims he worked both sides of the Civil War and was hanged from an oak tree in the front of his house for treason.

            Today, the home is listed on the National Historic Register and serves as a bed and breakfast with guests enjoying a full breakfast in the main house with walls of windows overlooking the property. In addition to two elegant suites on the second floor (hint, this is where to stay if you want to see ghosts), there are numerous “cottages” in the rear, including the old commissary and kitchen, where we stayed (without incident).

            William Loyd haunts the home, some people think, and favors the front porch. A Union soldier killed on the third floor still hangs around as well. And there are more, as Miss Beaulah Davis explained to us in the morning when we were enjoying our breakfast. Guests have reported things moving on their own, pressure on furniture when no one was there and unusual sounds.

The third floor schoolhouse.

            According to Louisiana Spirits paranormal investigators, “Mr. Loyd's relative, Inez Loyd, jumped to her death from the third story attic. The suicide was said to have taken place due to Inez being stood up by her fiancé. The third floor was also said to have been home to a small schoolhouse on one side and the room of the teacher on the other. It was this teacher that was said to have been in a relationship with a Union soldier who chose to stay behind after the troops left. He was often seen on the front porch, serenading the teacher with a violin. It is at his point that the history is unclear. Some sources say that the soldier was then shot by the teacher's sister, while others say it was an angry neighbor that committed the murder. Needles to say, the soldier was, in fact, shot on the third floor and buried under the house. Years later, his remains were exhumed and moved to an undisclosed location.”

            We visited the third floor and witnessed a large stain near the window, said to have been the blood stain of the fallen soldier.

            Loyd Hall is located at 292 Loyd Bridge Road in Cheneyville. For information, call (318) 776-5641 or visit http://www.loydhall.com.

Haunted Deep South is written by travel writer Cheré Coen, author of Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana by The History Press. She writes the Viola Valentine paranormal mystery series under the pen name of Cherie Claire.