Historic Structure Report, Administrative, Historical, and Architectural Data and Historical Furnishings Study of the First Floor: Rene Beauregard House

Torres, Louis; Lester, Curtis

Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve protects the natural and cultural resources of Louisiana's Mississippi River Delta region. The Administrative Data, Historical Data, and Architectural Data sections of the historic structure report, and the furnishings study of the first floor, Rene Beauregard House, Chalmette National Historical Park, Louisiana, should satisfy the requirements of the Development Study Package Proposal (10-238) of January 1, 1975. As the statement on sources suggests, the Historical Data section is limited by a dearth of primary sources. Therefore, great reliance was placed on historical data related to other plantation houses for comparative purposes, and on the work of Mr. Samuel Wilson, Jr., the architect who restored the Rene Beauregard House in 1957-58. Because of a lack of documentation concerning the furnishings of the house, the author has relied upon restored plantation houses and inventories of personal property in homes of the period in order to prepare the furnishings study. The Architectural Data section provides descriptive information on the present condition of the fabric of the Rene Beauregard House, the sequence of changes made to the building, and recommendations for restoration as called for in the planning directive for this study. The data gathered in the field concerning the existing conditions and changes made to the structure is presented n the form of measured drawings, photographs, and written documentation. The restoration alternatives are described in the text. A cost estimate for each alternative and preliminary restoration drawings for the recommended restoration are enclosed. The present master plan requires an adaptive restoration of the first floor, refurnishing it in the style of an antebellum plantation. Although the interpretive prospectus calls for refurnishing two rooms on the first floor and utilizing the third room for exhibits on plantation life, which would include a model of a functioning plantation, we have proposed as an alternative that all I three rooms be furnished. The second floor would be a multipurpose area.

Historic Structure Report, Administrative, Historical, and Architectural Data and Historical Furnishings Study of the First Floor: Rene Beauregard House

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