The Houmas

The Houmas plantation had its beginnings when Alexander Latil and Maurice Conway appropriated all of the Houma tribe's land on the east side of the Mississippi River in 1774. Alexander Latil built a French Colonial style plantation house at the site around 1775. It was a working sugarcane plantation by 1803, when the United States obtained the area through the Louisiana Purchase. Shortly afterwards The Houmas was purchased by Daniel Clark, who began to develop the property and built one of the first sugar mills along this stretch of the river. In June 1807, Clark and territorial Governor William C. C. Claiborne fought a duel on the property, in which Claiborne sustained a gunshot wound to his leg. In 1811, former American Revolutionary War general Wade Hampton purchased Daniel Clark's land holdings and slaves. Hampton was one of the wealthiest landowners and largest slaveholders in the antebellum era South. ==Filming location==

while shooting Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte The Houmas has been the filming location for a variety of motion pictures, television series and commercials. Houmas House is most associated with the Bette Davis movie Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), in which the house has a Tara-like presence. Other films shot in part at The Houmas include Mandingo (1975), Fletch Lives (1988), and Love, Wedding, Marriage (2011). Television films and series include Moon of the Wolf (1972), A Woman Called Moses (1976), Big Bob Johnson and His Fantastic Speed Circus (1978), All My Children (1981), A Taste of Louisiana with Chef John Folse and Company (one episode, 1990), Snow Wonder (2006), K-Ville (2007), Top Chef (one episode, 2009), Midnight Bayou (2009), Revenge of the Bridesmaids (2010), Wheel of Fortune (one episode, 2011), and The Bachelor (one episode, 2017). Commercials have been shot at the plantation for Budweiser, Virginia Slims, Best Buy, Hibernia National Bank, and the Louisiana Office of Tourism. == Legacy ==

The Antebellum Houmas was the inspiration for The Antebellum, an 8,212 sqft estate and gardens in Grogan's Point. It is one of six historically inspired estates developed by the Westbrook Building Company in 1988. In-kind, The Antebellum inspired three additional plantation estates in East Shore of The Woodlands. == See also ==