Address 128 & 130 S. Main St., St. Martinville, LA 70582
Year Built: ca. 1855
Building History
Built by Robert Benson ca. 1855 on the site of Greig’s Hotel which had been operated by William Greig from ca. 1807 until his death in 1842. Architecture features double chimney and gabled parapet and the original turned Sheraton style wood columns remain on part of the upper gallery along with original wood railing. Benson was from Boston and is credited with the architecture of several buildings in St. Martinville.
Building Description
Pair of two-story, four-bay brick buildings. Originally built for business on lower floor and residence on upper. Double chimney and gabled parapet.Turned Sheraton style wood columns on upper gallery. Wood railings replaced with cast-iron. Ground floor facade recently reworked.
Open to Public? By appointment
Other Info 128 S. Main St., Maison de Tours. Reception venue. Owner: Dale Mouton. Tel: (337) 380-5677 or (337) 394-4844. email: [email protected] website: www.maisondetours.com
130 S. Main St., St. Martinville, LA 70582 (Private Residence)
Address 133 S. Main St., St. Martinville, LA 70852
Year Built 1856
Building History
Designed and built by Robert B. Benson in 1856, tradition has it that it was built in such a grand style in hopes that St. Martinville would be designated as the seat of a new diocese and this would be the bishop’s home. The building now holds the offices of the church parish and the priest’s living quarters.
Building Description
Attributed to Robert Benson. Two-story frame building. Heavily fluted wood columns added circa 1925, replacing a facade identical to that remaining on rear of building. Plate glass windows and 1970 aluminum siding, but retains much of the appearance of an 1850’s building.
Open to Public? No
Other Info Church Parish Offices
Source: “A Walking Tour of St. Martin de Tours Catholic Church Square” by the Landscape Committee of St. Martin de Tours Catholic Church, 1989
Address 140 & 138 S. Main St., St. Martinville, LA
Year Built 1875
Representative Men
Martial Bienvenu, father-in-law to L.C. Vautier and to Alexis Voorhies, operated the considerable livery, where he would care for and feed horses, on the northwest corner of South Main and Port Streets on the town square. This livery is on the current site of the Dupois/Robichaux Pharmacy and the Teche Theater.
Open to Public? Yes
Other Info Dupois Natural Health, Inc.: 140 S. Main St.; Teche Theater: 138 S. Main St.
Source: 1896 in Le Petit Paris: Turning the Century in Southwest Louisiana by Lawrence F.M. Capuder, Sr. (pgs. 80-81)
Ca. 1830, frame residence. Basic form, fenestration pattern, detailing of ca. 1830 house remain. Heavy bungalow style fron porch, columns, and dormer added ca. 1930.
Building Description Basic form, fenestration pattern, detailing of c.1830 house remain. Heavy bungalow style front porch, columns, and dormer added c.1930.
Open to Public? No
Other Info Original building fire damaged ca. 2006 & demolished
L.J. Gardemal built his house, with its unusual onion-shaped tin dome, prior to 1892. This home has a predominant location and unusual architecture. Most townpersons would probably know it as the Gary House, based on its long-time residents, the Gary family. Some day, this fine home would make a great bed and breakfast hotel.
Queen Anne Revival residence of 1 1/2 stories with Eastlake columns on raised curving gallery. An outstanding feature of this home is the octaganal side turret surmounted by a pressed tin onion dome.
Building Description
Queen Anne Revival residence. One-and one-half stories with Eastlake columns on raised curving gallery. Octagonal side turret with flared hinged skirting at the tip and surmounted by pressed tin onion dome.
Open to Public? No
Other Info Private residence
Source: 1896 in Le Petit Paris: Turning the Century in Southwest Louisiana by Lawrence F.M. Capuder, Sr.
Address 101 E. Bridge St, St. Martinville, LA 70582
Year Built 1899
Building History
J.B. Ferran built his store at Bridge and Main around the turn of the century…either shortly before or shortly after. It has been a long series of various establishments. The latest is the beautifully restored Maison de Ville Restaurant, a trendy eatery and pub. The upstairs is a banquet facility, turned occassionally to a cozy dinner theater. Built in 1899 by J.B. Ferran to operate as a dry-goods store and grocery store on the lower level and his residence above, Ferran demolished an older building for this construction. The post office was moved to this building in January 1917 and remained here until moved to La Maison Duchamp in 1939.
Representative Men
J.B. Ferran was a native of “La belle France,” he came to St. Martiville and first engaged in agricultural pursuit, but his mind being bent on a commercial life, he opened up a small store, with a capital of only a few hundred dollars. Success followed his efforts, and he owned a large grocery and liquor store, one of the largest and best stocked dry goods store, and a general furniture store. Though his three stores consumed much of his time he still found a few moments to attend the meetings of the Board of Trade, as well as of the Catholic Knights of American, of which he was a valued member. Enterprising and energetic, Mr. Ferran was a member of the Carnival Association and always took much interest in its pageants.
Open to Public? No
Other Info Cousin’s Restaurant and Alligator Bar, now closed
Source: 1896 in Le Petit Paris: Turning the Century in Southwest Louisiana by Lawrence F.M. Capuder, Sr.
Ca. 1875. Two story brick galleried commercial building with residence above and commercial venture on lower floor. Square gallery posts and handsome French doors remain. Cast iron rail salvage and reused from Federal remodeling of La Maison Duchamp to U.S. Post Office in 1936.
In 1876, David Sandoz built this mansion on Main Street in Classic Revival style for his daughter, Ameiie, and her husband, Eugene Auguste Duchamp. Now on the National Register of Historic Places, it represents the early French setllers who created a rich mercantile economy around the church square that became the center of St. Martinville. Placed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 5, 1972, it was built in Classic Revival style in 1876 by David Sandoz for his son-in-law Eugene August Duchamp and his wife, Ameilie Sandoz, a family which, according to conveyance records, is intimately entwined with this property has a l. From 1938 to 1976 it was a U.S. Post Office, and it is significant as the only private residence ever purchased for use as a United States Post Office. Today, the property is owned by the City of St. Martinville it is open for tours. There is a a reception room is on the first floor and rental space is on the second.
In the spring, an office in Maison Duchamp will be leased to the World Studies Institute of Louisiana, an organization dedicated to “developing an international language academy in Acadiana that serves Lousisana secondary students and creates a network of international virtual classrooms in primary schools across Louisiana to feed this academy.” With plans for an international French center for culture and development, the city is looking to convert the second floor of La Maison Duchamp for these purposes. Representatives from Haiti will be the first tenants, and La Francophonie, an internal organization of French-speaking countries, is another potential client.
Building Description
The appearance of the structure is typical of the French and Spanish Colonial Period in Louisiana. The building measures fifty-two feet in width by sixty-three feet in length. It has a five foot basement and a very large attic. A well designed cupola tops the building. Large galleries supported by cypress columns on concrete piers face the Bayou Teche to the east and the street to the west. Cast iron railings decorate the galleries. The structure has thirty-six openings. On the lower floor there were ten large windows. The upper floor has twelve window and there are several exterior doors. This was in keeping with the necessity for cross ventilation in the hot, humid area. The interior of the building, excluding the corridors consist of nine immense rooms. The lower floor was divided into two bedrooms, parlor and dining room. The upper floor has four large rooms and a bath. The entire interior is plastered since all exterior walls were of brick. There are four large chimneys built from the ground in the building. The decorative front portion of the fireplaces, rising from the mantelpieces are made of decorative cast iron. A few feet to the rear of the old home was a large two-room structure. It was used as the kitchen and servants quarters. Several features of the house make it significant among the early residences built in this area. The galleries are handled with the lacy iron grillwork characteristic of the homes built in New Orleans during that period. The problem of transportation was so difficult, being partly through the bayous and partly by portage through dangerous swamps, that such costly touches were usually not included. The bricks used in building this mansion were hand made of Louisiana red clay taken from the banks of the Bayou Teche. Red cypress was used throughout the house. Fully matured trees from one to two thousand years old were selected in the swamp and cut and used for the house. About 1938 the building was converted to use as a Post Office and several modifications were made to the building. The original kitchen outside the main house was converted to a boiler room. A vault was added in the main house and several partitions were removed to make a lobby and work room. The original structure, however, is very well documented in the blueprints for the Post Office conversion. The exterior of the structure was renovated on a brick by brick basis and no substantial change was made. By and large the change to Post Office usage was done without significant alteration of the basic building.
Representative Men
E.A. Duchamp: Born as Eugene Auguste Duchamp on 5 Jul 1837 in Morris County, New Jersey, to his parents Jean Baptisite Eugene Duchamp de Chastaigne and Marie Euphemie Merope Martin de la Martinere.
Married at age 23 on 20 Sep 1860 in St. Martinville, LA to Marie Amelie Sandoz, daughter of David Francois Sandoz and Christine Claire Labbe.
E.A. assisted his father in the drug store during the Civil War and was the original occupant of the H.P. Fournet Residence, now known as La Maison Duchamp, in memory of its first residents, the E. A. Duchamp family.
Eugene Auguste Duchamp De Chastaignier was an early mayor of St. Martinville. He took an active part in all the affairs of the city and parish. For thirty years he served as president of the St. Martin Parish Police Jury. He was also noted as a business leader and civic worker. It is said that the Duchamp family lost an estimated fortune of $75,000 between 1880 and 1884. In 1885 the premises was sold to Husville P. Fournet, a wealthy merchant. The Fournet heirs held the property until 1938 when it was acquired by the U. S. Post Office Department to be restored and used at the local Post Office. Died at the age 61 on 6 Sep 1898. Buried at St. Martin of Tours Cemetery, according to the Louisiana Society Daughters of the American Revolution’s Louisiana Tombstone Inscriptions, volume 7, pages 1-40, compiled between 1954 and 1957. However, the tombstone cannot be found in the current cemetary.
Open to Public? By appointment
Other Info Contact: 337-394-2229
Sources:
“Lease on Duchamp House OK” by Robert R. Jones III, January 2011, techetoday.com
“Evangeline Oak Park” (fact sheet from city of St. Martinville)
1896 in Le Petit Paris: Turning the Century in Southwest Louisiana by Lawrence F.M. Capuder, Sr.
Address 200 South Main Street, St. Martinville, LA 70582
Year Built ca. 1830-1840
Building History
Located on Main Street, it was built by David Sandoz ca. 1840s. The upper floor originally housed space for plays, dances, traveling shows and other entertainment. The Bienvenu Brothers kept a dry-goods store here throughout the twentieth century and donated the building to the city in 2001. Merchandise was on sale on the first floor, and on the second, a newly renovated performance space.
The arts thrived in Le Petit Paris as the town came to be known. The Duchamp Opera House was built in the 1830s. Until the fin de siecle, it was the town’s centerpiece, visited by traveling dance troupes, opera from New Orleans and local theatre productions. In the early 20th C, the Bienvenu family acquired the building and established Bienvenu Brothers, Leaders of Fashion. This department store served the community for many years. In 1998, the descendents of the Bienvenu family gifted the structure to the City of St. Martinville prompting an ambitious renaissance for this historic building and the arts.
The Duchamp Opera House showcases regional arts, antiques, gifts, and provides a venue for and supports the performing arts. The Opera House was built in the 1840s. At street level it was home to a feed and tack store and on the second floor was a community theatre, hosted Mardi Gras balls and traveling operas from New Orleans (for half a century). From 1928-1994, owned by the Bienvenu family, it was the house of an upscale department store selling name brand clothing, hats, and hand tailored suits made in New Orleans, etc. They served the community for about 80 years. In 1998, The Bienvenue family donated the structure to the city to be used as a historic site and an anchor for cultural and economic activities. The downstairs is being used by the local artist of our community while the upstairs is used by local theatre groups, and public and private events. The building was restored starting in 1998 and completed in late 2000 costing 800,000 of grand money and donations. The Upstairs Opera House seats 120.
The basic form of this building dates from ca. 1830-1840 when it was built by David Sandoz. The attic construction reveals a modified Norman truss roof. The brick front with parapet was added ca. 1915 when upper galleries which existed on the front and side were removed and present shopfront built. The upper floor housed the Duchamp Opera House where local plays, dances, traveling shows and other entertainment was held.
Building Description
Basic form dates from c.1830. Two-story building with Norman truss roof and opera house on second floor. Originally had galleries on front and side. Greek Revival details remain on interior. Brick front with parapet added c.1915, galleries removed, and present shop front built.
Open to Public? Yes
Other Info Open Mon-Sat, 10am-5pm. Building manager: Hillery Peltier. Tel: (337) 394-6604. Home of the Evangeline Players, see website for schedule www.evangelineplayers.com, Contact: 337-394-6604
Sources:
“The Duchamp Opera House Histoire” flyer by The Duchamp Opera House & Mercantile
“Duchamp Opera House” (from city records)
“Evangeline Oak Park” (fact sheet from city of St. Martinville)
