North & South

He was tall, handsome and athletic. He was a man's man and a woman's dream (at least this woman's dream.) And best of all he was a Texan. Born and bred. He was an actor, dancer and before that a star athlete. He was young and fit the part of Rory in the made for T.V. mini-series North & South like he'd been born for it. Unfortunately, Patrick Swayze died too young. 

I mention this because while we were visiting this idyllic little spot in Louisiana there were as I've said before many other visitors. And apparently according to our host, filming in and around the area isn't something new. Film crews are old hat for these folks. 

Rosedown viewed from it's original entrance including the
oak allee.

But not for us. We were intrigued. As either before we visited or after there was filming going on at several different locations. One of the plantations that we visited appears quite often in film. It is the Rosedown Plantation.    

It was one of our stops and is now a state owned historic site. I can understand why it has been used in many period films. It was well restored, most of the furniture is original to the house & in excellent condition, and the house has many features which sets it apart from other plantations. 

For example the "ladies privy" which has a decorative medallion set in the ceiling for the edification of the ladies. It was the equivalent at that time of the multi-million dollar baths you see on HG T.V. now. And no I did not take pictures of it. Really? No. An outhouse by any standards is still an outhouse. You can dress it up, you can call it what you'd like but in the end it is still a structure built over holes in the ground, even thought it was a three seater. And it was used through the mid 1950s by the family as there was still no running water in the home.

The home took six months build and cost $13, 109.20. 

Hibiscus in the garden. Loved the color of it.

Slave stairs. These were entered from the
Butler's pantry. Steep and narrow.

They had an indoor shower!
There was a cistern on the roof which
filled with rain water and was heated
by the sun. You pulled the rope, and
water would come down on you. The
tin thing beside the rope was the tub.

The view from the upper gallery to the entrance gates along
with a small view of the parterre.

The original lock and door knob. The key is an old skeleton
key.

The original tie backs for the drapes. 

th 

Flowers from the garden.

More of the flowers, there was so
much in bloom.

The hydrangeas were in bloom as you can see. Blue in color
here.

Lots of these feathery style flowers on
very large bushes.

Pink hydrangeas.

Lavendar.

White

I'm not sure what this is, but it was so beautiful. I'd love to
have one in my yard.

A view of the fountains and the summer house.

More of the lovely flowers. 

Dragonfly

The doctors house.

Barn

The water fountain had been covered by ivy. You could
almost miss it if you weren't looking for it.

A rock feature that dates from the building of the house.

Mr. Butterfly on some more of the flowers.

This is an old fashioned fly catcher. I am trying
to find one of these. Just love the idea.

The milk shed.

Nina's wing.