Charles Mouton Plantation

This house was built by Charles Mouton (1797-1848), son of Lafayette founder, Jean Mouton (1754-1834). It was built on property that was once part of Jean’s plantation of over 300 acres. Charles acquired the property from his father in 1818. He built the house just prior to his marriage to Marie Julie Latiolais in 1821. Charles and Julie’s son, Charles Homer Mouton, was elected Louisiana Lieutenant governor in 1855. He acquired the property in 1854 from his father’s succession. This French Creole Louisiana raised cottage design is a prime example of the South Louisiana Acadian adaptation of the French building type for the sub-tropical, wet climate of South Louisiana. As early as the 1890s four additional large homes were built along North Sterling Street. These properties had rear yards that extended back to Moss Street. They are featured in this book as the Hanley-Gueno House, built c. 1902, shown on page 41; the Givens Townhouse, built in 1893, shown on page 85; Givens Cottage, built in 1897, shown on page 114; and John Nickerson House, built circa 1891, shown on page 93. Mouton’s remaining property was subdivided into commercial and residential lots within the two decades immediately following the turn of the 20th century.