Jean Baptiste Mouton House

This building is listed on the National Register as the Sidney Martin House. On the Lafayette Historic Register, the building is named for its first owner and builder, Jean Baptiste Mouton. Jean Baptiste Mouton was the first son of Lafayette’s founder, Jean Mouton. The house is one of only four, original French Creole Louisiana Raised Cottage plantation homes remaining in Lafayette Parish, that includes a full double story and attic. The property was once part of Jean’s plantation, and it was bequeathed to Jean Baptiste to allow him to make his living as a planter. He died three years later. Jean Baptiste’s was widowed in 1831, three years before his father died. His second wife, Elizabeth Tabasse Andrews, whom he married shortly before this house was completed, reared the children from Jean Baptiste’s first marriage in this house. She lived in the house for approximately 55 years, surviving all of Jean Baptiste’s children. In 1919, major modifications were made to the 2nd story roofline and front columns. Thankfully, subsequent owners, Frank and Rita Preston, restored the building to its original condition. Today the property is in use as a single-family private residence in a suburban neighborhood.