Nickerson-Chappuis House

This bungalow is one of the largest and most well-preserved, iconically Craftsman houses in Lafayette. It also has the distinction of belonging to the family credited with its construction for over 80 years. The house was built by John Cameron Nickerson and son-in-law, Wick B. Vennard, at the Vennard sawmill in McNary, Louisiana. It was then moved via water transport to Lafayette. Around 1890, John Cameron’s father, John Nickerson, built the house next door at 310 North Sterling Street. Simcoe Street was named sometime between 1890 and 1901 for the Nickerson family’s home town, Simcoe, Ontario, Canada. John Nickerson and his wife, Elizabeth Ransome Nickerson, moved from Simcoe, Ontario to Lafayette in 1878 when their son, John Cameron Nickerson, was 18 years old. John Cameron married Bella Judice, daughter of Alcide Judice, who was the founder of Scott, Louisiana. Both parents of this marriage were large planters in the post-slavery era, and John Cameron was a planter as well as a business man and  civic leader. He was one of the first men in the area to become active in the oil industry. Several streets in Lafayette bear names from the Nickerson family, who developed large parcels of land near both ends of Simcoe Street.