Thursday, December 15, 2011

Louisiana’s Old Governor’s Mansion

Last week, we went on a field trip to tour the Old Governor’s Mansion of our great state of Louisiana.  It’s a before mansion that looks just like the White House which is how they designed it.
Except from their website:
The history of the Old Governor’s Mansion as presented, spans the period from 1930 to 1963. The Mansion is a focal point for students of Louisiana history. The knowledgeable guides enjoy sharing some of the little known tidbits. The story is told through changing and permanent exhibits.
Built to resemble the White House with tall columns and in the Georgian style, the Mansion does indeed look very much like the house at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The architectural details of the house are fascinating and give added opulence. The grandeur of the Old Governor’s Mansion impresses all that come to visit.

(This picture was copied from their website.)

pyv-Mansion We waited in the lovely living area which was empty except a piano and a pretty bench along the wall close to the piano.  Here’s one of the moms and her daughter playing with the mirrors. 

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Lovely tassels and chandeliers

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 Decorated for Christmas

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This was our group for this field trip which represented 6 families from Bayou Cajun Homeschoolers.

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They split us up into 3 different groups for the tour so we all started in different places of the mansion.

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The mirrors in the living room which looks like a banquet or dance hall are built into the walls not hung.  If you look into the mirror the chandeliers look like they go on for infinity.

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The dining room

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The breakfast area

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The middle picture is an original Audubon drawing.

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Huey P. Long’s Office

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Our tour guide asked the children to look for the pelican in the room.  (The pelican is our state bird.)  Needless to say, she didn’t realize how many pelicans besides what she wanted them to find were in the room.  She was wanting them to find the pelican on the desk which is our state seal.

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Pictures hanging along the wall in the hallway 

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Huey P. Long’s bedroom

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Showing us his bathroom

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Showers were rare during this time period.  Also, the green toilet is missing.  During one of the renovations, the toilet never returned.

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The Sun Parlor

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Another bedroom

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The frame of this picture was made from cigar boxes!

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The covered porch in the back of the mansion.

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Cade and Isaac

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Emma found another pelican on this door knob.

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Governor Jimmie Davis wrote our state song, “You are My Sunshine.” 

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In this purple bathroom, it’s missing a purple bath tub.  Yes, it never returned along with the green toilet.  They said to be on the look out for those two items.

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Going down the staircase 

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Ian shaking hands with Huey P. Long ;)

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Shelby Kids

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Shelby Kids with their Momma

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Part of our group in front of the mansion

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Shelby and Lindsay Kids

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 Candi and I were asked if we would be willing to let the mansion take pictures of our families during the tour to use for their new brochure.  We said yes and signed consent forms which is why they put our two families together.

The pictures below are some of the photos from the photographer that they shared with us:

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I love this picture of Candi’s little girl, Micah, looking at the toys.

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This is the picture that is going to be used in the brochure.

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Love this one of Asa!

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Looking down the secret staircase.

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It was a great and informative field trip.  I think everyone enjoyed it.  It was full of Louisiana history and tidbits.

1 comment:

Cinnamon said...

Love that mansion :-)

How neat you'll be in the brochure! Fun, fun, fun~

~Cinnamon