.  Houmas – Burnside Era      
On a great curve of the Mississippi River and on high ground first selected by the Houmas Indians stand the great Tuscan columns of The Houmas.  The mighty Mississippi River gave birth to this land over the millennium, creating the fertile lands which became the great fields of Sugar Cane, Cotton, Corn, Indigo, tobacco and more.  The richness of the land, great forests of cypress, and the abundance of wildlife for hunting attracted settlers in the early 1700’s and eventually into the hands of the Great Sugar Barons in the early 1800’s.  In 1803 Donaldson and Scott built a new center hall cottage directly in front of the1700’s French House. In 1829, General Wade Hampton began the task of enlarging the Donaldson Cottage and transforming it into the Classical Revival Mansion that stands today.  For over 240 years, the Houmas Mansion has evolved and grew with the times and with the owners of the great mansion.   The great colonnade has not changed since 1829, when General Hampton set out to build a mansion fitting for his wife, Mary Cantey Hampton.