Product Description

Author and photographer Richard Sexton's in-depth visual journey through the hidden mansions of Louisiana's River Road, some inhabited, many now long abandoned, is back in stock. Bordering the Mississippi, these antebellum landmarks were once the epitome of gracious living in the Deep South. Over the past century, these grand dwellings have slowly succumbed to time, humidity, and the reclamation of the land: first by nature, then by real-estate developers who built subdivisions, oil refineries, and strip malls where curtains of Spanish moss once swayed from the live oaks. This collection featuring over 200 haunting color photographs with extensive captions explaining the architectural significance and history of each structure is a beautiful elegy for a rapidly disappearing landscape and its ghosts.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #678981 in Books
• Published on: 1999-11-01
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 1.16" h x 10.13" w x 9.97" l, 3.47 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

From Library Journal
In 1716 John Law, in what McCaffety calls a "real-estate scam," persuaded the Duc d'Orleans to sell shares for a French settlement. A flood wiped out the settlement in the first year, but the colonists continued to come. By the mid-19th century, New Orleans was the busiest port in the world, with a strange alchemy of European, Carbbean, and American influences in character and architecture that is totally unique. NPR's recent report on the damage done in Louisiana and particularly in New Orleans by the voracious Formosa termite makes viewing these two books of stylish photography even more poignant. Award-winning photographer McCaffety (Obituary Cocktail: The Great Saloons of New Orleans) lovingly records scenes of luxury and decay in the Vieux Carr or the French Quarter of New Orleans. McCaffety offers the reader views that elude the countless tourists. We are privy to private, antiques-filled residences, walled courtyards with balconies and fountains, lush tropical gardens--what she calls "the city's hidden memory." Sexton's work looks at "the River Road," a stretch of highway that links New Orleans to Baton Rouge. The National Trust for Historic Preservation has identified the area as one of the most endangered historic sites in the United States. Law's influence was shown here also, as he was given a charter to increase the French population to 10,000 in a ten-year period. Likewise, a distinctive architecture evolved here: the plantation on the river with a dominant main house. Much of the style is still around, and with aerial photographer Alex MacLean, Sexton captures the grandeur. We see standing chimneys from lost glorious homes, stately houses still active and enjoyed, and plantations of historical note. Sexton also shows other notable architecture and its geography--tenement "shotgun" houses, cemeteries, churches, steamboat landings, levees, swamp, sugarcane, and massive oaks hanging with Spanish Moss are occasionally interspersed by abandoned oil refineries and massive new petro-chemical operations. Both of these books are essential regional purchases, but they are also highly recommended for architecture, photography, and history collections everywhere.
-Joseph C. Hewgley, Nashville P.L.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Baton Rouge Advocate
No one interested in Louisiana history should fail to get a copy of this book. It's not just pretty pictures. This might be the one coffee-table book that you want to give as a Christmas present this year. Do yourself a favor and take a look at it.

About the Author
Richard Sexton is also the author of In the Victorian Style and The Cottage Book. Visit Richard at: www.richardsextonstudio.com