Kenmore Plantation House

The Kenmore Plantation House is a historic plantation located two miles north of Maringouin, Louisiana. The house was constructed on a cotton plantation of the same name by David Barrow in the 1850s and used as a hunting lodge for several years. By the time the Barrows moved in on a permanent basis, they were one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in the South. Time passed and as they outgrew the house, their interest waned. In 1913, the house and plantation were acquired by Dr. William Archie Holloway of Plaquemine, whose father had been the owner of the Evergreen Plantation below Plaquemine. Over the next several years the house was neglected as Dr. Holloway maintained his own comfortable residence in the city of Plaquemine. It was not until his son, James Madison Holloway, took over the plantation and made it his residence that the house was finally attended to.

The plantation's historical significance lies mostly in the petroleum deposits discovered beneath the grounds of the plantation. However, the house is also of a fairly unusual design compared to other large houses built in the same era. The original four main rooms were separated by a center hall. The house is raised over five feet above ground level, something that is rarely seen with the center hall layout. Comparable center hall houses in the area, such as El Dorado and Mound House, do not share this quality (however, the latter of these two examples is unique in its own right, having been constructed atop an Indian burial mound). Since original construction, the house has undergone several renovations, one of which the center hall did not survive. Upon construction, the mansion was oriented towards Bayou Grosse Tete; However, for practical purposes, the house was reoriented to face the current blacktop highway in 1918. Later renovations saw the addition of bathrooms, and removal of a large central dormer. The house also saw the addition of a large kitchen wing. The original structure, originally only four rooms, now contains three bedrooms, one bathroom, and large dining and living rooms. In the early 2000s, the house underwent another major renovation, overseen by the James family.

Kenmore House remained the center of an active sugarcane plantation until the holdings of the Holloway Planting Company were sold to a railroad company in 1981. However, the Holloway family continued to inhabit Kenmore House until the year 2000, and retain mineral rights over the land. Kenmore Plantation is now home to Triton Farms, a registered brahman cattle operation.