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93 Rosedown Plantation is located about five miles from St. Francisville in West Feliciana Parish. It was built by contractor Wendell Wright (n.d.)—who also worked as a builder for the West Feliciana Railroad—for Daniel Turnbull (1796–1861) and his wife, Martha Hilliard (née Barrow; 1809–1896), at the exact recorded cost of $13,109.20. Turnbull’s journal indicates that work progressed quickly, beginning on November 3, 1834, and completed by May 1, 1835. The main house exhibits many characteristic Greek Revival features found among neighboring plantations, such as double galleries, Doric columns, Federal elliptical arch doorways, fanlights, and an entablature with triglyphs and metopes. Greek Revival wings designed by T. S. Williams (n.d.) were added to the main house between 1844 and 1845. Martha supervised the development of a 28-acre garden and the planting of an allée of oaks leading to the main house, shown in one of Tebbs’s photographs. The 1850 census records 347 slaves owned by the Turnbulls living at Rosedown. Sarah T. Turnbull (1831–1914), who married James Pirrie Bowman (1832–1927), inherited the house near the end of the nineteenth century. Thereafter, sisters Corrie (1872–1929), Isabel (1876–1951), Sarah (1861–1952), and Nina (1869–1954) Turnbull jointly owned Rosedown. They reportedly performed some of the manual labor required to operate the plantation following the Civil War, when the property was in debt. Milton and Catherine Fondren Underwood purchased Rosedown from the Turnbull family in 1956. The couple hired landscape architect Ralph Ellis Gunn and New Orleans architect George M. Leake, and invested several million dollars in comprehensive renovations of the gardens and buildings. By the time of Catherine’s death in 1970, Rosedown was among the most intact nineteenth-century plantation complexes in the state and retained much of its original furnishings. Gene Raymond Slivka purchased Rosedown in 1994. After living at the plantation for several years, Slivka began selling much of the original furniture and part of the library, as well as the twelve original Italian sculptures that the Turnbulls had purchased in Florence, Italy, in 1851. The Louisiana Office of State Parks bought Rosedown in 2000 and opened it to the public. Extensive excavations by state archaeologists have focused on living patterns of the plantation’s slaves. ROSEDOWN PLANTATION 1834–1835/1844–1845 (left) Rosedown Plantation (detail of interior with oil-burning chandelier, portrait, cast of an antique sculpture, and plaster ceiling medallion), vintage gelatin silver print, Louisiana State Museum, 1956.087.058b (right) Rosedown Plantation (detail of copper downspout catch with date and eagle motif), vintage gelatin silver print, Louisiana State Museum, 1956.087.062b Rosedown Plantation (mahogany staircase), vintage gelatin silver print, Louisiana State Museum, 1956.087.063 94 Welham Plantation (three-quarter view from the front), vintage gelatin silver print, Louisiana State Museum, 1956.087.299b ...

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