The land was granted by Spain to Thomas Villanueva Barroso[5] who, 10 years later, sold it to Pierre Denis de La Ronde whose son-in-law, Adolphe Ducros, developed it into the Ducros Plantation.[6][7] In 1845, Ducros sold it to Colonel Van Perkins Winder.[5][8] Winder expanded the acreage by purchasing adjacent land formerly owned by Thomas Butler and smaller farms.[4]
The mansion was built by Winder's widow, Martha Grundy, who was Felix Grundy's daughter, shortly after her husband's death.[1][7] Construction began in 1859 and was completed in 1860.[4] It was designed in the Greek Revival architectural style.[3] Martha hired a Louisiana architect named Evens and told him to model the mansion on The Hermitage, Andrew Jackson's plantation home in Nashville, Tennessee.[4] Indeed, she had grown up in Nashville.[4]
During the American Civil War of 1861–1865, the mansion was saved from a fire by Union General Godfrey Weitzel.[4] However, the outbuildings burned down.[4] Meanwhile, the fields were used as a camping ground by the Confederate States Army and the Unionists.[4] The Texas Rangers hoisted Bonnie Blue Flag, a flag of the Confederate States of America, on top of the house.[4]
In 1872, the plantation was purchased by two brothers, R.S. Woods and R.C. Woods, who were married to two sisters, Maggie Pugh and Fannie Pugh.[4] It became known as the Old Jackson Plantation.[9] It is two-story high, with a white facade.[1]
It was purchased by Samuel and Leon Polmer in 1909.[10] It was later inherited by Leon Polmer's sons, Irvin and Marvin.[10] In 1974, it was inherited by J.L. Fischman of New Orleans.[11]
The plantation is now owned by the Bourgeois family.[11] It was featured on If These Walls Could Talk, a television program on HGTV, in 2002.[11] Old wood with inscriptions about the secession of South Carolina and the presidential run of Stephen A. Douglas in 1860 have been found on the property.[11]
