ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST PARISH - The San Francisco Plantation home was completed in 1856 by Edmon Bonzonier Marmillion. He built the home for his two remaining sons after he lost his wife and six other children to tuberculosis.
His son Charles was already here, but his other son Vaslin returned home Europe with his wife and three daughters for what they thought would only be a two-week trip.
“They walked in and found out his father had died, and Vaslin was now the head man at the plantation,” General Manager Kim Fontenot said.
Along with the beautiful plantation and home came debt. Valsin declared he was “sans fruscins” – meaning “without a penny.” That name stuck.
The plantation is known for its intricate design with hand-painted ceilings and door panels, faux marbling and faux wood graining throughout. The house is so distinctive, it inspired Frances Parkinson Keyes to write a novel featuring it titled “Steamboat Gothic.”
Visitors can see Valsin’s wife: Louise Von Seybold’s Bavarian influence throughout, including the bright colors the exterior is painted.
Louise was from Munich, Germany and she never envisioned running a sugar plantation in Louisiana. In 1879, after the deaths of her husband and brother-in-law, she sold the plantation for a mere $50,000 and returned home to Europe.
But the name of the plantation evolved when it changed owners.
“The next people, the Bougere’s, didn’t want to be known as a poor plantation, so they anglicized it by saying San Francisco,” Fontenot said.
During her time in Louisiana though, she wrote over a hundred letters to relatives in Germany. Nearly a century later, one of Louise’s relatives traveled to New Orleans for a physician’s conference. The relative was staying a the Hotel Monteleone and the hotel staff made sure to point them to the plantation.
“That’s when we found out about the letters, and so 40 years later I am finally getting the book published,” Fontenot said.
For about the past 16 years, Tulane University Professor Olaf Schmidt has been working on translating the letters from old German to modern German and finally to English.
“He has taken the letters and done research from St. John Parish to Paris, France to Bravaria, Germany. He has written the story. Not just the letters, he’s written the story of Louise’s life in south Louisiana and pre- and post-Civil War,” Fontenot said.
They hope to have the book published by March.
The plantation used to be 1,500 acres and the front yard used to run all the way to the river. But in the 1940s, the Army Corps of Engineers came in and built the levees. The plantation owner at the time went all the way to Washington D.C. to make sure the house would not be destroyed. Unfortunately, they did lose the front yard to the project.
The San Francisco Plantation is open for daily tours. It is a national historic landmark and part of the Plantation Parade.
The location hosts about 40 weddings a year and have a bridal show. It also plays host to a wine tasting and haunted house tour in late October. Its annual Frisco Fest is March 16th and 17th.
Today, the San Francisco Plantation also remembers and honors the 89 slaves that worked on the plantation through restored living quarters and artifacts on display. It is also building a memorial wall to honor the enslaved, which is expected to be finished in January.