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from History of Architecture in the Americas I, Fall 2008, Master in Preservation Studies, Tulane School of Architecture, Professor Ann Masson
Citation preview
Early French Canadian Architectural Types of
the French Colonial Period
Anthony DelRosario
History of the Architecture in the Americas I
Professor Ann Masson
Master in Preservation Studies
Tulane School of Architecture
1 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
Anthony DelRosario – Masters of Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture
The French Colonial empire in North America lasted for over two centuries,
from the founding of Port Royal, Nova Scotia in 1605 to the Louisiana Purchase in
1803. During this period, New France grew from an outpost on the North Atlantic
seaboard, to the St. Lawrence River valley, across the Great Lakes, and down the
Mississippi River valley. Despite the immense expanse of the area, very few
French Colonial buildings outside of Canada remain. However, one can trace the
lasting impact of early French Canadian architecture of the French Colonial period
to several buildings throughout Louisiana. The architectural types of French
Colonial Canada will be explored via the history of the colony and these types will
be compared to the architecture of Louisiana.
Short History of the French Colonial Empire in Canada Exploration and Failed Beginnings
By the end of the fifteenth century, Europeans were seeking a route to the
Orient by going west. One of the first explorers was John Cabot who was
dispatched by Henry the VII of England in 1497. King Francis I of France sent an
Italian, Giovanni da Verrazzano, to scout the Atlantic seaboard in 1524. Ten years
later, during the first of three expeditions, Jacques Cartier planted the flag of France
at the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. In 1541, Cartier returned to North America
for a third time with the Sieur de Roberval and attempted to establish the first
permanent European settlement in North America at Charlesbourg-Royal. By 1543,
Charlesbourg-Royal was abandoned due to poor weather conditions, disease, and
unfriendly relations with the native Iroquoians. For the next sixty years, France (and
2 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
Anthony DelRosario – Masters of Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture
all other European nations) did not attempt to establish another permanent
settlement in what is now Canada. During this period, the French mainly used the
North Atlantic seaboard for fishing and beaver hunting. (Bowerman)
New France Takes Hold and Construction Begins
More extensive fur trading led to new efforts of French colonization in North
America. Samuel de Champlain was hired by Pierre du Gaust, Sieur de monts, who
had acquired the exclusive trading rights in Canada from the king of France, Henry
IV. (Reps 47) After a failed attempt the previous year at Ste. Croix Island (or
Douchet Island) in what is now Maine, in 1605 Champlain established Port Royal on
the western coast of Nova Scotia in a harbor off the Bay of Fundy. (Reps 48-49)
The Port Royal Habitation was a very basic fortification layout of a simple rectangle
of buildings around a central courtyard with two bastions for protection – “a French
post-medieval fortified farm dwelling, translated to North America in the era of the
early attempts at French colonization of the continent.” (Rosinski 4) In the
courtyard, the settlers created the first European seed garden in North America.
(Marsh) At this site, the French constructed their buildings with a process of hewn
horizontal logs laid atop of one another called “pièce-sur-pièce”. According to
Edwards and Kariouk in A Creole Lexicon, pièce-sur-pièce is an abbreviation of
pièce de bois sur pièce de bois (piece of wood on piece of wood), a “method
originated in New France, probably in 1605 at the military site of l’Habitation at Port
Royal in Acadie (Nova Scotia), where military engineers constructed a small fort at
the first permanent North American French settlement.” The method was adopted
3 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
Anthony DelRosario – Masters of Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture
into vernacular construction that spread throughout Canada and the Mississippi
Valley. (153) The style of the buildings of Port Royal with steep roof forms (Figs. 1
and 2) imitated that of buildings found in the cold regions of France. (Moogk 23)
The pièce-sur-pièce construction method created a good insulation, while the steep
roof kept snow and water from collecting.
Fig. 1: Reconstruction of Port Royal Fig. 2: Champlain’s sketch of Port Royal Samuel de Champlain returned to Canada in 1608 to establish a trading post
farther inland up the St. Lawrence River. He reached the site of Quebec and
claimed it for France and built a massive, wooden fortification called “L’Habitation”
(Fig. 3) on a narrow shelf by the St. Lawrence River. During the early years, the
town grew around l’Habitation in a medieval fashion with the fortress as a radial
endpoint. By 1615 early residents of the town included traders and missionaries
who created the beginning of town life with houses and a chapel. (Reps 49)
4 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
Anthony DelRosario – Masters of Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture
Fig. 3: L’Habitation, Quebec
Montreal was established in 1642 by Paul Chomedey, Sieur de
Maisonneuve, and became the third major French settlement along the St.
Lawrence River (eight years after Trois-Rivières). As with Quebec, early residents
of the town included traders and missionaries. Churches and chapels (Fig. 4) were
often among the earliest buildings of these settlements. Many buildings were built
with a method often found in France called colombage pierroté, a half-timber
construction with stone rubble and plaster of lime in-fill. This method was “a
substitute for solid wooden walls at a time when wood was increasingly expensive
in western France. Nevertheless, the French builders perpetuated the technique in
New France (and) Upper Louisiana…where wood was abundant.” (Edwards and
Kariouk 65) However, with a nearly limitless supply of timber, builders in New
France often utilized the pièce-sur-pièce method that originated at Port Royal to
create better insulation.
5 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
Anthony DelRosario – Masters of Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture
Fig. 4: sketch of early church at the site of Montreal
Expansion
In the second half of the seventeenth century, New France saw a period of
significant growth. In 1663, Quebec officially became a royal province of France.
To populate this area of invigorated interest, King Louis XIV sent a shipload of
women for the settlers in the province (Fig. 5).
Fig. 5: Men of New France welcome women sent by King Louis XIV
After setting up missions in the western Great Lakes area and learning of a
great river from the local native tribes, French missionary Father Jacques Marquette
was joined by Louis Joliet, a French Canadian explorer, in 1673 to search for the
Mississippi River. Marquette and Joliet found and traveled the river to the mouth of
6 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
Anthony DelRosario – Masters of Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture
the Arkansas River and turned back for fear of encountering Spanish explorers
further downriver. Nine years later Robert de LaSalle canoed down to the mouth of
the Mississippi and laid claim to entire Mississippi River basin for King Louis XIV. In
the following decades, these explorations lead to the founding of settlements along
the Mississippi River at such sites as Ste. Genevieve, Missouri (1735), Cahokia,
Illinois (1696), and New Orleans, Louisiana (1718).
Fig. 6: extent of the French Colonial empire in North America
As the colony grew in size (Fig. 6), the original settlements along the St.
Lawrence River also grew. A metropolitan vision began to take shape after Quebec
became a royal province. City planning became more regularized. The first three
major settlements (Québec City, Montréal and Trois-Rivières) were established in a
medieval conception of aristocratic ‘bourg’ (town) was marked off from the ‘faux
bourg’ (suburb or ‘false town’) (Marsh). New gridded plans were drawn up for these
cities as well as new fortifications based on concepts from Sébastien Le Prestre,
Seigneur de Vauban, the great French military engineer (Figs. 7, 8 & 9). Vauban’s
7 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
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influence on fortification design would also be seen in the designs of New Orleans,
Mobile, and Biloxi.
Fig. 7: Montreal
Fig. 8: Louisbourg
Fig. 9: Quebec
8 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
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While the builders in the rural settlements continued to use the familiar half-
timbered colombage construction method, more permanent methods were being
used in the cities.
Monumental architecture in the metropolis had an early impact on the
cityscape of the new provincial capital: the Château Saint-Louis (1647,
1692), the Church and College of the Jesuits (1666, 1725), the Cathedral of
Québec City (1684) and the Episcopal Palace (1692) imposingly embodied
the principles of French classicism, which religious communities and orders
adopted in their turn. In Québec City, Montréal and Trois-Rivières
monumental structures were built whose scale and formal expression,
seemingly at odds with the vast uncleared tracts round about, left an imprint
on the built landscape as a whole. (Marsh)
The two versions of the Château Saint-Louis greatly influenced the style of
rural dwellings throughout the following century. (Marsh) The first Château Saint-
Louis (Fig. 10) built in 1647 by Charles Jacques Huault de Montmagny, the
governor of New France after Champlain, was a larger version of the double pitched
roof houses found in France with a slight modification. The houses in France often
had a roof-to-living space height ratio of two-to-one; the first Château Saint-Louis
and the houses influenced by it design had a roof-to-living space height ratio of
closer to one-to-one. A prime example of a house in this style is the Boucher-de-
Niverville Manor (Fig. 11) in Trois-Rivières built in 1729. This style continued to be
built in Louisiana, as seen in Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop (1772) found in the French
Quarter of New Orleans (Fig. 12). The second Château Saint-Louis (Fig. 13) built in
1692 by Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau, another governor of
9 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
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New France, was also double pitched, but in addition, was also hipped. The
influence of this style was found in buildings throughout Quebec (Fig. 14) and down
the Mississippi River in New Orleans (Fig. 15).
Fig. 10: first Château Saint-Louis, Quebec, 1683
Fig. 11: Boucher-de- Niverville Manor, Trois-Rivières Fig. 12: Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop, New Orleans
10 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
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Fig. 13: second Château Saint-Louis, Quebec, 1683
Fig. 14: Manoir Mauvide-Genest, Ile d’Orleans, 1750 Fig. 15: Faubourg Marigny, New Orleans, ~1820
Fig. 16: Jesuits’ College and Church, Quebec, 1666
11 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
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The Church of the Jesuits (Fig. 16) in Quebec City was a large version of the
simple chapels and churches that had been and continued to be built in New
France. The exterior form of these buildings was usually quite plain – a gabled roof
with a single tall spire at one of the gabled ends that also had the main entrance.
Between 1669 and 1680, Mgr de Laval, first Bishop of Quebec, commissioned a
series of churches for the parishes around Quebec. According to Alan Gowans:
They were small, and from a world viewpoint hardly significant; but to the
history of architecture in Canada they are very important, for it was in them
that the first distinctively Canadian architectural forms appeared. Not that
any of their individual features were new – any one of them could have been
found, in one place or another, in French architecture of the period. What
made them distinctive was the peculiar way these features were combined.
Nowhere in France is there precisely the same combination of high-pitched
roof and transept, splayed eaves, niches, quoins, oculus, spire, as here.
(Looking at Architecture in Canada, 41)
This design continued to dominate the construction style of churches in Quebec
through the eighteenth century (Fig. 17) as Laval’s successor, Bishop Saint-Vallier,
“strove to maintain standardization in church design” after he created eighty-two
parishes in 1721. (Kalman 71) On the outside, these parish churches were
diametrically opposite of the twin towered ornate churches found throughout
Colonial Spain. However, the Canadian and Mexican churches often shared a
Baroque lavishness on the inside.
12 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
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Fig. 17: Example of an eighteenth century parish church
A sketch of Montreal (Fig. 4) when first settled shows a simple church in this
style built in the pièce-sur-pièce method. Often the church would have small
extensions from the sides to create a cross-shaped building. Most rural churches
that survive today in the province of Quebec are the third or fourth built on the site
as the earliest churches were framed in wood that deteriorated and the use of stone
was uncommon until about 1730. (Traquair 135) In addition to the pièce-sur-pièce
method, colombage construction was commonly utilized for churches throughout
Quebec. Along the Mississippi River, churches were also built with the colombage
method, for example the chapel at Fort St. Jean Baptiste, Louisiana built around
1730 and the Holy Family Log Church in Cahokia, Illinois built in 1799. These two
churches were built using two different post methods that were common in New
France. The chapel at Fort St. Jean Baptiste was constructed with the poteaux-en-
13 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
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terre method in which the timber frame of the wall was created by posts set in the
ground. While at Cahokia, the poteaux-sur-solle method was used in which the
timber frame of the wall was created by posts mounted onto a heavy sill which was
either set on the ground or raised off the ground. In Louisiana, very few churches
influenced by this simple style remain and they are in rural areas.
Conflict and Loss
From the late seventeenth century until the late eighteenth century, France
was in almost constant conflict with England over North American territory. During
this period, the two countries engaged in four conflicts called the Intercolonial Wars
in Quebec and called the French and Indian Wars in America. In 1702, the second
of these wars, also known as Queen Anne’s War, began as a fight for Acadia. In
1710, the British took control of France’s first permanent settle in North America,
Port Royal. The Treaty of Utrecht was signed in 1713 and gave Britain possession
all of Hudson Bay, all of Newfoundland, and Acadia (which was renamed Nova
Scotia) except for except l'Ie- Royale (Cape Breton Island). France still held
possession of Quebec and in 1717 constructed Fort Louisbourg (Fig. 20) on l'Ie-
Royale to keep the British from invading the St. Lawrence River. By 1755 the fourth
and final conflict had begun and the British expelled all French Canadians
(Acadians) from Nova Scotia that would not pledge allegiance to Britain (Fig. 18).
This scattered the Acadians throughout the American colonies including Louisiana
where their ancestors became known as Cajuns.
14 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
Anthony DelRosario – Masters of Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture
Fig. 18: The Great Expulsion – le Grand Dérangement, 1755
From 1758 to 1760, the major French fortifications of Louisbourg, Quebec,
and Montreal fall to British possession. In 1763 France ceded Louisiana to Spain
and its remaining possessions to Britain by way of the Treaty of Paris. (The British
abandoned Louisbourg after the Treaty of Paris and the site was left for ruins (Fig.
19) like Panama La Vieja in Panama.)
Fig. 19: The ruins of Fort Louisbourg Fig. 20: Reconstruction of Fort Louisbourg
15 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
Anthony DelRosario – Masters of Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture
In 1801 a Franco-Spanish alliance returned Louisiana to France, but two years later
the French colony was sold to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase (Fig. 21)
and ended the two centuries of the French Colonial empire in North America.
Fig. 21: Louisiana Purchase
Architecture of the French Colonial Empire in Canada and Its Influence in Louisiana The influence of French Colonial Canadian architecture upon the architecture
found in the Mississippi River valley and basin, especially in Louisiana, can be
traced through style and method of construction of dwellings. Despite being the
dominant style of church construction throughout the eighteenth century in Quebec,
the style influenced by Laval’s parishes of the late seventeenth century did not
leave a lasting impression on church design in Louisiana. However, the impact of
French Colonial Canadian architecture in Louisiana is found in a variety of buildings
from homes in the French Quarter of New Orleans, to cottages on the bayou, to
16 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
Anthony DelRosario – Masters of Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture
plantations along the Mississippi River. Alan Gowans states that “New France’s
principal impact and legacy on the North American landscape has been the rural
homestead.” (Styles and Types of North American Architecture, 30)
Styles and Methods Found in French Colonial Canada
The style and method of construction of homes in French Colonial Canada
have roots going back to designs found in similarly cold regions of France. A
parallel in steep, hipped roof forms can be seen. Peter Moogk writes:
Confirmation of the relationship of climate and roof structure came from Louis
Savot’s L’Architecture Françoise, a book that was written in the 1630s when
the farms of the first French colonists were being cleared around Quebec.
Savot observed that a steep roof which readily shed rain and snow, was
desirable in ‘cold regions’ because ‘if it were too low, the snow would
accumulate on it and when it melted, it would form ridges of ice on the eaves;
these ridges would cause the water to back up and to leak into the garret or
attic.’ It appears that the roof of the Canadien farmhouse during the French
regime, with a slope of around 55 degrees from the horizontal and whose
height accounted for nearly two-thirds of the building’s elevation, was a
seventeenth century response to the climate of the St. Lawrence valley. The
same form was likewise employed in the cold and rainy areas of
contemporary France. (22-23)
In addition to the gabled roof houses of this French origin, houses with double
pitched roofs were commonly found in New France (Fig. 22).
17 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
Anthony DelRosario – Masters of Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture
Fig. 22: Double pitched roof building in France
Fig. 23: Marcotte House, Cap-Sante, 1750 Fig. 24: French Quarter, New Orleans
In addition to the steep roof style (Fig. 23), the houses of Canada and France
shared a construction method from the medieval period known as colombage, a
half-timber wood frame (Fig. 26). The colonists in Canada employed two versions
of the colombage method – colombage pierroté and colombage bousillé. The
difference between the two was the material used as in-fill between the wooden
18 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
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posts. Colombage pierroté used stone and mortar and colombage bousillé (Fig. 25)
used bousillage, a mixture of mud and/or clay with a “vegetable binder such as
straw and (optionally) lime.” (Edwards and Kariouk 33)
Fig. 25: colombage bousillé construction
“In comparison with the full timber house, half-timber dwellings made little sense in
New France.” (Moogk 28) In Europe, the colombage method evolved from entirely
wood framed buildings due to rising costs of lumber whose supply was declining.
The availability of timber, the belief that wood was a better insulator, and the
extreme temperature changes that destroyed the bonding of the fill contributed to
the reversal of trend back to completely wooden type of construction in New France.
(Moogk 29) Also in some areas such as Montreal, stone was difficult to find and
entire walls of vertical posts replaced the in-fill method. (Moogk 30)
19 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
Anthony DelRosario – Masters of Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture
Fig. 26: colombage construction, Lamontagne House, Quebec
Eventually the transition from vertical to horizontal timbers became popular.
The pièce-sur-pièce construction method (Fig. 27) first utilized at Port Royal was
considered superior to colombage and walls of vertical timbers. Moogk writes that
vertical timbers “provided good insulation and water would drain easily from a wall
of upright posts. However, when the timbers were laid upon one another
horizontally, the chinking of moss, cedar bark, clay or plaster was less likely to fall
out and the building would remain weathertight.” (32) “The ultimate consideration
[for the pièce-sur-pièce construction method] would be that a single man with a few
portable tools could do most of the work of building himself.” (Moogk 34)
Fig. 27: pièce-sur-pièce construction, Port-au-Persil, Charlevoix, Québec
20 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
Anthony DelRosario – Masters of Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture
In addition to the horizontal timber and vertical timber options for creating the walls
of the house, there were two options for the placement of the timber frame, poteaux-en-
terre (posts in ground) and poteaux-sur-solle (posts on sill). The poteaux-en-terre
method was often used in combination with vertical timbers (Fig. 28); the poteaux-
sur-solle method was often used in combination with horizontal timbers. However,
these methods were not necessarily always found in these combinations. A
surviving example of vertical timbers used with poteaux-sur-solle is the old
courthouse in Cahokia, Illinois (Fig. 29).
Fig. 28: poteaux-en-terre
Fig. 29: poteaux sur solle, Cahokia Courthouse after restoration
French Colonial Canada Styles and Methods Transplanted to the Mississippi River Valley and Louisiana
21 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
Anthony DelRosario – Masters of Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture
These styles and methods of construction in French Colonial Canada were
transplanted along the Mississippi River Valley and throughout Louisiana. “In
French America, only among the Mississippi and Great Lakes settlements did
vertical construction long remain popular. In Canada it gave way generally to
horizontal construction or stone.” (Kniffen and Glassie 164) “The earliest form of
construction in French Canada was poteaux en terre, which was introduced into
Louisiana by the Canadian Iberville.” (165)
Cahokia and Colombage Church
Cahokia, Illinois was one of the first French settlements along the Mississippi
River after Lasalle claimed the basin for King Louis XIV. The town was established
by Father Francois Pinet in 1696 as the site for a mission and home of the Church
of the Holy Family (Fig. 30). The church building that currently stands (with 80% of
its original wood) was erected in 1799 but was built of the same vertical-log
construction method of the original church built a hundred years earlier. The form of
the church is the same as the late seventeenth century parish church found in
Quebec, the simple cruciform shape which Laval and Saint-Vallier proliferated. As
the existing seventeenth and eighteenth century parish churches in Quebec are of
stone, the Holy Family log church is the remaining example of a French Colonial
cruciform shaped church constructed with the vertical timber method.
22 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
Anthony DelRosario – Masters of Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture
Fig. 30: Holy Family log church, Cahokia, Illinois, 1799
Adapting to the Climate
The earliest houses built by the French in Louisiana utilized the colombage
pierroté method in combination with the poteaux-en-terre form. These methods
went through a metamorphosis in order to adapt to a drastically different climate of
the heat and humidity found in the bayous of Louisiana. The use of colombage
pierroté was converted to the use of colombage bousillé as the French learned from
the local natives that a bousillage mixture of mud and Spanish moss better suited
the climate. An alternate in-fill method was briquette-entré-poteaux which utilized
bricks (Fig. 31). This method was more popular in cities or near brick plants. The
French also soon recognized that poteaux-en-terre construction was not the most
appropriate method for Louisiana where there was much rain, flooding, and high
temperatures. To counter these factors, the French supplanted poteaux en terre
construction with raised poteaux-sur-solle construction. This change helped in two
23 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
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ways. First, with the frame raised off the ground, decomposition due to wet wood
on wet ground would not occur. Second, a raised frame allowed air to circulate
under the house to keep the house cooler. (Cazayoux 364)
Fig. 31: briquette-entré-poteaux construction method, Marigny, New Orleans
The hot and humid climate of Louisiana had a great impact on the style of
houses that the French built along the Mississippi River and in the bayous. To stay
cool in the much warmer climate, the French added porches and verandas or
galleries around the houses. In addition to creating shade to keep the house cool,
the covered verandas also protected the walls of the structures from the abundant
rainfall. (Cazayoux 365)
By adding a gallery with a differently angled roof, the roof of the houses
became double pitched. Two existing examples of a double pitched roof, galleried
house in the upper Mississippi River valley are the Saucier House, also known as
24 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
Anthony DelRosario – Masters of Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture
the Old Courthouse, (Fig. 32) in Cahokia, Illinois (1737) and the Louis Buldoc
House (Fig. 33) in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri (1770).
Fig. 32: Cahokia Courthouse before restoration
Fig. 33: Buldoc House, Ste. Genevieve, Missouri
The Unique Outcome of French Colonial Types from Canada and the Climate of Louisiana
By raising these galleried houses an entire story above the ground and
enclosing the newly created bottom floor to create a raised basement, a structure
type unique to Louisiana was created, the Louisiana Raised Cottage. This type of
building is also known by the following names: Louisiana Plantation House,
25 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
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Louisiana Planter Raised Cottage, Louisiana Raised French Planter, Louisiana
French Colonial, Creole Cottage, Colonial French Planter, and French Louisiana
Planter. One reason that the combination of raised house and bousillage
construction was so successful was that it created a natural air conditioning system.
The walls soaked up moisture from the ground which was evaporated by breezes
and thus became cooler. (Cazayoux 366) One of the finest examples this
vernacular type is Destrehan Plantation (Fig. 34), built in 1787 outside of New
Orleans. Although enlarged and renovated in the Greek Revival style around 1840,
the core of the building retains its French Colonial qualities.
Fig. 34: Destrehan Plantation
Across the Ocean and Down the River
Over the course of two centuries, the French held and eventually
relinquished some of the largest amounts of land in North America during the
26 PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
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colonial period. The French empire stretched from the North Atlantic down the
Mississippi River valley to the Gulf Coast and across to the Rocky Mountains.
During these two hundred years, the evolution of a unique house style can be
traced. A simple house plan from the northern part of France was brought to North
America in the early seventeenth century where French Canadians slowly
populated the new land and adapted building styles to the conditions. As the
French expanded their territory south, the buildings continued to evolve as warmer
climate conditions were encountered down the Mississippi River. After settling
Louisiana’s wet and hot territory, the French builders out of necessity created the
unique house style known as the raised creole cottage.
i PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
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ii PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
Anthony DelRosario – Masters of Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture
Reps, John William. Town Planning in Frontier America. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton
University Press, 1969.
Rosinski, Maud. Architects of Nova Scotia: A Biographical Dictionary, 1605-1950.
[Halifax, N.S.]: Dept. of Municipal Affairs, Heritage Section, 1994.
Traquair, Ramsay. The Old Architecture of Quebec; a Study of the Buildings
Erected in New France from the Earliest Explorers to the Middle of the
Nineteenth Century. Toronto: Macmillan Co. of Canada, 1947.
iii PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
Anthony DelRosario – Masters of Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture
Images
Figure 1 – Danielle Langlois, Wikimedia Commons,
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Port-Royal_Nova-Scotia_1.jpg>
Figure 2 – Samuel de Champlain's drawing of the habitation of Port-Royal, from his
Les Voyages, 1613, National Library of Canada,
<http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/portroyal>
Figure 3 – Samuel de Champlain, reproduced in Town Planning in Frontier America.
Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1969.
Figure 4 – After W. Décary, National Archives of Canada, C-7885,
<http://www.canadianheritage.org/reproductions/10074.htm>
Figure 5 – Historical Narratives of Early Canada,
<http://www.uppercanadahistory.ca/finna/finna5a.html>
Figure 6 – Wikipedia,
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:France_colonial_Empire3.png>
Figure 7 – Thomas Jefferys, “A Plan of the City of Quebec,” The Natural and Civil
History of the French Dominions in North and South America, reproduced in
Town Planning in Frontier America. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University
Press, 1969. Pg. 55
Figure 8 – Thomas Jefferys, “A Plan of the City and Fortifications of Louisiburg,”
The Natural and Civil History of the French Dominions in North and South
America, reproduced in Town Planning in Frontier America. Princeton, N.J.:
Princeton University Press, 1969. Pg. 54
Figure 9 – Thomas Jefferys, “A Plan of the Town and Fortifications of Montreal or
Ville Marie,” The Natural and Civil History of the French Dominions in North
and South America, reproduced in Town Planning in Frontier America.
Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1969. Pg. 52
iv PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
Anthony DelRosario – Masters of Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture
Figure 10 – Jean-Baptiste Franquelin, 1683, Library and Archives Canada, H4/350,
<http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-
nhs/qc/saintlouisforts/natcul/natcul3.aspx#Toc159418865>
Figure 11 – Margaret Marcil-Lafontaine,
<http://www.migrations.fr/bellesdautrefois.htm>
Figure 12 – Louisiana Studies in Historic Preservation, Louisiana Division of Historic
Preservation,
<http://www.crt.state.la.us/hp/laheritage/CreoleHeritage/SlideShow/pages/Cr
eole31a.htm>
Figure 13 – Anonymous, 1700, Library and Archives Canada, C-4696,
<http://www.pc.gc.ca/fra/lhn-
nhs/qc/saintlouisforts/natcul/natcul3.aspx#Toc158436459>
Figure 14 – Mauvide-Genest Manor,
<http://www.manoirmauvidegenest.com/en/history/>
Figure 15 – Friends of the Cabildo. New Orleans Architecture Volume IV: The
Creole Faubourgs. Gretna, La.: Pelican Publishing, 1974. Pg. 96
Figure 16 – Richard Short, watercolour, circa 1761, Library and Archives Canada/C-
354, <http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/>
Figure 17 – Livemois, Ltd., A History of Canadian Architecture. Toronto; New York:
Oxford University Press, 1994. Pg. 69
Figure 18 – Lewis Parker, Expulsion of the Acadians,
<http://www.uppercanadahistory.ca/finna/finna6a.html>
Figure 19 – M. O. Hammond, Archives of Ontario,
<http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/english/on-line-
exhibits/hammond/big/big_36_louisburg.aspx>
v PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
Anthony DelRosario – Masters of Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture
Figure 20 – Dennis MacDonald,
<http://www.canadastockphotos.net/search.php?m=kw&kp=Interest&cu=TAE
1865&p=3>
Figure 21 – Louisiana101,
<http://www.louisiana101.com/1770_louisiana_territory_map.jpg>
Figure 22 – Building a House in New France: An Account of the Perplexities of
Client and Craftsmen in Early Canada. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart,
1977. Pg. 67
Figure 23 – Styles and Types of North American Architecture: Social Function and
Cultural Expression. New York, N.Y.: Icon Editions, 1991. Pg. 32
Figure 24 – Wikipedia,
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Latour_and_Laclottes_Atelier.jpg>
Figure 25 – Louisiana Studies in Historic Preservation, Louisiana Division of Historic
Preservation,
<http://www.crt.state.la.us/hp/laheritage/CreoleHeritage/SlideShow/pages/Cr
eole16.htm>
Figure 26 – Jean Bélanger, <http://www.civilization.ca/virtual-museum-of-new-
france/daily-life/vernacular-architecture-in-new-france/>
Figure 27 – Denis Angers, <http://flic.kr/p/8sb4hD>
Figure 28 – JMZ2007, <http://www.panoramio.com/photo/54023335>
Figure 29 – Kevin Stewart, <http://flic.kr/p/2VsCM4>
Figure 30 – Mark Scott Abeln, <http://flic.kr/p/4cM1PD>
Figure 31 – Alex, <http://flic.kr/p/DUNSf>
vi PRST 6610 - History of Architecture in the Americas I – Professor Ann Masson – December 3, 2008
Anthony DelRosario – Masters of Preservation Studies - Tulane School of Architecture
Figure 32 – French Colonies in America,
<http://www.southalabama.edu/archaeology/french-colonies-in-
america_cahokia-courthouse.html>
Figure 33 - Waymarking.com,
<http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM3Y62_Louis_Bolduc_House_St
e_Genevieve_Missouri>
Figure 34 - Louisiana Studies in Historic Preservation, Louisiana Division of Historic
Preservation,
<http://www.crt.state.la.us/hp/laheritage/CreoleHeritage/SlideShow/pages/Cr
eole25.htm>