Described in an 1835 bill of sale as une belle maison, the Lombard plantation house is a rare survivor. Built in the early nineteenth century as a West Indian-style residence, it was the focal point of a large plantation that stretched deep into the cypress swamps of what is now New Orleans's Bywater neighborhood. Featuring the best Norman trussing in North America, it was one of many plantations homes and grand residences that lined the Mississippi...