ACADIAN-CAJUN Genealogy & History: Encyclopedia of Cajun Life: Architecture

	Acadian History \| Acadian Genealogy \| Cajun History \| Cajun Genealogy MAIN PAGE \| "How To" Book \| Article Index \| CMA \| Links \| Hébert Website

History of the Cajuns: Encyclopedia of Cajun Life
Architecture

When the Acadians first arrrived in Louisiana, some put up quick, temporary shelters made of wood and palmetto leaves. The Native Americans had been building such dwellings for years. Built upon a pole frame, palmettos would be uses on the roof (as was straw in France and Acadia). Many also used palmetto for walls until wood could be cut.

Palmetto Home, 1800s

Palmetto Home, late 1890s

The Acadians soon learned that to build a wooden home on the ground was not the way to go. The occasional flooding and insect damage was terrible to these kinds of homes. Building upon their construction knowledge, and using ideas that had been developed by those that had been in Louisiana for years, they constructed a different type of home.

The house that became known as the Cajun house was raised on piers (for ventilation and to keep it off of the moist soil). It had a porch in the front, covered by part of the roof. The roof was made of wooden shingles. The earliest homes had only one room. The attic was accessed by a ladder (usually in east Acadiana) or stairs (which were often on the front porch) and was used as sleeping space for the boys. As the family grew, a separate but connected

The LeBlanc House, Acadian Village

The Bernard House, Acadian Village

building was often built to the rear for kitchenspace or a bedroom. The windows had no glass, but were covered by wooden shutters. The insulation in the walls consisted of bousillage ... a mixture of mud and moss ... that replaced the mud/straw mixture they had used before.
As families got bigger, so did the homes. The large Cajun house had two front rooms (with a front door to each), often with a fireplace in-between them. There were usually three rooms in the back ... a kitchen,

a bedroom, an another room (which may have had a stairway/ladder to the attic). Corrugated tin replaced wooden shingles on the roof.
By the late 1800s and 1900s, the shotgun house was common in some rural areas.

NOTE: This is a personal interest of mine. I will be adding much more to this page as time goes by.

Cajuns in the 18th Century • Cajuns in the 19th Century • Cajuns in the 20th Century ••• Encyclopedia of Cajun Life