"Wildflower Retreat"

A magnificent oak tree shelters the vacant shotgun house surrounded by a field of wildflowers. The "shotgun" house was so named because legend has it that a shotgun blast fired into the house through the front door would exit the rear door of the house without doing any damage. This was because all doors were placed on the same side of the house, front to rear. It was the simplest form of multi-room dwelling. Distinctly New Orleans with roots in the thatched huts of Haiti or the Indian homes along the Gulf Coast, it was a narrow, off-ground wood structure about 10 by 20 feet.

The single-story, rectangle box rested on brick pillars to protect it from flooding. The outside was covered with wood sheathing under which was a mix of mud and moss (bousillage) that acted as insulation. It had 2 or three rooms, each room with a window on outside facing walls. The front room was usually for sleeping. Kitchen and bathroom facilities were behind the house and unattached. The shingled roof was gabled and extended forward to cover the shallow porch and was supported by thin, square posts.

It was built to accommodate low-income families and was not costly because of its small size and simple shape. It was widely adopted by lumber, sugar and rice companies to serve as worker's "company" houses.

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