Lines

Remembering Ellerslie Plantation

I was inspired to do a search for information on Ellerslie Plantation this morning and found a brief mention of it in Paul Stahls’ excellent article on Gen. Robert Barrow of West Feliciana Parish. Thanks to Paul and to your great magazine for this article! I never knew Gen. Barrow, nor have I visited his lovely home, Rosale, but I do share with him a passion for both West Feliciana Parish and for Ellerslie. (I was born in Alexandria and grew up in Natchez, Miss. My family also lived in St. Francisville briefly while I was in grammar school.)

I was pleased, surprised and delighted at this brief descriptive phrase in Paul’s article: “… to incredible Ellerslie Plantation.”

Anyone who has ever had the good fortune to visit this remarkable, outstanding and lovely plantation home would no doubt feel the same way. Over the years I visited Elena Percy four or five times when she lived at Ellerslie, her family home. I first visited with her at Ellerslie in 1977. I last saw Ellerslie in 1989, several years after her death. Her nephew pretty much keeps the place locked up and private, which in my mind is a shame since Ellerslie is one of the finest Greek Revival mansions ever built. There is no doubt that it has many admirers who would love to tour it and who would be willing to pay handsomely to enjoy what is, in my opinion, one of the finest antebellum mansions ever built in Louisiana. The enclosed photo was taken in the 1980s. The sunset has turned everything golden and ethereal.

Michael Alan Foster
Austin, Texas