Vestiges of Grandeur: Plantations of Louisiana's River Road

In an evocative sequel to the acclaimed New Orleans: Elegance and Decadence, author and photographer Richard Sexton returns with an in-depth visual journey through the hidden mansions—some inhabited, many now long abandoned—of Louisiana's River Road. Bordering the Mississippi, these antebellum landmarks were once the epitome of gracious living in the Deep South. Over the past century, these grand dwellings have slowly succumbed to time, humidity, and the reclamation of the land: first by nature, then by real-estate developers who built subdivisions, oil refineries, and strip malls where curtains of Spanish moss once swayed from the live oaks. This collection—featuring over 200 haunting color photographs with extensive captions explaining the architectural significance and history of each structure—is a beautiful elegy for a rapidly disappearing landscape and its ghosts.