Asphodel

Carolyn and Benjamen Kendrick established Asphodel plantation in 1820.They named the plantation Asphodel after the Greek word for daffodil. Daffodils continue to grow in great profusion on the property to this day. The Kendricks had only one child, Isobel. John James Audobon lived at the neighboring Oakley plantation. Isobel was one of his students. He visited Asphodel often to teach her. It is said that many of Audubon's sketches were done at Asphodel. Isobel and her husband eventually owned the home and they raised 12 children there.

During the antebellum period the most prominent architectural style was Greek revival. The Greek revival style was slow to develop in the south, but it grew rapidly once it started. Asphodel's main house is one of Louisiana's finest examples of antebellum architecture. Asphodel has a raised central structure and two identical brick wings covered with a smooth plaster. Six white Doric columns support the gabled roof, which has two dormer windows. Each wing is a small version of the central building with a small porch. In August of 1998 Asphodel, went under major restoration. Asphodel's restoration was completed in March of 1999.

Asphodel's cemetery is the only private cemetery in Louisiana that is listed on the National Historic Register. The cemetery was established in the 1830's. Asphodels cemetery contains the remains of every owner of Asphodel.

Asphodel was the most important plantation in East Feliciana Parish. Asphodel's major crop was cotton. The produce at Asphodel was carted to interior ports where it was loaded onto steamboats or shipped directly by steamboat from the plantation dock. Then the produce would be shipped to New Orleans and sold through factoring houses. Most of the time the factors (brokers) made more money than the planters.

In the 1950's the Robert Couhig family purchased the house and added an inn and restaurant. Tourists visiting the East Felicianas could enjoy the peaceful surroundings of an authentic plantation home at Asphodel. Today the descendents of Robert Couhig continue to live in the home, but have closed it to the public. The beauty of Asphodel lives on today.