Hometown Heritage archival restoration. The text below reproduces the surviving newspaper submission; editorial subheadings have been added for readability and are not part of the original manuscript.
If you’re headed out to the Melrose Arts and Crafts Festival this weekend, there’s one structure that’s a must-see while you’re on the plantation grounds. The African House, built around 1800, is truly iconic in the Cane River region. Iconic enough, in fact, to serve as part of the logo for the Cane River National Heritage Area.
The African House is striking even in its location behind the grand Main House at Melrose. On the ground floor, the heavy rough-hewn cypress timbers supporting the ceiling dominate the room. The wide, shingled roof covers most of the second floor, extending approximately ten feet beyond the exterior walls on all four sides. The roof is supported by rough, rounded struts extending out from above the brick wall of the first floor.
An architecture adapted to its environment
According to architectural historian Richard Dozier, the wide roof literally served as an umbrella for African House, shielding its base from water and allowing better air circulation on the second floor. Like the African huts that lent the structure its name, and the French barns that may have influenced its design, the building functions as a natural part of its environment.
When a structure manages to survive two centuries, it’s usually proven itself flexible in more ways than just the weather. I’ve read accounts of the African House being used as a goat pen, a lumber room, a slave jail and a storage facility for old furniture and other unused household items from the Main House at Melrose.
Clementine Hunter and preservation at Melrose
Today, it’s a museum of sorts. The second floor includes a series of panels that depict the plantation era at Melrose. Famed folk artist Clementine Hunter painted the murals in 1955, based on her life as a resident there. Another famous local lady, Cammie Henry, was responsible for keeping African House (and pretty much all the structures at Melrose) thriving through the first half of the 20th century. Henry replaced the building’s old tin roof and replanted the gardens surrounding it.
The most recent work on African House, along with the nearby Yucca house at Melrose, has been supported by its designation as a Save America’s Treasures project. Work included drainage improvements to the grounds surrounding the structures to keep at bay the worst enemy of most heritage resources: water.
The Association for the Preservation of Historic Natchitoches owns Melrose plantation and has overseen the continued upkeep of African House. Thanks to them, many more folks will be able to enjoy the unique elegance of this structure that seems like it belongs to another time and place. And don’t forget, funds raised from the Melrose Arts and Crafts Festival go to help preserve these structures.
What Remains
African House has a substantial preservation story beyond this 2010 column. In 2015, a National Trust HOPE Crew repaired its failing roof using Louisiana cypress, and brick masonry restoration was completed in 2016. Clementine Hunter’s murals, removed for conservation, were returned to the building. The National Trust also reports new interpretive signs and a walking tour app to help visitors understand Melrose Plantation. African House remains a compelling example of how preserving historic fabric and telling the stories associated with it must advance together. National Trust: African House restoration · NPS preservation interview.
Updated October 2026
Supporting Documents & SourcesView related reporting & supporting materials
Article Catalog CardView the manuscript record, provenance & surviving materials
| Artifact | Hometown Heritage newspaper column — original submitted manuscript |
|---|---|
| Institution | Natchitoches Times, Natchitoches, Louisiana |
| Period | 2010-06-10 |
| Role | Jeffery Guin, columnist and author |
| Platforms | Local newspaper; email submission; Voices archival restoration |
| Collections | Hometown Heritage · African House; Melrose Plantation; Clementine Hunter; preservation |
| Experiment | Public-facing reporting and interpretation of regional culture and preservation practice |
| Evidence / engagement | Sent email dated 2010-06-10. Newspaper publication is presumed for that Thursday from the regular schedule, pending author confirmation or print comparison. |
| What survives | Original sent-mail manuscript with submission timestamp. Three historic photo attachments and accompanying captions survive in the submitted email and await credit and reproduction review. |
| What changed | Historical terminology, locations, technologies, or institutional details may have changed since the original reporting. |
| Trajectory | Contemporary local reporting → surviving submission → archival restoration → contextual interpretation |
| Status | Recovered manuscript; unpublished draft; print text and publication date not yet independently verified. |
Critical Questions + Add to the Record
Application here: Interpreting African House requires attending to architectural history and cultural context rather than isolating the building as a picturesque artifact.
Know something that adds context, documentation, correction, or firsthand knowledge to this record? Keep this page open and copy its URL into the contribution form.
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