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LeBeau Plantation House (RAZED)

Arabi, Louisiana USA

No Longer Maintained

This location is no longer maintained in Roadtrippers. Please confirm location details before visiting.

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“an abandoned plantation house”

This place is on private property. Listing for informational purposes only. Please do not visit without express permission from the land owner.

Sadly, on November 22,  careless ghost hunters burned this building to the ground.

The 1854 planation house was a hotel and gambling establishment in the mid 20th century, and has long been vacant. The property was owned by Joseph Meraux and in his will was left to Arlene Soper Meraux after a court battle to prove a common law marriage. After her death, months prior to Hurricane Katrina, she left this plantation and several other properties to a commission made of several St. Bernard Parish politicians. Before the storm, a commitee had planned on making large and pricey renovations to Le Beau hoping to bring more tourism into the area.

There's still a chance that the old LeBeau house, just south of New Orleans, can be saved, but there's no question that time is running out for the historic building.  It is one of only two Arabi plantation homes to make it to the 21st century and was once the largest plantation south of New Orleans.

 Although the building has had no human inhabitants since the 1980's, there's a possibility that it may have at least one resident of the supernatural variety.  For years, local residents have reported seeing a light go off and on in the house's cupola, where no light should be, since there's no electricity connected.


 The land on which the house stands - for years now, in the shadow of the Domino Sugar Refinery - was first granted in 1721.  Various plantations used the property for a hundred years or so; then, for the next thirty years, it was used as a brickyard.  In 1851, Franciose Barthelemy LeBeau purchased the property and started construction of the house pictured on this page.  The LeBeau home has sixteen rooms, but only one interior staircase.  When officials told LeBeau he would be taxed on the number of interior stairwells, he took down the ones already completed and moved them to the outside of the house - not an uncommon occurrence in those days.  Mr. LeBeau died in 1854, only a few months after the house was completed, but it remained in the LeBeau family until 1905.


  It was purchased at that time by Friscoville Realty and, for the next twenty years, the old home was the site of the Friscoville Hotel.  In 1928, Jai Alai Realty bought the house, re-named it the Cardone Hotel and used it as an illegal gambling casino, known to locals as the Jai Alai Casino.  To this day, gun turrets built into the closets can be found from it's Prohibition days as a wild and woolly gambling house.


 Between 1938-1967, it had several owners.  In 1967, Joseph Meraux purchased the house and it's deteriorated badly since then.  An attempt was made in the 1980's to include the property in an Historic District, but the project was blocked.  In 1986, a fire severely damaged the interior and roof of the building.  There were some restoration efforts undertaken in the next few years, but each time, they were eventually aborted. 


  Finally, in 2003, much needed stabilization work was done on the house.  Full-scale restoration plans were in the works when Hurricane Katrina came through in 2005 and decimated St. Bernard Parish.



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Reviewed by
vka

  • 1 Review
  • 2 Helpful
November 22, 2013
Rated

Unfortunately, on Nov. 22, 2013, it burned to the ground :'(

2 people found this review helpful

Reviewed by
jhauger17

  • 1 Review
  • 0 Helpful
August 29, 2014
Rated

I was one day away from visiting this last year and then the idiots burned it down!! Ugh!

1 person found this review helpful
  • 1 Review
  • 0 Helpful
November 25, 2013
Rated

No pictures of interior?

1 person found this review helpful

Reviewed by
jenna.lloyd.33

  • 1 Review
  • 0 Helpful
June 09, 2013
Rated

Hey! After seeing this post me and my boyfriend ventured down to this site. If you punch it in your GPS, type 1100 West Center Street. It's actually not on West Center Street but it's close enough and across the tracks. The house is I believe on LeBeau Street. Either way, if you're on W. Center Street, drive straight back until you are forced to make a right. You will see plant stacks ahead to the left. The house is on the right side. Old bricks can be seen in the yard and if you walk behind the house, the fence is cut open for those who are brave enough to go inside. (You will be breaking the law if you do so!) You do not have access to the second floor as there is one stairway and it's shifty plus if you make it to the top, you're in the public eye and the place is pretty well boarded up. Down stairs is filled with boards and bricks with some areas having questionable flooring. Safe journeys my friends.

1 person found this review helpful

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LeBeau Plantation House (RAZED)

Arabi, Louisiana
USA
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