The Badin-Roque House is the only remaining building of its kind in Louisiana Photo by Candice Pauley, courtesy of Cane River National Heritage Area

The Badin-Roque House is an example of an early Creole building style known as poteaux-en-terre (posts-in-ground). In this style, the vertical timbers that make up the frame of the house are placed in holes that are later filled with stones or dirt. This building method was popular amongst early French settlers between the years 1769 and 1785. Surviving examples of this style are rare due to the posts’ high susceptibility to water damage in Louisiana’s wet soil. It is believed that the Badin-Roque House is the only remaining building of its type in Louisiana and one of only a handful in the country.The simple one-story cottage has bousillage walls (a mixture of mud, Spanish moss and deer hair), an outdoor kitchen and a spacious porch situated under its large overhanging roof.

The house was originally built by Jean Baptiste Metoyer, grandson of Marie Thérèse Coincoin and Claude Thomas Pierre Metoyer. Metoyer was a French soldier and planter, and Marie Thérèse was an African slave owned by Metoyer and later freed by him. Children from their 25-year liaison formed the core of the Cane River Creole community in Isle Brevelle. The Catholic Diocese of Natchitoches later purchased the house and converted it into the first convent and school for St. Augustine Catholic Church. The church sold the house in 1859. It passed through the hands of several owners over the next few decades before being acquired by the Badin-Roque family. The Catholic Diocese of Natchitoches later purchased the house and converted it into the first convent and school for St. Augustine Catholic Church.

Badin-Roque House Photo by Candice Pauley, courtesy of Cane River National Heritage Area

In 1979, the St. Augustine Historical Society purchased the house, eventually operating it as historic site. The house has been under restoration since 1999.

The Badin-Roque House is located on Hwy. 484, several miles south of Natchitoches in Natchez. The house is open to the public by appointment with the Creole Heritage Center at 318-357-6685. The Badin-Roque House has also been documented by the Historic American Buildings Survey.