Sweet Bottom Plantation Tour

The inspiration for this residence in The Battery was a home in New Orleans originally owned by Captain Watson Van Benthuysen, II, a former New Yorker who served as an officer in the Confederacy. After the war, Van Benthuysen made his fortune in tobacco and wine, later becoming President of the St. Charles Street Car Company. Design of the house is attributed to non-native architect Lewis E. Reynolds who designed many beautiful homes in the Garden District. Having large galleries on both front and side elevations provide this residence with a sense of openness and added dimensionality, while the low-pitched roof with its decorative eave brackets adds an element of elegance that contrasts with the strength of the corner quoins. The mirrored orientation of the Sweet Bottom residence was based on site considerations.